Lenox, the vortex of the Berkshires, is a small, historic New England village….for much of the year. But the summer is quite different. Since 1937, the Boston Symphony has spent every summer at Tanglewood, a Gilded Age great estate that straddles the Lenox and Stockbridge town lines. The world-famous venue is known now for two primary stages: The "Shed" and Ozawa Hall. Both are covered and allow ample lawn seating. Primary concerts held on Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. But the Boston Pops performs about three times per summer on other evenings, and on any given night, there will be something going on somewhere in one of the venues: soloists, chamber groups, opera. Tanglewood draws in excess of 400,000 during the months of July and August, creating a high demand for lodging, restaurants and information about complementary activities in the area. This is where the Lenox Chamber of Commerce is a valuable tool. Their website, www.lenox.org. does a great job of giving a Lenox overview, but also providing many levels of detailed information to assist visitors in planning their stay. And speaking of their "stay" consider Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast, an inn since 1937. 14 rooms. Full breakfast. 1 mile from Tanglewood. Less than 2 blocks from the furthest point in Lenox Village. CLICK HERE

At Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox, MA, we send a restaurant recommendation list to all of our guests with their confirmations. This list features 5 or 6 restaurants within walking distance of our inn, but also includes another 20 or so in surrounding towns. Since it opened probably 6 years ago, Napa has been at the top of our list and for many of our guests, their favorite restaurant in Lenox. But they are gone. The good news is that they re-opened immediately in Great Barrington with menu totally intact and a much larger space. In Lenox, their building sold, and according to the papers, the new owner (after declaring that he would do what it takes to keep Napa as a tenant) set rent higher than Napa would be willing to pay. So the former Napa space is now empty, although the owner of Napa did lament his absence from Lenox and speculate that he might re-open a location there in a different space. We'll see. Meanwhile, we will continue to send our Hampton Terrace guests to Napa, although instead of a one block walk, it will now be a 20 minute car ride. Susan and I went last week and can testify that the barbecue ribs did not suffer from the relocation. To stay at Hampton Terrace and receive our restaurant recommendations CLICK HERE.

Yes, we'll admit it. March and April were mud season. But it is glorious outside this week. Warm and Springlike, the lawns are now completely green and bulbs are starting to open all over our yard. Suddenly, a thought entered our mind which seemed unthinkable even last week: Call the guy to open our pool! Well, not so fast. Almost. At Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox, we still have availability each of the next weekends between now and late June. Take advantage of our off-season weekend rates of $189/night, which includes full breakfast and a $30 Gift Certificate to the wine/gourmet food shop in town with a 2 night stay or more. CLICK HERE