We are focused complying with every applicable legal requirement and best practice for operating the Inn. We want everyone associated with the Inn, especially our guests and staff, to feel comfortable that they are in a safe, sanitary environment.

Our rooms have always been simply furnished. This has allowed us to keep the spaces meticulously clean. In the current situation, we are identifying and implementing the public health requirements and best practices applicable to our property, staff, guests, vendors and operations. The cleanliness of the Inn always has been a source of pride for us and satisfaction for our guests. We now are taking the Inn’s cleanliness to an entirely new level.

Procedures

For your health and safety, we have instituted the following:

• Touch-less check-in.  A check-in letter will provide details regarding your stay as well as a local restaurant guide. Your credit card will have been charged and your receipt provided with your room key.  

• Hand sanitizer will placed at the front desk and throughout the public rooms of the Inn.

• Common surfaces (including door handles) and public rooms and common areas (including bathrooms), will be regularly cleaned and disinfected.

• Daily room service will not be available.  Extra towels will be placed in the dresser of each room.

• Breakfast will be table service with appropriate distancing and may be enjoyed in the Tavern, large Dining Room or on the expansive outdoor Terrace.  

• During the evening, the Tavern and the expansive outdoor Terrace will be available for seating if you wish to bring take out to the Inn.  Silverware, napkins and water will also be available. 

Reservation Policies

(complete reservation policies)

Cancelling a reservation for a stay until Labor Day, 2020 – If you want to cancel a reservation made directly with us, up and until Friday, September 4 (Labor Day weekend) we will refund 100% of your deposit, will not charge you for the remaining balance of the reservation, and will not impose any cancellation fee.  Beginning Labor Day weekend, cancellations must be made at least 7 days prior to arrival to avoid a cancellation fee equal to one night’s stay, unless the room can be rented. Guests who arrive after the reservation start date, or depart prior to the reservation end date, are responsible for the entire reserved period.

Minimum Stay:  A minimum two-night stay is required during holiday weekends (including President’s Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, 4th of July weekend, Labor Day weekend and Columbus Day weekend) and Fall Foliage season (mid-September to mid-October). Room rates during Fall Foliage increase by $30 per night.

It all started innocently enough – the search for an inexpensive old farmhouse in northern New Hampshire to be used as a rustic lodge for winter skiing and summer hiking. A casual place large enough to host numerous friends at the same time with several bedrooms and a large kitchen.

We’d already looked at a number of properties – including an old farmhouse and a somewhat charming little inn in Campton. But neither seemed quite right. Both properties had been altered in unattractive (and unstable) ways. The farmhouse had an odd, poorly-built addition and the inn had a funky roofline, was a little bit too run-down and was located on a tiny triangle-shaped lot at the intersection of two county highways.

Then, on a glorious September afternoon in 2010, as I was sitting under the fluorescent lights in my office in Madison, Wisconsin, an email from Ron with the subject line “look at this one”, appeared in my inbox.  Cognizant of cybersecurity, but knowing it was from a trusted source, I opened it.  And there, spanning my screen with a length and simple beauty I hadn’t seen anywhere before, was the Horse & Hound. No frilly front porches, no fancy gingerbread, no clumsy additions over the years to affect its simple architecture. A classic New England lodge.  Not to be mistaken for being located anywhere else but New England.

I looked at the real estate listing closely. It was at least twice as large as anything we were considering and had a commercial kitchen, bar and dining room. We didn’t need all of that. And 10 bedrooms with 9 bathrooms.  And a loading dock.  I mean, it was an INN. But that building. That classic 1940’s Colonial Revival building. Handsome, true. Original knotty pine paneling and three wood-burning fireplaces.  The kind of place you’d expect to see a young Katharine Hepburn in a finely tailored herringbone wool suit.  (Or, as we’d later learn, a young Joan Fontaine, fresh from her Academy Award for Suspicion, sporting a stylish ski outfit). And from the photos online, large windows everywhere and 3 sets of French doors to let in the natural light and fresh air.  Built for the sportsmen and women of the Great Outdoors.  A true lodge.

