Wonderful little New England inn in a gorgeous Vermont town. Tranquil, peaceful and thoroughly enjoyable.

My boyfriend booked this trip as a mini getaway for the two of about a month back. No tvs, no cellphone service (if you have verizon) and just absolute tranquility. I believe he booked the romantic getaway package which included breakfast, dinner and champagne, chocolates and a cheese platter in our room. We stayed once before in November of 2005 and had a very nice time back then. The staff is very accommodating. The rooms are beyond clean! You might think you need to be very quiet in the room because it seems like you can hear a pin drop but I do think that the way the Inn rooms are built just cut down on noise. The food in the restaurant was good. Not great but good. The portions are kind of small so don't go starving :) The service was great for both breakfast and dinner. I really enjoyed breakfast. The view of the terrain from the room you have breakfast in is very beautiful. We ventured out to the close town of Chester for some shopping and lunch and found a great BBQ place called "Curtis's". Its going to be featured in Rachel Ray Magazine in May! Great BBQ sauce and corn chowder. Phelps barn is open for drinks and entertainment until about 10pm. The bartender was very accommodating and friendly. We had bought snacks, cheese and wine to have in our room while watching the snow and drinking champagne. I cant wait to go back!!

I had great hopes for this inn in the beautiful town of Grafton. Although the restaurant was well-hyped, the food was sub par. The free range chicken was overcooked, as were the scallops that accompanied the fish. On day 2 we'd had a late lunch and didn't want to try another dinner. So we decided to just go down for dessert and coffee. After waiting for several minutes at the hostess stand, I went in to the restaurant in seach of someone. I asked a gentleman in the bar if my wife and I could get dessert. He suggested that I go back out to the front hotel check in desk and ask them. I asked him "you mean I should go back out to the front desk, to ask if I can come back in here?". He didn't offer to get the hostess or waitress, etc. So I went out to the front desk and waited a few minutes for the lady to get off a personal call. When I explained my situation she said "Oh, he's just the bartender, he doesn't know anything"
Anyway, not the level of friendliness or service I expected from this quaint Vermont inn.

We stayed at the Old Tavern the last weekend of September, 2007, and it was fabulous. We were upgraded to a suite, The Cricketteer, which is a separate house with a meeting room on the first floor, so there was no one underneath us. The whole top floor was ours and extremely private. The furnishings and bedding were lush and comfortable and the huge bath with jacuzzi was amazing! A lovely patio in the back made it a perfect retreat. We toured the grounds during the day on Saturday, which turned out to be Norman Rockwell-like; nothing commercial, but rather quaint and unspoiled. Just the entire atmosphere was relaxing and totally "autumn like". It didn't hurt that the weather was magniicent! The food was great, and the surroundings fit the mood perfectly; a beautiful dining room with period pieces. I would recommend this inn to anyone looking for a peaceful weekend in the country, but with all the amenities of a large, upscale hotel. We are definitely coming back next year or sooner!