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Garden Gables Inn
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$$$
2 reviews for Garden Gables Inn
Much to my husband's disdain, I love barns. When we met, I had a whole wall full of paintings of barns. Evidence of my dream of a less hectic, more rural life, I suppose. Two moves later, and my barns are a thing of the past -- no place for them in a Mid-Century Modern house, I suppose. Still, the nostalgic affection remains.
So when we were planning our trip to the Berkshires with Steve's parents, he went out of his way to find me a hotel that looked something like a barn, and found it in the Green Gables Inn. Okay, so it's a gabled cottage from the 1700s with newer gambrel-roofed additions, painted white, not red, but it still fit my barn image enough to make me smile.
In person, the Garden Gables didn't disappoint. It sits on a couple of tree-shrouded acres, making it look rustic, even though it's just down the street from the main part of Lenox. It has cozy sitting rooms inside and comfortable adirondack chairs outside, where you can read a book and enjoy their complimentary lemonade or sherry.
The breakfast, included with the price of the room, was fabulous. Your choice of eggs, French toast, or pancakes, plus a large selection of fresh fruit, yogurt, cereals, danish, croissants, toast, etc. Basically, we didn't have to buy lunch after the generous breakfast at the inn!
Staff was always helpful and friendly, and our two rooms were small (they were both in the original part of the inn) but very comfortable and pretty. And with all the public spaces available to guests, we really only needed to sleep in our room.
We loved both Lenox and the Berkshires, and if we return we'll stay at the Garden Gables Inn again!
Growing up Catholic, I had the concept of obligation hammered into me at a very early age. Holy days of obligation, dictated by the Pope, were sprinkled through the calendar, mainly as a reason to force us to wake up early on cold winter mornings and feel the obligation to attend 8:00 am mass, despite the much more reasonable desire to stay in bed. And I really had no choice; my parents forced the obligation on me to be a good Catholic boy (and later altar boy) and go to church.
Living 3,000 miles away from them now, and a much greater distance from the Catholic church, I'm still pestered by obligation. This time, the obligation to visit Massachusetts, and my parents, occasionally. And I get cranky when I feel obligated to do something, so the visits aren't always fun (but is obligation ever fun?).
But this year, we did things differently. Rather than hang out in their provincial little central Mass. town, we drove west and spent several days in Lenox, Massachusetts, home to Tanglewood and the Boston Symphony's summer digs. And our home base was the Garden Gables Inn, just on the edge of Lenox's quaint downtown area and a short drive to Tanglewood.
The Garden Gables' website conveniently allowed me to check out rooms and to book reservations well in advance of our visit--very helpful resource.
The inn was just what we expected from the website. The front part of the building was built in 1780, so don't expect the Hyatt. It is instead a colonial country house and has been kept up well. Great sitting rooms downstairs include lemonade, sherry, and chocolate chip cookies for whenever you get the urge. The grounds are green and, in July when we visited, resplendent with flowers and, at night, fireflies. And the rooms are comfortable; while we stayed in two small rooms in the historic part of the building--in 1780, bedrooms weren't built by modern hotels' standards. But these were exactly what my wife had in mind when she wanted to stay in a country inn in New England.
The inn offers a full breakfast every morning...no "continental breakfasts" here, unless you choose it. Great staff throughout.
The Inn offers a pool during summer months, but it was unheated, so only the bravest used it. It didn't look incredibly clean...this was perhaps our only complaint.
We'll definitely return in the future, not out of a sense of obligation but to enjoy more of the summer arts festivals offered in the Berkshires and to make the Garden Gables Inn our home base.
