It's too late to turn back now.   For at least 6 years, we have offered a $30 Gift Certificate to our local wine/gourmet food shop to every couple who stays at Hampton Terrace for 2 weekend nights (or more) from November 1 to June 20, plus September.  For starters, Nejaimes is a GREAT shop, full of the best choices in wine, beer and spirits and a trained staff that can help our guests find exactly what they want.   But more than that, Nejaimes is also 50% gourmet food….a by-product of the fact that it is a key place for people who are shopping for their lawn picnics at Tanglewood.   Huge selection of cheeses, breads, home-made sides and other things that compliment your bottle of wine.

What I mean, "it's too late to turn back now" is that this is such a popular amenity, that people come back year after year to Hampton Terrace because they feel the gift certificate is such an integral part of their stay.   We have a family heirloom bar that is open only to our guests and is stocked with glasses, openers, plates, knives, etc., and we have four public room fireplaces where our guests can settle in and enjoy their bounty.

The owners of Nejaimes told us that another local inn asked if they could start offering the gift certificates as well.   The inn said that one of their inquirers had chosen Hampton Terrace over them because of the promotion.   But that was several years ago, we know we are still the only ones doing it.

So the Romantic Weekend Package is here to stay and we welcome anyone who is looking for a Lenox bed and breakfast to give us a call and lock in your weekend.   Most of our rooms feature fireplaces and Jacuzzis and we are very proud to be currently rated #1 in the Trip Advisor rankings from over 30 Lenox inns.  

Hampton Terrace is a proud member of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau,and  the Lenox Chamber of Commerce and was recently chosen by the editors of BedandBreakfast.com as one of the top places to stay for foliage.  

As of the November 1st weekend, our rates drop 30% from the current level and include the $30 gift certificate mentioned and full breakfast buffet.

In 1995, when I received a job offer to move to the Berkshires, Susan and I flew to Lenox with our two daughters, aged 13 and 14 to check things out.   It was a mid-September weekend and we arrived to find a large crowd roaming the two-square blocks of the village.   Apple Squeeze.

Wow.   It sold me and I am here to sell you.

What a great way to see what New England small town living is all about!   Take notice, Manhattan dwellers…it is what you need a dose of very once in a while.   This year, September 26-28, the streets will once again fill with what the locals have to share.    Yes, apples are in season, so there will be locally made apple donuts and pies, but the Apple Squeeze is so much more.

Most of the shops will fill the sidewalk with inventory which did not sell to the summer crowd at substantial discounts.   The restaurants will be setting up booths on the front porches to give you samples from their menus inside, or setting up grills to cook chicken and burgers to order.  Pretty much anyone who wants to set up a booth can do so…and the diversity is astounding.    Most of the local cultural attractions will have booths to educate the milling crowds about their offerings (Shakespeare & Company, Ventfort Hall, The Mount, etc) as well as Canyon Ranch, Cranwell and other spas and resorts.  

Very importantly, this is not another "craft fair" with the same vendors that travel from town to town.   Everyone in the Apple Squeeze is local…and this include glass blowers, artists, and craftsmen.    A really great way to get to know our area.

But back to apples.   The weekend is called "Apple Squeeze" because it coincides with the trillions of apples hanging around the Berkshires, ready to sample from the trees and pick by the bushel.   We'll be glad to give you directions.    Beyond apples, we know of several local farms that REALLY do a good job of providing an "harvest experience" (Ioka Farms is an example.)

Hampton Terrace will still be using our off-season rates in September and a two-night stay qualifies for the "Romantic Weekend Package," including a gift certificate to the local wine shop, Nejaimes, and rates less than $200 night.    We are ranked #1 in Lenox by Trip Advisor, based on our guests' satisfaction.  

Why is Lenox here?   Don't start me on that…..well okay, a little bit.  

At the turn of the century, Lenox, fueled in part by Edith Wharton's famous phrase "keeping up with the Joneses," became the "inland Newport," a concentration of Gilded Age homes and parties unrivaled in America.   Famous late-summer names included Vanderbilt, Morgan, Westinghouse, Carnegie, Proctor, Wharton, Sloane and scores of others.  They called their homes "cottages."   Our beloved Hampton Terrace was considered in that category.

And they called their beautiful horse-drawn carriages "tubs."   Both tongue-in-cheek characterizations were thin attempts to minimize their otherwise ostentatious life-styles.   We won't expound upon whose backs these fortunes were made….but now, 100-years later, it is fun to gawk at their great monuments to excess.   Which brings me to September 12-14, "A Weekend of the Gilded Age" in Lenox.

So let's start with the "tubs."   When these great estates were abandoned in the 1920s and 1930s, many of the original carriages were left hanging in their carriage houses.   Several decades ago, a local organization formed to rescue as many of these magnificent carriages as possible and find a way to use them in their former context.  That was not hard.   During the heyday of Lenox's Gilded Age, the 'famous" families of Lenox would venture into town for a month or so, have their parties, and then depart en-masse to their next destination (summer houses, fall houses, winter houses, city houses, etc).   Before leaving, they would cover their carriages with flowers, load up their families, and participate in Lenox's annual "Tub Parade," where they would wave good-bye to the locals until next year.   I think I used the word "ostentatious" before, and now I'll use "pretentious."

So how much fun would it be to reanimate that scene?   As it turns out, a LOT of fun.   Lenox's annual "Tub Parade" will be held Saturday afternoon, September 13, and it occurs just several hundred feet from Hampton Terrace's front door.   There will be hundreds of people attempting to find parking places before the parade.   Not our guests.   One of the many benefits of staying at Hampton Terrace, of course.   Another benefit:

The signature event during the Gilded Age Weekend is an actual Gilded Age Ball at Ventfort Hall on Saturday evening, the 13th.   Imagine you are an invited guest of the Morgan family, enjoying their Berkshire "cottage," smoking their cigars, drinking their wine….and here is the benefit of staying at Hampton Terrace….staggering across the street to fall into your bed.  I'll leave the light on.

And what is a Gilded Age weekend without the official chronicler of the Gilded Age, Edith Wharton, not weighing in.   "The Mount" grounds will be open on Sunday afternoon for picnics for just $10 with all proceeds supporting the mansion.   It is possible to also add a discounted tour of the house itself.

The GREAT NEWS is that Hampton Terrace considers September a "low season" month.   All rooms in the Main House and Carriage House are $189/night and we do STILL include the $30 Gift Certificate to Nejaimes, the wine shop with a 2-night stay.   How can I afford that, my banker asks?   By filling up, I answer.   So please make my banker happy.