Background: Having stayed away for several years, I looked up Ravenwood again on a whim. I was surprised to read their website and to find that they were under new ownership and management. I was even more surprised to read up on some of the changes that the new owners were adding- such as themed weekends and gaming getaways. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find that Shadow Stalkers were doing Murder Mystery weekends again after a hiatus of several years. Since our last stay several years ago was at one of these Murder Mysteries, I jumped at the first cancellation announced so that we could go back and do this again.

Lodging: We booked the Clock Tower and were looking forward to having the roomy cottage to ourselves. Unfortunately, when we arrived we discovered that it was unavailable due to frozen pipes. We were given the choice of another room and a price discount and ended up staying in the Queen Elizabeth room, which we had stayed in before. We were, of course, only charged the reduced rate with a 10% discount. While we were disappointed by not getting our original cottage for the weekend we found that staying in the Castle during one of these murder mysteries on a very cold weekend is actually quite convenient. On the plus side, we were close to breakfast, dinner, all of the puzzles and clues, etc. On the negative, if you are an early riser, like me, you have to wait for the cook to arrive and make coffee and soak in the whirlpool with a good book for a few hours. Also, it's a castle so walking around makes noise for those below you. On the whole, since we shaved about $200 off of the weekend's expenses I didn't have too much to complain about.

Food: We had two dinners and two breakfasts at the Castle and everything we ate was delicious. One of the best additions from the new management is the ability to purchase soups and sandwiches during the day. The beer and cheese soup especially was very yummy.

The Murder Mystery: I highly recommend attending one of these weekends, but they sell out quickly so book early! I don't know of any other experience of this type anywhere within driving distance. It's an awesome way to escape from reality and yourself for a couple of days and it's affordable! Denham and his crew have puzzles everywhere and it's great to test your brain in a way that doesn't feel like work.

It seems that the new owners are coming up with lots of good ideas for weekends and events. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. I will definitely be keeping my eye on the event calendar to find the next excuse we can find to come back.

We stayed in the Silversmiths Cottage and it was sooo cute! The upstairs is the master suite and is huge. The heart shaped tub is much larger than the pic looks. It was great after a day of hitting the trails. People were friendly and when we asked for help cleaning up webs in our cottage they came right away to do it. Bed was comfortable. Food was very good too. If you look closely to cleanliness, as I do, you will find deep cleaning needs, such as walls, doors, windowsills and ceilings, but the basics were very clean. I think it may be our new weekend away spot!

My wife and I had wanted to stay at Ravenwood for a long time. We saw a deal pop up on Living Social and after reading the positive reviews on the new owners and innkeepers, we decided to make the trip. We were NOT disappointed!

We stayed in the King Arthur suite and it was wonderful! We loved that it was next to the Great room, yet secluded away from the other rooms. There was a balcony that overlooked the garden as well. It had a working easy-to-use fireplace downstairs and a giant king bed upstairs. The mural on the upstairs wall was a nice touch! There was also a nice marble chess set on the table downstairs (as you can probably tell by now, the King Arthur suite has 2 floors!). The bathroom was clean and the whirlpool tub was big! There were couches and chairs both upstairs and down, so plenty of places to stretch out.

The innkeepers were gracious and super-nice folks! They were always present if you needed anything, and would always check on you if they saw you. We enjoyed the conversations and it was nice to see a family taking care of the place, not just co-workers. Steve was very much in communication with us during our visit as well as when booking our reservation.

We had dinner and breakfast there as part of our stay. The food was served buffet-style, but do not think that means it's processed, it is not! The food was homemade and excellent! We talked about the orange spiced ham for 2 days lol There was also plenty of food and you couldn't leave there hungry if your tried. We met the chef in the morning during breakfast and she was very friendly and kept making us eat more lol There was another family of travelers staying there as well, so we all sat at the same giant table for dinner and enjoyed some friendly conversation. Overall it was a great experience!

My wife and I travel a LOT for both work and leisure. We stay at B&B's all over the place. We will definitely be returning to Ravenwood, hopefully in the Fall! The castle is set atop a big mountain in the woods. Very appropriate and beautiful.

As for suggestions or "cons", I don't have much. Possibly a clock radio? There is very little cell service there (not a con at all, the seclusion was nice plus we could still make calls out more often than not, Verizon Wireless) so I had my phone powered off quite a bit to save the battery. I needed it to check the time and set an alarm in the AM. The only other suggestion we had was maybe adding the typical small assortment of bath products that you find in most places. (mini shampoo, conditioner, etc...) That was the only thing we weren't prepared for. Again, not a deal breaker.

Also, and this is NOT a reflection on Ravenwood itself, but the county is a dry county so there are no liquor sales on Sunday, meaning the pub is not open. The innkeeper gave us the heads-up when making our reservation, so we came prepared with a couple of bottle of wine. Not an issue at all!

Overall, we had a great time and look forward to coming back again! Recommended for sure!

Great room, great food! Only one negative, It had snowed and the looong driveway was almost impassable. Took 3 tries to get up the hill. Reservations and follow-up was very good. Would be a great place for a group of friends as well.