Madison is a lovely little town and the Tidewater Inn is definitely the place to stay if you are visiting the area. It is expertly run by Victoria who ensures that the place is kept absolutely neat and spotless. The breakfasts are different each day and absolutely delicious and imaginative. We actually stayed in the smallest room in the Inn - Thimble Isles - it really was furnished beautifully and had plenty of room for us to relax and it also had a large en-suite shower room - it was perfect for us.
Victoria leaves a complimentary supply of soft drinks and snacks available for guests and this was much appreciated. She also serves wine and cheese in the early evening which is a lovely extra touch and it was always nice to sit down for a chat with Victoria and other guests at this time.
We found Victoria's suggestions for walks, sightseeing and shopping invaluable. Menus for all the local (and not so local) restaurants are available as well as Victoria's advice as to which is best for seafood, steaks etc....and icecream which is made just a short walk away and is absolutely delicious.
All in all, Tidewater Inn comes highly recommended by us and we will certainly return there.

I frequent the Madison area quite often, and we have tried several local places to stay. We have concluded that the Tidewater Inn is our favorite place to stay. First of all, the rooms are clean and neat. We find the hosts warm and friendly, and helpful. The location also has a seperate stand-alone cottage with jacouzzi bath. The Inn was a large house originally, which does force the bathrooms (all private) to sometimes be a bit cramped, but infinitely preferable to a shared bath in my opinion. The hosts put out wine in the afternoon, and often have a fire going in the evening and morning in the winter. The telephones are laptop friendly if you need that sort of thing.. One room has a working fireplace, another sports a king bed. In general, the house is furnished with a variety of antique furniture. It works for us..

Our stay at the Tidewater was hardly memorable. It should be renamed the Stepford Inn because the experience was totally robotic. In fact, this was our second time staying there and we had great expectations having had a decent time last year. Although the room was large, comfortable and well furnished, it was bizarre that the sink was in the main part of the room rather than in the bathroom. However, the strangest part was that the innkeeper thrust a charge slip at us the moment we walked in the door - before we even saw the room or set our bags down. I found this very unprofessional and rude. Were we likely to abscond without paying the bill? The innkeepers, particularly Richard, are very robotic and give the "business as usual" feeling - not what one expects in a B&B. The only good part was the breakfast although this too was served in an automatic manner. I was particularly peeved when at 11 a.m. on a Sunday my girlfriend asked Richard if she could use a personal computer to check her e-mail and was denied access on the ground that it contained "confidential" information. C'mon - gimme a break! Richard told her to use the computer at the public library in Madison which was not scheduled to open for another few hours. That was the last straw for us. This place is history. We had much better treatment at the Inn at Lafayette/Cafe Allegre. Additionally, the innkeepers do not provide satisfactory restaurant advice. Hence, while our stay was not terrible it was hardly satisfactory.

Stayed there years ago and found it charming. Current owner refuses children for fear of harm to her antiques. Her attitude was - well, condescending - implying that all children are unruly and unkempt.