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The Lord Jeffery Inn got a much-needed renovation and is now a boon to parents visiting their young scholars at Amherst College.
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THE LORD JEFFERY INN
30 Boltwood Ave, Amherst, MA
lordjefferyinn.com; (413) 256-8200
Distance by car: 3 hours
Once upon a time, Amherst College needed a place to house parents and visiting faculty. In 1926, the college built The Lord Jeffery Inn right next to campus to fulfill that need. By 2008, the inn was ready for a facelift, but it took roughly three years and $16 million to bring the legendary lodge back to life in January 2012. Developers put a lot of thought (and bucks) into making the Lord Jeffery a LEED-certified structure. The inn features a grass-and-flora rooftop to keep rooms cool and a popular-in-Europe Energize System in each room, which enables power only when a card key is inserted.
ROOM: Rooms are decked out in Early American blues, crisp whites, and sage greens; Federalist furniture; and luxurious bedding. Some rooms feature a switch-on gas fireplace.
BOARD: Be sure to have at least one meal in the resident restaurant, 30Boltwood. Bare filament bulbs hover over copper tables to make for a funky, contemporary space. No surprise that 30Boltwood is the brainchild of the cb5 Restaurant Group, responsible for smash hit China White Noodle Bar in Purchase. A locally sourced menu changes seasonally, but artisanal burgers and fries are winning over neighbors big-time.
ONLY HERE: Checking in on your newly away-from-home student at one of the Five Colleges? The Lord Jeffery offers a “Visiting Parents Package,” which includes a room, complimentary appetizers at 30Boltwood, and breakfast for two.
WHILE HERE: Of course, there’s the famous New England foliage. But Amherst happens to house the largest collection of Yiddish books in the world at the Yiddish Book Center, a complex built to look like a shtetl. Continuing the literary theme, poets adore the Emily Dickinson Museum.
JUST THE FACTS: Room rates range from $175 to $325 a night and include free WiFi, parking, and complimentary morning coffee (in the lobby).
