Under $100

The smell of buttered popcorn fills the lobby of the Latchis Hotel (50 Main St., Brattleboro, 802/254-6300, www.latchis.com, $80–180), an unusual art deco theater-hotel. Period details like terrazzo floors and chrome fixtures transport guests back to the 1930s. The rooms themselves are a bit run-down, but an ongoing renovation has been spiffing them up of late, and the central location and historic-cool ambience more than make up the difference.

Named after the wife of the Revolutionary War general, the friendly Molly Stark Motel (Rte. 9, W. Brattleboro, 802/254-2440, $45–75) has basic rooms on the road towards Marlboro and Mount Snow, and is pet-friendly.

If you plan on skiing at Mount Snow but don’t want to stay at the resort, you can get package rates on lift tickets along with lodging at the historic Old Red Mill Inn (Rte. 100, Wilmington, 802/464-3700 or 877/732-6455, www.oldredmill.com, $60–90). Cheap doesn’t mean chintzy at this authentic ski-lodge style B&B with warm, friendly staff and a wraparound fireplace in the lobby. Located in the center of Wilmington in a real converted old lumber mill, the country inn also offers a tavern menu of New England cuisine.

$100–150

Reasonably priced accommodations north of Brattleboro can be found at the Putney Inn (I-91, exit 4, Putney, www.putneyinn.com, $98–188). It has clean, basic rooms with quilts and flowered wallpaper, and includes a Vermont country breakfast in the rates.

There is no easier way for an outsider to feel part of the community than to stay at The Artist’s Loft B&B and Gallery (103 Main St., Brattleboro, 802/257-5181,www.artistsloft.com, $138–178), located among the galleries along Main Street. Artists Patricia Long and William Hays rent out a suite with an inspirational view of the river; guests are invited to observe the artists at work and shoot the breeze in the adjoining studio and gallery.

Cinnamon-baked apples and ice cream with breakfast are just the start of the Vermont hospitality at
Baked Apples at Shearer Hill Farm (802/464-3253 or 800/437-3104, www.shearerhillfarm.com, $115), where gregarious innkeepers Patty and Bill Pusey have taken a former farm and car junkyard and transformed it into a quiet retreat several miles back from the highway. The bed-and-breakfast features plush king-sized beds along with fields of Hereford cows, potatoes, and wildflowers.

Romance practically runs from the faucets at the Crosby House 1868 (175 Western Ave., Brattleboro, 802/257-4914 or 800/528-1868, www.crosbyhouse.com, $140–165), a bed-and-breakfast on the west side of Brattleboro. Three individual rooms each have queen-sized beds and fireplaces; the largest has a double-whirlpool bath. Fans of Merchant/Ivory films will love the afternoon tea, at which the innkeepers lay out a selection of gloves and hats for guests, along with feathers and other accessories for “decorating.”

$150–250

On a sunny day, one might be blinded by all of the white clapboard that surrounds the town common in Newfane. Several of the buildings there are part of the Four Columns Inn (on the green, Newfane, 802/254-2352, www.fourcolumnsinn.com, $175–400), an upscale bed-and-breakfast with 15 rooms. In some, the bathrooms are nearly as big as the bedrooms, complete with whirlpool tubs and gas fireplaces.

A bit stuffier, but no less luxurious, is Grafton’s historic Old Tavern (Grafton, 800/843-1801, www.old-tavern.com, $160–420), which enjoyed a reputation after the Civil War as a hangout for literary types, including Rudyard Kipling, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. History practically speaks from the walls, along with oil portraits of presidents, four-poster beds, and period furniture.

You can’t get much more elegant than the White House (178 Rte. 9 East, Wilmington, 802/464-2135 or 866/774-2135, www.whitehouseinn.com, $125–295), a hilltop Victorian mansion with enough terraces, fireplaces, and whirlpools to melt the most obstinate honeymooner.

© Michael Blanding and Alexandra Hall from Moon New England, 2nd Edition