Nana Sledzieski
Google
This could’ve been a four star review. If you read my other reviews, you can see I try to rate things fairly and only to post when I can support a business. I will not write a vindictive review.
However, I do want to say that, although this hotel has a lot of things going for it, I don’t know I can say I had a great experience. I spent about $500 for one night, including two people eating modestly in the dining room at dinner and with the bed and breakfast package.
You do have to understand that although the room rate is high, do not expect a refined experience. There are a few cute stores, but generally not as much as you might think. (Nevertheless, the whole area is great for vacationing.)
You will be staying in a large historic property that has elements, such as carpets, that still need to be refreshed. I actually really liked my room and think that it might have been one of the nicer rooms on the property, based on the reviews. Room 103 is spacious for an historic property, has a really nice bathroom and a surprisingly large closet, and opens out onto a pretty patio. That was a nice surprise.
Much of the formal public spaces are dark and full of people having a good time but there are smaller, hidden, bright common spaces to enjoy. I went on a mid July weekend, but not a holiday weekend, and the place was very busy. Consequently, the side tables and porch tables always had empty glasses and napkins that had not been cleared away for long stretches of time, not quickly, as you would find in other hotels of a similar price point. You will be paying a small preservation fee, which I think is appropriate as the hotel seems to be managed independently and I think that is better than going corporate.
The pool deck was nicer than I expected from the photos. The restaurant staff really hustles and tries to create a quality experience. I imagine guests have a wide variety of taste preferences and expectations, as you can see from the reviews. But I enjoyed everything I ate at both dinner and breakfast and it was possible to eat from a variety of price points.
We were looking forward to finally staying at that inn, after decades of driving past it. But I left feeling flustered with a sense of having a diminished experience—not because of the stay but because of my departing invoice. It was not clearly or logically labeled, which confused me *and* the front desk staff who gave plausible but inaccurate explanations about a charge I had queried on the way out. (It actually turned out to be a credit when I used a spreadsheet at home to sort things out, but I found other errors that resulted in a small overcharge.) Part of this confusion stemmed from the reservation process, which was a little rocky and I did not get the room I thought I reserved, but it was fine. My reason for the two stars is that no one called to talk about the problem as promised, and after a week, I just figured it out myself and sent an email. Two weeks have gone by and I just sent a follow up email so we’ll see….
If you go, you could have a wonderful time, just frame your expectations.