Quinnipiack Club

I’ve had the distinct pleasure of being accommodated at the Quinnipiack club for a total of 6 weeks this year so far, and when I return after the weekend I will stay for another two weeks.
My reason for being in the area for so long is due to completing an elective in Psychiatry at Yale, and subsequently a Clinical Internship at the Yale Child Study Center.
When I visit Yale in the future years, and when I hopefully live in New Haven in the future, I will always visit the Quinnipiack Club.
The atmosphere perfectly encapsulates 1920s charm with modern efficiency, the staff are all truly wonderful people who always greet me by name, ask how my day’s been. It feels like a family. And for a student who is thousands of miles away from his own family, this was very welcome.
The rooms are large and immaculately cleaned, the beds are comfortable, and most rooms have updated plasma screens (I’ve stayed in 4 different rooms in my 6 weeks so can give an assessment of the rooms in general). The room service is fantastic, courteous, and of an incredibly high standard, and actually is quite affordable if you order smart.
The breakfasts are fantastic, I’m a guy who is well over 240lbs, but the complimentary continental breakfast kept me full till long passed lunch time.
The dining room and bar area are truly exquisite and reminds one of a bygone era, where sophistication and class were expected, but this contrasts so well with the friendly servers and the lovely ladies behind the bar, who will make you feel like old friends
This is not a traditional hotel, it is so much more, it is a previously members only club, that now treats all guests as if they are not only members, but family.
I could not recommend the Quinnipiack more, if I could give 10 stars I would.

I stayed here for the yearly retreat of an alum organization I volunteer for.
Some of the staff was very friendly and helpful (especially the front desk gals and the night guard) but the staff that setup breakfast in the morning was pretty curt and more or less berated someone in our party for taking the wrong kind of plate. (Why he was setting up plates he didn’t want anyone to take near the breakfast spread, I still don’t understand.)
The hotel itself is gorgeous. The rooms, lounge and terrace were beautiful with old style wooden panels and I wish I could have tried out the sauna. One downside: I didn’t check out the gym, but someone from our party mentioned it was painfully antiquated.
There were some hiccups with stocking. There was rarely anything to wipe your hands with next to the sink in the restrooms near our meeting rooms, and the cleaning staff forgot to give me more shampoo my last night.
It’s a beautiful place to stay, but service has some rough spots to iron out.

I was fortunate to be invited to dine at the Q Club with some esteemed Yale affiliates (total group ~8). Upon entering the dining room, I was rather impressed with the ambiance. The Q Club dining room presents a lovely European-​like atmosphere.
For my salad course, I enjoyed the beet salad. It was prepared very well, with complementing flavours. For the entrée, I ordered the Paella. I wholeheartedly regret to say that it was terrible. The dish was excessively salted, making it nearly inedible. On a positive note, however, other main dishes yielded positive remarks from fellow diners. And the dessert and coffee course was quite lovely.
The service was good. Our waitress seemed a little absent-​minded, but she did a good job maintaining our table of eight (or so) diners. I appreciated her attentiveness.
Verdict:
I really enjoyed most of the experience; I would return predicated on ordering a different entrée.

The food was God awful. I had the oysters Rockefeller, te veal chop and the key line pie. The oyster were good at first but later I found out they gave my severe food poisoning the veal was tough and the tomato and mushroom chutney ok top tasted like rancid vinegar. The crust on the key line pie was made of graham crackers and put together with a sledgehammer. It was so tough I couldn’t cut it. I would not recommend to anyone but my worst enemies. While the staff and Christmas decorations were on point the food was so ghastly I will never willingly go back. It was also so stiflingly hot I had to take off the mandatory jacket. It is no wonder this place was empty on a Friday during pike times. Please save your money and avoid this over priced and stuffy death trap.

Visit Yale In Style
The Quinnipiack Club is my concept of the ideal venue for a visit to that venerable, beautiful Ivy campus: it fits the scene. I spent two nights there while in New Haven to see my son; it was one of the most comfortable places I’ve ever stayed, around the world. Private and secure, but not haughty; excellent front-​desk attention and care; and good, safe private parking on-​site — what more can you ask? Well, you’ll get more, at an incredible bargain rate. The rooms take one back to the 1930s era, but are quite up to date as far as facilities, service and amenities. Beds are excellent, lighting and heating ditto; and the included breakfast buffet was as sumptuous as you could want in terms of a continental breakfast. Walking distance to the campus and to several excellent restaurants; and they do have a full bar and what I hear is a good restaurant on the premises.

If you compare the Q club to a regular hotel you miss the point. My wife and I have stayed here many times. The staff treats us as favored relatives. The areas where rooms are located are reliably quiet and the rooms themselves are home– like and comfortable. The restaurant with outstanding cuisine and bar are also quiet. Another reviewer must have been at the club at an unusual time. If you travel a lot and can’t face another Hilton or Hyatt this is a reasonably priced oasis with convenient parking for your camel in the rear.

I stayed here on Yale business, which is one of the few ways you can stay here: it’s a private. members-​only club. It is in an old building, which was probably last remodeled in about 1947. There are water damage spots all over the place, the tile in the bathrooms is so old the grout doesn’t get clean anymore, you know the drill. I had a two-​room suite. It was decent, solid, comfortable, but certainly nothing special and I can’t imagine booking myself in here if I were in charge of my own arrangements. I didn’t eat in the restaurant, but the cocktail lounges were packed in the evenings and people seemed happy as I went past. The staff range from brusque to friendly, but are always helpful.

One of the best restaurants in downtown New Haven and would definitely compete with most restaurants in New York and Boston. Food and service are both top-​notch and I definitely give it 5 stars (staff always greets me by name and makes me feel right at home). Rare old-​school charm. One of their best offerings is their Chef’s Farm Market Dinner which I had last night (Thursday). The menu included (all of the ingredients come from local Connecticut farms or stands): Appetizer of fresh white figs baked with gorgonzola (sides of shaved Serrano ham, local muskmelon and balsamic-​onion gelato); Entrée of seared Berkshire pork tenderloin (sides of fried green tomatoes, swiss chard and first-​of-​the-​season Macoun apples); Dessert of farm market peach salad with sabayon gratinee, carrot cake pain perdu with butterscotch sauce. All of this for $ 24.95! Always a pleasure to go for dinner and I look forward to it. I like to eat in the grille room which is casual and informal but they do have two dining rooms for formal dining (jacket and tie) for those occassions. They have a beautiful outdoor patio for cigars and drinks. While this is a private club which requires membership (I have been a member for 15 years), it consistently flies under the local radar and doesn’t get the attention or press that it deserves. Couldn’t recommend it more — and one of the best in the area. (PS — one night during dinner the Yale singing group Baker’s Dozen came in unexpectedly and sang for 15 – 20 minutes in the grille room to the diners. What a special treat!).