In the summer of 2021, Teddy and I took a road trip through New England. On the last night of our trip, we ended up staying at one of our top 3 hotels of all time, Mountain Meadows Lodge in Killington, VT. When we initially booked it, I truly didn’t know what to expect. Teddy was in charge of that night so he had showed me some pictures, I said it looked great and we booked it. Little did we know how incredible our time there would be.
We arrived on a Monday night around 8 PM after quite a long day of driving and exploring. The sun had almost set by that point, so we didn’t see much other than the lights on the building driving up. Teddy went in and was greeted by the friendliest woman who told us to come on in and she would give us a tour, accompanied by her beautiful Australian Shepherd, Daisy. She told us that Daisy loves to take the visitors on hikes and that she always knows how to get home. We assumed it was an exaggeration but little did we know we’d be on a hike with Daisy the next day.
The Lodge sits right on Kent Pond and has the Appalachian Trail running through the backyard. There’s opportunity to kayak, row boat, hike around the pond, relax on the deck, by the fire or in an Adirondack chair in the yard. Inside there’s a Bistro, lounge, a game room and place to watch tv. There’s also a kid’s section with books and activities. The barn quite large and give you an opportunity to have your own space outside of your room without feeling crowded at all. We took advantage of the game room the evening we got there and played darts for a while before settling in for the evening.
There are about 10 room options in total, with most of them being in the barn, and the rest in the farmhouse next door. We stayed in the Lakeview Room of the barn and were able to watch the end of the sunset over the pond from our deck in the evening and watch the sunrise come up in the morning. It was beautifully decorated and balanced being updated with also being cozy.
After enjoying the sunrise, we went down to the dock to site on the chairs on the lake for a while and enjoy the morning. After a bit, we then went inside to the buffet breakfast that was prepared decided to each on the porch. We met another couple who had been staying there for a few days and chatted over breakfast with the resident dog, Daisy enjoying the morning on the porch with us. The couple told us that they had taken daisy on the Appalachian Trail the day prior and that she knows the way and that if you go to slow, she will herd you to speed up and follow her.
After talking a bit longer, we went in to the property manager and asked if we could take Daisy with us on a short hike. She encouraged us to take her and that Daisy would love it. We found Daisy outside and before we went on the hike, she ran to get her plastic chicken toy to bring along. We ended up going only a just over a mile or so in the woods before turning around. Daisy was incredible and hilarious. She was truly the best companion on our hike and made it so much fun. It was a great last morning before our 7 or so hour drive home.
Whether you’re here during the summer months for hiking and water adventures, or visiting in the winter for skiing and snowboarding, Mountain Meadows Lodge is so much more than a place to stay overnight; it’s an experience. We wish we could have extended our trip even longer, but promised each other that we’d surely be back.
