My wife surprised me with a birthday week-end at this property. At first, the eccentric nature of the cabins takes a little getting used to because you mistakenly assume that the cabin design is the draw to this inn. However, once you stay for any period of time you begin to realize that the draw to this inn is its extremely high level of service, wonderful food and outstanding staff. Instead of eccentric attention getter, the cabins play second fiddle to the food and service and become eccentric-enchanting. Each cabin is themed, and except for the more extreme themes of treehouse, helicopter and maybe secret society, the other themes are more subtle and elegant. Each is romantic without bing gimmicky. We highly recommend this property - you can escape for a week in one week-end and return entirely relaxed.

My wife and I traveled to Winvian in December for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in hopes of marking this occasion with a unique and transporting experience. Our greatest expectations were exceeded. From the moment we arrived, our bodies relaxed, our minds calmed and we felt the harsh world slipping away, replaced by a magical dream of comfort, beauty, and pleasure (our anniversary gift to each other was to turn off our Blackberries for the duration of our stay – highly recommended). After being shown the main building, emulating the 17th century house it is built around, and the exquisite spa, we were taken to our cottage called “Camping”, set at the edge of the many acres forming the grounds of Winvian. True to its name, Camping transported us high into the Adirondacks, with magnificent trees (subtly painted on the inside, real on the outside and beautifully sculpted as the windows), a bath set as a woodland pool, and a magnificent bed set in a hinted at open tent where, at lights out, the milky way bursts forth above, fading gently as sleep and sweet dreams remove the last vestiges of the busy life left outside the gates. All of this in one of the most luxurious and comfort filled cottages or hotel suites in which we have stayed.

While inclined to simply stay “camping” for the duration of our visit, we did explore the surroundings when the urge for dinner arose, and the food served at Winvian was anything but camp cooking. The chef, Chris eddy, spent years working with Alain Ducasse and Daniel Boulud and combines that classical training with his distinctly delicious American vision. The results are fantastic. Seated in one of the several dining rooms, having finished champagne cocktails in front of the roaring fire in one of the many sitting rooms, the chef fully described his creations for the evening, urging us to let him know of any special desires or flavors to make the choices unique to our tastes. The presentation, the service and the food itself were beyond great. Breakfast and lunch proved equally perfect, and so a trip to the spa’s workout room was in order.

The spa has to be one of the most relaxing spaces my wife or I have ever been in; all in keeping with the surroundings, the massage rooms (the cardio machines kept our attention for only so long) were nicely done, and the couples massage room, with the vaulted ceiling, warm fire and soothing music and hands, was perfect for body and soul.

Altogether, the Winvian experience was wonderful, from the staff who were extremely friendly, always helpful and available but never intrusive, to the cottage, to the food to the grounds. Having looked at a number of the other cottages, we realized that if we were not in the mood for “camping” we might instead enjoy a quiet weekend in the Library, getting lost in the second floor gallery of books, or perhaps a few days in Beaver Lodge, built like a dam in the river, complete with cascading water filling the bathtub from the opening in the 12 foot ceiling. For our next visit, however, we are going to take the need for a transporting experience literally and stay in Helicopter with a full size Coast Guard helicopter in the living room (it’s the bar). No matter how many dreams we have of perfect inns around the world, Winvian will be able to fulfill almost all of them – close to home in Litchfield, Ct. We are already looking forward to our 26th, 27th, 28th, etc. anniversaries and a return to the transporting experience of Winvian.

We stayed in one of the Winvian cottages, Camping, for a weekend in early January 2007, as their first guests. The design of the cottage is stunning; you feel that you are living in the woods. It is comfortable and secluded. There are lots of gadgets in the room; it was not obvious how to operate some of them (ask for instruction manuals). Although camping is one of the smaller cottages, it was enough for us and our dog loved it.

The food was the highlight of our stay - the chef, Chris Eddy, and the food manager, Paolo Middei, took exquisite care of us. Before every dinner, we picked out wines at the cellar. All the meals were terrific.