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.

As soon as we arrived we fell in love with our room and immediately booked a second night. This is a delightful and comfortable inn on the outskirts of Madison, with lovely gardens and a hostess who goes to some trouble to ensure that guests are happy. Breakfasts are substantial and delicious, and recommendations for local restaurants included making the reservations for us. Our hostess also made helpful suggestions as to the best local attractions which could be enjoyed in the short time we had.