The eight rooms at Waynesville, NC's Windover Inn feature different themes, from classic Victorian, in keeping with the style of the house, to a brightly colored Caribbean (not shown).
When I called the Windover Inn in Waynesville, NC, to inquire about booking a room there for a few days, I was told only one was available, but it might be gone any minute.
"The lady is trying to convince her husband," said Jen Duerr who, along with her husband Glenn, has run the eight-room Windover for the last two years. "The husband apparently isn't the bed and breakfast type, but she sounds like she is working on him. So if you want the room, you probably shouldn't wait too long."
I committed right away. My gain was the other couple's loss. I just don't get it: Did this guy want to stay at a Days Inn instead because he could get breakfast at McDonald's across the parking lot? Was there a Starbucks within a mile?
All right, I'm not exactly clean on this score either. Every time I stay at a bed and breakfast during one of my "research" trips, I swear I will never stay in a Holiday Inn or Marriott again. But I punk out the next time, worried that I won't have a reliable internet connection for my laptop in some old Victorian home.
Well, never again (again) will I stay in a chain motel. After four nights at the Windover Inn under Jen and Glenn's care and feeding - "feeding" literally - I will never stay in a motel or hotel again unless compelled by some force beyond my control. The Windover offered anything a lodger could possibly need, including a strong internet connection virtually everywhere in the 100-year-old house.
The Windover is located on a small side street a couple of miles from town, and I had a little trouble finding it. A few
guests were chatting on the long and attractive front porch. Jen and Glenn emerged from the kitchen to greet me; the chef's toque on Glenn's head signaled that this bed and breakfast was going to put as much emphasis on the breakfast as it did the bed. And speaking of the bed, the queen size one in The Blue Ridge Room, my home on the top (3rd) floor for four nights, was so soft that I rediscovered the fetal position. Although the room was not large, it had virtually everything I needed, including a sofa, a stall shower (bathtubs are a hassle when you are on a tight schedule) and cable television with more than 70 channels. Best of all - it is often the little things that count most - a fresh pot of coffee was waiting just outside my room from 6 a.m. each morning. The beans were from a local roaster. It was a great kick-start to each day.
My assumptions about a good breakfast were surpassed. Each morning, my fellow guests and I were served an exotic dish of fruit - caramelized apples one morning, berries another - followed by a hot, freshly prepared dish. The waffles Jen and Glenn served one morning were the best I have had in years, and the bacon was pretty special too. Another morning, the strata - a layered egg dish - was loaded with sausage, potatoes and other good stuff. It was a far cry from those buffet deals at the chain motels with their little boxes of cereal and reheated cinnamon buns. Carefully prepared breakfasts like those at the Windover Inn would fetch something like $10 in a restaurant, but everything at a bed and breakfast is all inclusive, including the home-baked cookies in a jar on the living room desk.
My four nights averaged out to $100 per, tax included, about what I paid for a night at an abysmal Holiday Inn in Johnson City, TN, the night before I arrived at the Windover. At the Windover, I not only had a clean, comfortable and visually pleasing room, but also access to books, magazines, the comfy living room and fireplace, tons of brochures, guidebooks and menus from local restaurants, those excellent cookies, and the warmth and flexibility of two professional innkeepers (not some teenager at a motel's front desk who has no clue why your internet connection isn't working). Each evening, Glenn or Jen inquired about my schedule the following morning and prepared something special to send me on my way, even if other guests were scheduled to eat later.
Try getting that kind of service at a Holiday Inn.
The Windover Inn is located at 117 Old Hickory Street in Waynesville, NC. Tel: (866) 452-4411. Web: WindoverInn.com. Rates per night: $105 to $170, with multiple-night discounts available. The Inn is within 30 minutes of excellent golfing communities, such as Laurel Ridge, Balsam Mountain Preserve, Cold Mountain (with a course off premises across the street), and Maggie Valley. The Donald Ross designed course at the Waynesville Golf Club and Inn, available for public play, is less than 10 minutes.
The hot breakfasts served in the Windover's dining room are among the best you will find anywhere.