Thursday Doors – B & B

I have to be honest, I don’t think of myself as a Bed and Breakfast kind of guy. I’m too much of an introvert to take a chance on sharing some part of my travel experience with basically random folks. Accordingly, I’ve never looked into a B&B. Well, until last week.

One of my coworkers retired, and instead of going to the tried and true restaurant across the street that we always go to, the planners of her party took us a mile away to the Connecticut River Valley Inn. While standing outside on a covered patio, one of my coworkers pointed to the little outbuilding and suggested that maybe I could use that for Thursday Doors. Initially, I didn’t want to be “that guy” who spends time at a social function off pursuing a different interest. I mean, of course, I am comfortable with that guy, but I didn’t want to draw attention to it at this event. Until the owner of the Inn offered to give us a tour of the inside.

She encouraged photography.

When I told her about Thursday Doors, she said the thing we door addicts all would want her to say: “feel free to close any doors you like, if it would make a better picture.” Once the inside tour was complete, I didn’t feel bad at all about snagging a photo of that outbuilding.

The Inn is just south of the retail district of Glastonbury, CT.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not sure why people that were desperately trying to escape the perceived tyranny of England, named everything in the “new world” after something in the old one, but…yes, I digress…again.

As the name implies, the Inn is also close to the Connecticut River. A very scenic river trail is about a 2-3-minute walk away from the beautifully landscaped grounds of the Inn.

The rooms at the Inn are romantic. OK, that’s not my word, but I would agree that they could be perceived as being romantic. I would say that the rooms offer a very nice New England “period” experience. Don’t take that to mean rustic or B&B-scary, as in shared bathrooms and no Internet. The rooms we toured all had their own bathroom and there is free WiFi throughout the building.

Our event was catered, but the Inn’s kitchen had the appearance of a room in which very nice meals are prepared. The common areas, which include a formal and an informal living room and a dining room look like a nice place to hang out for a while, even with a few strangers. Maybe getting to know them. Maybe letting them get to know me…maybe.

I would recommend this Inn to anyone looking for a B&B in central CT. I would especially recommend it to someone from outside of New England and for anyone coming from another country, looking for a non-blah-hotel experience. The New England ambience, the gracious host, the location that offers outdoor activity, walkable retail and proximity to some very nice restaurants, combine to present a nice base from which to work or explore.

Enjoy the photos in the gallery.

Don’t tell Norm, but I like signs, almost as much as I like doors.

All the rooms are separated by double doors.

This is the outbuilding I wasn’t going to photograph.

The grounds are beautiful.

One of the bedrooms.

Bedroom

Formal living room.

These are the doors to the dining room. I was encouraged to close them.

Dining Room

I love the shelf units next to the windows.

Door from one of the bedrooms out onto a wrap-around deck.

Again, I was encouraged to close the bathroom doors (it does make a better picture).

Ironically, the guest entrance is around the back.

I like the coffered ceiling in this bedroom.

This post is part of Norm Frampton’s fun little series called Thursday Doors. If you visit Norm’s page, you can see his door(s) and you’ll find a blue linky thing near the bottom. Click that to add your own door or to see all the others.