The price seemed low for what it looked to be. I thought to myself “it must be located across the street from a gas station or next door to a state prison.” Or maybe right on an interstate highway. I did the Google map thing. There didn’t appear to be any problematic neighbors, but it wasn’t possible to get a street view. Yet, its location only 3 miles from Franconia Notch and the Appalachian Trail seemed almost magical . . . and there was a rugged brook alongside.

Ron and I had already planned a one-month stay in Florence, Italy the following month. It was to be the 20 year mark for each of us in our respective legal careers and act as a sabbatical of sorts. So, as I’d be flying to Boston to meet up with him to catch the flight to Italy, why not go out a day early and run up to Franconia to take a look at it? Well, for the same reason you don’t go to the Humane Society telling yourself you’re just going to look around and see what’s there. With all those beautiful animals in need of a home, chances are you’re going to be leaving with one.

More to come . . .

Email Ken

The National Geographic Society has been exploring the world and igniting our imaginations since 1888.  As it travels the globe, it educates us on the exotic and the challenging, the inspirational and the sublime.  That’s why National Geographic has been in the Library at the Horse & Hound from the first day we opened.  And, as long as that continues to be its primary mission, it will remain on our shelves. Education, exploration, science and inspiration.

In the past twelve months two different writers from National Geographic have travelled the White Mountains and spent time exploring Franconia Notch. One even stayed with us at the inn.

In our current society of social media and electronic entertainment, both writers remind us there’s something greater than ourselves, our obligations and commitments, or our increasingly electronic and virtual world.  The Great Outdoors.  They challenge us to explore – not through clicking and scrolling – but through actual travel and adventure.  For those of us who are able to visit these places, they provide the roadmap and the reason. For those of us who are unable to make those journeys in person, the writers and their photographers allow us to be armchair travelers to some of the most spectacular outdoor spaces east of the Rocky Mountains.

How to Make a One Day Loop in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. (Robert Reid)

“With trails to hike, mountains to climb, and railways to ride, the White Mountain National Forest provides a full day’s worth of activities.” – Robert Reid, How to Make a One Day Loop in New Hampshire’s White Mountains

Robert Reid writes of the entire span of the White Mountain National Forest, which includes Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch and Pinkham Notch.  He explores the region and suggests a variety of activities ranging from the Robert Frost Place to the top of Mount Washington via the Cog Railway.  All with the backdrop of the Great Outdoors . . .

These 10 Hiking Trails Will Blow Your Mind. (Jonathan Waterman)

“Truly a rite of passage for explorers, this [Franconia Ridge] journey stays well above treeline for 2.7 miles . . . full of jaw-dropping panoramas  . . . this is a quintessential eastern U.S. adventure.” – Jonathan Waterman.  These 10 Hiking Trails Will Blow Your Mind.  

Jonathan Waterman focuses on the Appalachian Trail as it traverses Franconia Notch above the treeline.  The article combines the Franconia Ridge hike with 9 other trails around the world from Austria to Australia.  Grouping the Franconia Ridge with such spectacular hikes and locations is a high honor to bestow, but Franconia Ridge is easily up to the competition.

People have been writing about the beauty and majesty of the White Mountains since they were first known to us.  And, they will continue to do so and we will continue to thank them for it.  For no matter how many times I hike these trails, drive past these mountains, or simply view them from a distance with the beagle, I always feel a sense of splendor. And, when I can’t be there in person, simply opening one of these articles to view a spectacular photo spread of the mountains and read the encouraging narrative of the writer inspires me to start making plans for the next time I can spend an entire day in the Great Outdoors.

Thank you gentlemen.  And thank you National Geographic.

Ken Adler and Ron Homer restored the Horse & Hound in 2011 and began the business as it is known today (see Restoration).  Though Adler has returned to Wisconsin for the time being, his heart and soul remain in these rugged mountains and he returns as often as he can.  And bean (the beagle) is always happy to return too.

Email Ken