This New Vermont Hotel Is Perfect For Every Season

Manchester is one of the top tourist towns in New England, and for many good reasons. It’s full of attractions, outdoor activities, has one of the best assortments of restaurants in the northeast, and it is well located in an especially beautiful corner of the Green Mountain State. It’s the closest major tourist town in Vermont to the huge New York metro area drive market, and is renowned for its upscale factory outlet shopping, a world apart from the ubiquitous outlet malls with low end brands and made-for-outlet merchandise. Instead, the stores here are spread around town, fit more into the landscape than in most other places, and skew higher end, with the likes of Armani, Tumi and cashmere specialist TSE. Manchester also has its own homegrown retail scene, with one of New England’s most popular independent bookstores (Northshire Books), the factory and flagship store of culinary product and cutting board specialist JK Adams, and of course, the huge and gorgeous flagship store of Orvis, America’s oldest mail order retailer, stocked with a vast range of high end fishing gear, shotguns, and every outdoor bell and whistle you could imagine (they also offer fly fishing classes). Orvis is an easy walk from the hotel.

From spring through fall Manchester offers tons of hiking and biking and easy access to Green Mountain National Forest, is home to a Walter Travis designed (and Rees Jones renovated) golf course, and is 5-minutes from historic Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home. The area offers exceptional fall foliage viewing – right now and for weeks to come. In winter it is the lodging gateway to both Stratton and Bromley, two nearby major New England ski resorts. In short, Manchester is a great place to visit – and now it has a great new resort for visitors.

The 87-room Kimpton Taconic Hotel is Kimpton’s first and only hotel in Vermont, and I recently stayed a weekend as a guest of the brand, mainly because Kimpton is known for being exceptionally pet friendly, and since I have to fly so much for work, whenever I can drive I try to only stay at hotels where I can bring my dog – plus, we don’t get too many high profile new hotel openings here in Vermont, where I live. I have stayed at other Kimpton properties around the country (I’ve stayed at most top hotel brands) but never with my dog, and it lived up to billing, from the warm welcome with lobby water bowls and gourmet biscuits to the retail shop with pet accessories to the in-room dog bed to the chain’s signature lobby wine reception each evening, which was overflowing with dog owners. Breakfast on the classic outdoor New England terrace was also dog friendly and popular with traveling owners, and Manchester has several other pet friendly eateries with outdoor seating. The concierge was well informed on nearby off leash hiking trails and swimming holes – including plenty within walking distance of the Taconic. All of this comes with no pet surcharges.

Human amenities include complimentary morning coffee and organic tea service, the nightly manager-hosted social hour with snacks, outdoor adventure maps with hiking and running suggestions, yoga mats in every room, loaner bikes for exploring town, a well-equipped 24-hour fitness center, and outdoor lap pool

The hotel has spacious and comfortable modern rooms but they are designed with New England flair and local materials, including oak furniture, with thoughtful touches like locally made in-room walking sticks (for both kids and adults), and there are three free standing cottages in addition to the conventional rooms. While less than a year old, the Taconic looks like a longtime part of town, with its white clapboard exterior, wrap around porch and residential feel. The lobby is inviting, and spills into the Living Room, where the evening wine reception is held in front of a double-sided fireplace. Photos from the local historic society line guestroom and hallway walls, and modern bathrooms have spacious walk in showers. The hotel is with walking distance of many of the town’s very best restaurants, including the Reluctant Panther, Silver Spoon and the Chop House. But I was pretty impressed with the Taconic’s own restaurant, the Copper Grouse, which perfectly fits the New England aesthetic and serves local fare celebrating the Vermont’s farm bounty in all four seasons, with an emphasis on local specialties like artisanal cheeses. Ingredients are sourced directly from more than 60 local farms, resulting in elevated comfort food dishes such as a regional classic, Cheddar Ale Soup, made with prized cheddar from Grafton Village Cheese and Switchback Ale brewed in Burlington. The Copper Grouse offers a real sense of place that also tastes great, and has a welcoming cozy feel, an open-exhibition kitchen, and a long list of craft beer and specialty cocktails, many featuring Vermont made spirits.

Kimpton is not known as a top tier luxury brand, but the Taconic plays above its weight class and delivers a warm, welcoming and authentic taste of New England, with a near perfect location, and you can’t ask for much more than that. It is a very welcome addition to the region and will be especially handy come ski season – it just dipped below freezing at night for the first time.

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