Today is our last day at the Hillard House, and it has been a pleasure. This will be up there with…read moresome of my Favorite B&B experiences.
Communication with the owners was uncomplicated and straight forward. I wanted to book one or 2 nights, to celebrate my 1 year anniversary with my fiance. The owners worked with us, and we were booked for 2 nights (Saturday/Sunday nights) in the Gold room.
Check in was easy...We were asked to tell what time we wanted breakfast (between 8 and 10am), confirmed our credit card used to book the reservation, and were taken upstairs. The building is gorgeous..built in 1865, and decorated tastefully with period appropriate decorations and carefully chosen accents, avoiding the tendency of some B&Bs to become a huge collection of clutter.
The staircase is a gorgeous spiral/curved stair, and up the center of the staircase is an antique elevator, added in the 1930s. Our luggage went on the elevator, and we were shown into the Gold room.
The gold room has a tall 4 poster Queen size bed, an adorable fireplace with electric fake insert that makes real crackling noise, and a bathroom with single stand-up shower. The pass-through between bathroom and bedroom has a small fridge with complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, and small coffee pot. The room is equipped with glasses for wine, coffee, tea, and other typical amenities.
We enjoyed our stay in the Gold room. A table in the gold room allowed for a quiet spot to play board games later that evening, and the "crackling fire" was a surprising hit for both of us. (We may buy one for ourselves now.) The downside of the gold room for me is the stand up shower. It is small, and all tile, which made me feel a bit claustrophobic. This is not a deal breaker, in an otherwise excellent and relatively affordable ($145 listed price for a Saturday night, as of Feb. 2018) bed and breakfast option.
Breakfast the next morning was excellent. The table was set with a gorgeous peacock patterned china that I'm now in love with, (Sadly I think they will notice if I steal some...guess I'll need to search online...)
We started with an apple and oat muffin, served hot. Gordon (one of the owners) provided us with beverages, while Cecilia (the co-owner and chef) prepared breakfast. We were given a fresh fruit bowl. The pineapple was perfectly sweet. Our main breakfast food was Eggs Benedict on croissants. I find this to be slightly surprising as a dish served to guests without letting them know ahead of time, as some people can not stomach undercooked/poached eggs. My fiance is one of those who doesn't like eggs "runny"...but he cleaned his plate, to my surprise. The Hollandaise sauce was thick and creamy and unbroken, the asparagus spears topping the dish were cooked perfectly, and still had a bit of bite to them. Crispy slices of croissant were great to dunk in egg yolk, and the ham slice in between added the salt the dish needed.
I was fully satisfied with the breakfast, at this bed and breakfast.
We went out for the day Sunday to visit family. I checked with the owners before we left to see if we could switch our room from the Gold room to the Dutchess Suite for Sunday night, knowing that the couple staying in the Suite had checked out. For an acceptable upcharge, we were able to move to the Suite for Sunday night.
The Suite is gorgeous, and if I could do another getaway weekend here at the Inn, I'd book the Suite. It has multiple rooms, a well appointed kitchenette closet (silverware, dishes, fridge, coffee/tea pot, microwave, sink), a parlor for watching TV or playing games, and another 4 poster bed, this one lower to the ground than the Gold Room. An unexpected bonus for us is a plug-in fan found in the kitchenette closet. My fiance needs white noise to sleep, and this was awesome.
The bathroom is what makes this Suite the best, for me. It has a larger standing corner shower, and a sunken whirlpool tub. I think I soaked in the tub for over an hour, until I could have floated out.
The only downside to the Dutchess Suite that I noticed, was the bed. It is an old 4 poster bed, positioned on a gorgeous wood floor, and even with protective coasters under the feet of the bed, the bed squeaks anytime you roll over or move. This made for a disruptive night of sleep, as we are each restless sleepers. I'm not sure this is something that can really be fixed, and isn't a fault of the owners, it is just a downside for us.
This morning I got up and made myself a pot of tea, and I've enjoyed typing this review on the free (and fast!) wifi, while relaxing in the beautiful parlor.
I don't know what our last breakfast is going to be, here, but I'm on my way downstairs to find out.
5 stars, Hillard House. We'll be back...this place is a great find, and an accent to Wilkes-Barre's beautiful small town feel.