After a 10 hour train ride that left late we arrived at The Inn at Essex. A full service resort that was charming and packed with amenities.
The front desk area had coffee in the morning and warm apple cider at night. There was a cozy library packed with books, puzzles, and games.
Thursday night we were assigned a wheelchair accessible room. This is not our preference so after breakfast Friday morning we asked for a different room. We were easily accommodated and ended up just down the hall in a red room. The sitting area is pictured below.
They also offered complimentary turn down service - but they didn't tell you that at check-in. We read it in the hotel information book and made sure to call for our turn-down every night. Housekeeping turned down the bed, turned the lights to low, set jazz music on the radio, and left Lake Champlain chocolates on the pillows. Who doesn't love turn down service?
The Inn at Essex had a beautiful spa facility. We spent most of Friday afternoon/early evening relaxing in the spa. We both enjoyed a massage and then spent some time in the lounge - we even shared a cheese plate. From there we went to the separate men's/woman's facilities to enjoy the steam room and sauna. The spa was really quiet and we almost had the entire place to ourselves, I can't think of a better way to spend the day.
The grounds at the Inn were pretty much covered in snow (although for Vermont it was hardly any snow), but there were plenty of great architectural features like the gazebo at the intersection of various walkways that we were able to enjoy.
And we're always suckers for a swimming pool. They had a huge indoor pool. It was the nicest indoor pool facility I have ever seen. It was clean, it didn't smell like too much chlorine, it wasn't musty, they had big fluffy towels and lots of pool toys.
And they had an outdoor hot tub! The hot tub looked better at night, with just a few lights and lots of steam rising up from the hot water. It was so cold outside, no matter how long you stayed in the hot tub you never were over heated. The night we went in the hot tub it was about 14 degrees outside - it was really cold going from the indoor pool to the hot tub, getting out was better as you were nice and warm from sitting in the hot tub for so long.
Vermont might not have been Dublin, but it was a great vacation. This was our second trip to Vermont and we know we will go back. Vermont has beautiful scenery, friendly people, maple syrup, and cheese - what else do you need in life?
