Simply grand

Spent the night at the Mountain View Grand hotel and spa in Whitefield. Oh my gosh! It’s a beauty. So far it’s my favorite of the three grand hotels in the North Country where I’ve stayed. It’s warmer somehow, friendlier, cozier than both the Balsams and the Mount Washington Hotel.  Our room was absolutely pristine. The hallways are lined with handsomely lit art, mostly mountain scenes. The staff, very friendly -- and they remembered our names. Also, seemed to me, a bit more reasonably priced.  Check the website. We ate at the Tavern instead of the main dining room (which has real fancy food).  For $15 I had prime rib with all the fixings and dessert included. Top notch.

In the morning, I enjoyed my favorite Eggs Benedict (best ever!); John ordered waffles with berries and cream.  His waffles were a little late – the first batch stuck in the waffle maker. Our waitress was mortified that she had to serve my food before John’s so the eggs wouldn’t get cold. The dining room manager came over and very discreetly said the entire breakfast was free because of the delay. Pretty darned nice, I thought.  

Favorite part:  A working farm on the property run by Krista Diego. The gardens hadn’t been planted yet, but had been plowed. Horses for riding. Goats for milking. (Last year guests got to bottle-feed some of the baby goats.)  Sheep for shearing. And two Sicilian donkeys, Ringo and Coco. Ringo rested his head on my hand while I scratched his ears. Who knew donkeys could be so affectionate, not just to each other but to strangers?

One disappointment, we didn’t see any of the ghosts. Not the Gray Lady, nor the little girl, nor the handsome man, said to walk the halls. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

Mountain View Grand Hotel -- highly recommended by the Moose of Humor. 

Here’s a picture of the main part of the hotel.  If you play golf, the course looks pretty challenging.