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Visiting Vermont's Woodstock Inn
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Tim Leffel Posted August 6th, 2007 Tim Leffel is the author of Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune: The Contrarian Traveler's Guide to Getting More for Less, (2006, Travelers' Tales)	Make Your Travel Dollars Worth a Fortune: The Contrarian Traveler's Guide to Getting More for Less

WOODSTOCK, Vermont, USA - When you hear the name "Vermont," what images come to mind? Chances are, most of those images look a lot like the village of Woodstock, and the fantasy place to lay your head while you're there probably looks a lot like the Woodstock Inn and Resort.

Approaching the town, you weave through the mountains, passing fields full of black and white cows, sugar maple shacks, red barns, and white church steeples. As you enter Woodstock, you drive through a postcard-perfect town of hundred year-old storefronts, 19th-century municipal buildings, and houses built well before the word "development" entered any architect's vocabulary.

The centerpiece of the community is the Woodstock Inn and Resort, a 143-room luxury property that skillfully combines homey comfort with deluxe amenities. After a series of previous incarnations, the original inn was completed in 1891, but was completely rebuilt on the same site in 1969. Although the old world charm is gone, the builders wisely used the past as their guideline. You'll now find elevators, central air, and recessed lighting, but you'll also find thick wood paneling, beamed ceilings in the tavern, and a massive stone fireplace that would make Citizen Kane proud.

Great Lodging
The same care extends to the rooms: there are no sign of bland, cookie-cutter hotel rooms that look just like those in a hundred other properties. There are at least a dozen different layouts that accent rather than mask the shape of the various buildings. Twenty-one rooms have their own fireplace, some have a glass-enclosed terrace, and all have stocked built-in bookcases and hand-made quilts. Guests are showered with comforts such as terrycloth robes and baths with double vanities, hairdryers, and lots of little pampering bottles and soaps. Cable TV and stereo are standard.

First Class Food
The imaginative chef puts most of New England to shame, going well beyond the standard regional fare. Crab-stuffed Chilean sea bass, roasted salmon layered with mashed potatoes, and baked quail with wild rice are just a few of the options revolving through the formal dining room. The mouth-watering Sunday brunch is a decadent feast for the eyes and taste buds. Diners face anguished choices between beautifully prepared meat and seafood entrees, egg dishes, fresh breads, imported cheeses, and sinfully delicious desserts. A more casual restaurant is open for all three meals, offering a special children's menu as well.

Activities
Although the inn and its setting provide plenty of romantic bliss for couples, it's also a haven for families. "This is a place where parents can spend a quality weekend with their kids and keep them entertained," says rooms manager Candace Langhans. There's a state-of-the-art sports complex with pool and tennis, an ice-skating rink, a game room, and nearby options for sledding and horse-drawn sleigh rides. In warm months, families can enjoy the outdoor pool and explore the area by foot or on rented bikes.

Of course many winter guests spend most of the day skiing. The excellent golf course turns into an extensive cross-country ski touring area in the winter, with plenty of trails leading into the surrounding wooded hills. Rentals and lessons are available.

Uncrowded Downhill Skiing
Downhill skiers have to travel less than four miles to the Suicide Six alpine ski area, owned by the inn. It's a small, friendly mountain where crowds are a far cry from the mega-resorts located nearby. "Killington can keep their six mountains," commented a local in the inn's tavern. "We went there today and I felt like I was driving down a New York City street at rush hour!" In contrast, lift lines were non-existent at Suicide Six the same day. Midweek, guest families can experience either downhill or cross-country skiing for free, lessons and rental equipment included!

Awards
Conde Nast Traveler's annual readers' poll recently rated the Woodstock Inn one of "The Top 50 Resorts in America," with special marks for scenery and its "dream golf course." It also scored as one of the top five cross-country ski resorts in the US according to Snow Country magazine, adding to a long list of plaudits the property has received over the years. "We're owned by one of the Rockefellers," explains Langhans, "so we've had a financial cushion that has enabled us to continually improve and upgrade, even when everyone is going through a slow year."

It shows. One of the best benchmarks for judging a hotel is seeing how the front desk and restaurant crews handle guest's complaints. It was a difficult measure to use here however--the only complaints I overheard were from people grumbling that they hated to go back home.

The Woodstock Inn and Resort is located near Interstate 91, close to the White River Junction Amtrak station. The inn is 260 miles from New York City and 148 miles from Boston. Rates start at $99 in the off-season and rise to $249 for the best regular rooms in high season. Many special packages are available which include skiing, golf, or meals. Business facilities and meeting rooms are available. For more information, call (800)448-7900 or visit their website at www.woodstockinn.com.

Tim Leffel is a writer and compulsive traveler who recently completed a year-long journey around the world. To support his habit, he sometimes teaches English abroad. When grounded, he resides in Hoboken, NJ, gazing out at the Manhattan skyline.

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