The Village Inn of Woodstock

41 Pleasant St, Woodstock, VT 05091, 802-457-1255, www.villageinnofwoodstock.com

A long planned fall foliage vacation and extensive research on B&B's in southern Vermont led us to The Village Inn of Woodstock. This bed & breakfast had garnered many rave reviews and was located just at the edge of the main street in the chic town of Woodstock. Their web site was very helpful and we booked our stay in room 5, the inn's only 2-room suite. We have to say that we found the fact that the bathroom was a pass-through between the bedroom and the sitting room to be a bit awkward. But otherwise, the room was beautiful, immaculately clean and richly appointed with a wonderfully comfortable king size bed. All possible temperature options were available including heat, air-conditioning, fireplace and screened windows. A small refrigerator in the room was extremely convenient.

Our inn-keepers, Evelyn and David, met us at the door and we were warmly greeted. Check-in was fast and efficient and we were then given a tour of the house, it's features and public spaces including a beautiful bar area.

At check-in, Evelyn asked our coffee/tea preferences and every morning the correct beverages appeared quickly on our breakfast table as soon as we arrived in the comfortable dining room. Evelyn clearly prides herself on her breakfasts and there is always a fruit starter, home made pastry and choice of eggs or daily special served with home-baked bread. Saturday's breakfast special of waffles was the best we'd ever eaten but all the food was excellent. And, if Evelyn's fresh baked cake and the bowl of candy in the lounge didn't satisfy our sweet tooth, the bon-bons left in our room were extra yummy and appreciated.

Although the inn doesn't serve dinner, Evelyn and David were both always very helpful with restaurant recommendations and there are lots of choices in the area. The inn is also conveniently located within a couple of blocks of both a mini mart and fantastic gourmet prepared food and sandwich place called Pane E Salute. Having the small fridge in our room meant we could stop in to either of these places and keep easy lunches and snacks on hand for quick breaks in between sight-seeing.

We did have one small bone to pick with our inn-keepers. None of the rooms at the inn have telephones and when we inquired we were told that everyone has a cell phone these days. Whether that's true or not, we were also told on our check-in tour that cell reception was spotty. Hmm...

Nevertheless, we had a great time and the inn lived up to it's reputation. So, thank you, Evelyn and David. We'll be back.