I was delighted to find National House Inn while I was planning a trip to visit Dark Horse Brewing. It is less than a half mile away!
I like bed and breakfast places. They are a nice change from the chain hotels. National House is the biggest one that I have ever stayed at. I think they have about 15 rooms. No one was checked in when we arrived, so we looked at all of the rooms on a self guided tour. They vary from tiny with two twin beds to huge with a clawfoot tub bathroom and a private sitting room. My room, the Crary, was in the middle range with a queen bed and small private bath. It was plenty of room for me.
On the technology front. My room contained the tiniest TV that I have ever seen. I believe it was 15". It is like watching a laptop from across the room. This was really obvious to me as I was actually using my laptop so the comparison was right there in front of me. TV is not super important to me, but I will watch if it is available. In this situation, I didn't bother after the first try.
Free wi-fi is available with no password. The signal was weak for my phone, but my laptop was able to get a strong signal. This allowed me to take some notes for my Yelp review.
The mattress was a bit firmer than I prefer, but it didn't hamper my sleeping. I realize that it is difficult to please everyone in this respect.
What did hamper my sleeping were a variety of small things that added up to irritation...
There is a big church clock chiming somewhere in town. Of course it chimes out the hour count, but it also makes noise on the quarter hour too. I believe it was off between 11PM and 6:59AM, but I did not welcome the 7AM wake-up from it. This is not the fault of my inn keeper, but I do want to let everyone know about it.
The National House is located directly on the main traffic circle which is used by every vehicle going through Marshall. Combine that with the fact that people in Michigan don't seem overly concerned with muffler maintenance and it makes for a near constant rumble as the cars move in and out of the circle. Luckily, the traffic is very light in the middle of the night, so it didn't bother my sleep then, but it does start up pretty early. I think I would prefer a room on the back of the house next time.
Sleeping in is doomed to failure. Beyond the clock bells and the traffic, my next challenge was my fellow travelers. Creaky floor boards are to be expected in an old building, but early risers can drive you mad with all their walking around. It was as if the boards in my room were actually creaking when someone walked around anywhere on my floor. I could not sleep through that.
So it was time for breakfast. It is served in a dining room with about 5 tables. There was one other couple sitting at a two person table, so we sat at another table.
Barbara had prepared a tasty, but cold quiche and some lemon poppy seed bread. After getting us started with coffee, she cooked up a fresh waffle with blueberries for us.
Beyond that, breakfast was mostly self serve. It was good food, but nothing stood out.
The National House Inn is a solid performer, doing some things right with room for improvement on others. I would normally give this a three star rating, but then I have to factor in the primary goal of my visit to Marshall. I was able to walk to Dark Horse, sample all of their beers over the course of many hours and then walk back to National House. This earns them a fourth star and it is the reason that I will stay here again the next time I am in Marshall. read more