Strange place to stay. One of the downstairs rooms was wet & moldy; the other (ours) was OK. Prices very very high---overrun with plastic flowers. The owner kept following us around with coasters to put under everything and kept telling us where to put our glasses, our cutlery, our suitcases. She told one man to take off his wet shoes in the hall, and if he had colored socks to take them off before he went into his room so he wouldn't bleed color onto the rug. When we made drinks in the living room, she freaked out as we spilled 2 drops on the coffee table and wiped it up with a napkin. It had to be polished immediately. One of our group didn't arrive till 10pm and got reamed out by the owner for being late as she (the owner) had to get up at 5am to start breakfast. She didn't care that the guest had paid $185 for the room and had just driven 7 hours to get there. The upstairs was unbearable hot -- about 80*. The frilly touches were a bit over the top -- too many plastic swags of flowers, but the antiques were fantastic. The upkeep was rather shabby on the structure & the grounds and a big huge spider fell off the shower head onto my friend in the bathroom. But with a group of friends to share the weirdness, it was like something from a wacked out movie. We'll be talking about this for years. Bizarre....

Although the Bitter Sweet Inn was indeed dusty and a bit outdated (as other visitors have commented) the breakfast was incredible and incomparable. My partner and I have stayed in many inns on the east coast and though admittedly the accomodations were superior in some, breakfast at the Bitter Sweet was far better than any I have ever stayed in. The asparagus frittata was especially delicious and we found the proprietor to be a warm and delightful person. As a side note, the fall colors of this particular area are worth any price and any level of accomodation--they are truly spectacular!

Plan months in advance if you head to Rhinebeck in July. This place was suggested to us by another Inn proprieter and its rooms looked great on its website. We are a laidback, but seasoned world-traveling couple and this place was so bad we left. The upstairs rooms look ok, but my god, the downstairs room was so awful... there was MOLD growing on the walls and there TWO de-humidifiers. There was thick layers of dust on very old furniture (from the 70s likely), bugs, etc. Within 1 hour of being in that room, our eyes were watering, throats itching, faces swelling... seriously. We couldn't sleep at all.

There were unhealthly levels of dust and mold in that place and we have a dozen photos to prove it, which we had to do with the owner. When we explained that the conditions were unhealthy and unacceptable for any guest, she said people love the room, it was a favorite, we must have allergies. We've been to remote parts of china, inside textile mills in indonesia, camped on the pacific crest trail and live in dirty new york city, and have never had the type of reaction we did to this place. This woman just kept denying there was a problem and refused to refund unless she could find someone else to pay for the room. It wasn'until we told her we had photos and went into great detail about the unhealthy conidtions that she decided to charge us for 1 night and credit us the second night. She should NEVER allow ANY guest to stay in those conditions!

This is a bizarre review because we didn't actually stay at the Bitter Sweet B&B. We didn't eat the breakfast. We didn't walk in the door. We didn't stay there because we were so seethingly angry with the proprietor that we opted for the Super 8 Motel in Hyde Park, NY on our wedding night. This despite a reservation. We gave the room to our friends and their two energetic, voracious young daughters.

A small revenge for the act of ultimate betrayal by the proprietor. Quite simply, she failed to honor a confirmed reservation for five rooms, although we had, at her insistence, sent her our credit card number by phone and by fax. She decided to give us only three, without notice, before a holiday weekend. This may seem like a minor slight, but this was our wedding weekend, and we had guests coming from all over the world literally.

This is every traveler's greatest fear - showing up at the appointed time and place with reservation in hand, only to find out that you do not have a room and there is little else available.

We are on this site because we are the types of people who plan and worry and reserve and confirm and confirm again.

The Bittersweet does not deserve our trust or our business.