A visit to The Boxwood Inn in Williamsburg, VA
Written: Jul 12 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cost efficient, friendly people, lovely house and good food!
Cons: The bathroom, the robe and the remote....see review!
The Bottom Line: A romantic trip to an historic spot during a lovely Summer anniversary get away! What more could one ask for?
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| Finzz2dlft's Full Review: Boxwood Inn of Williamsburg |
To celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary, my husband and I took a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia for three days. We wanted to take a trip that was romantic, not too far from our home in Richmond, and most of all, cost efficient!
As always when I plan a trip, my first stop was the Internet. I did a bit of research, and discovered a beautiful looking Bed and Breakfast called The Boxwood Inn. It is quite close to the campus of William and Mary, as well as other local Williamsburg dining and attractions. The price seemed good too, so I decided to make the reservation.
I called the Boxwood’s toll free number, and spoke directly with Sandi, one of the owners. She was kind and helpful, and I immediately felt confident that this was a great choice. I told Sandi that my husband and I were celebrating an anniversary, and she offered to take care of any special “extras” that we would need. I requested a bottle of white wine and a bouquet of flowers for our room. (At an additional fee of $10.00 plus the actual charge of the items) Sandi said that she or her husband could also make dinner reservations for us if we needed them.
Sandi then described the rooms to me. There are 4 bedrooms at The Boxwood Inn. The least expensive, the Tyler room is what my husband and I opted for. It costs $95.00 per night, plus tax, and includes a gourmet breakfast. The other rooms, The Monroe, The Jefferson, and the Washington Carriage house, run from $115- $185 per night, and also include breakfast.
Reservations made, all my hubby and I had to now was wait for our trip! And several weeks later, it was time to go. We left on the beautiful sunny afternoon of June 30th, 2004 at 2:00 pm, and arrived at the Boxwood at approximately 3:00, which is the official check in time. The entire road where the Boxwood is located is lined with other B&B’s, but none of them are as pretty as the Boxwood! It is a glorious white house, surrounded by the most breathtaking flowers and foliage.
My husband and I parked in the back, and then walked around front to ring the bell. Sandi herself let us in, and gave us a tour of the house. She told us that our wine was chilling in the fridge, and our flowers were in our room. Yea!
The house is all at once formal and elegant, yet comfortable and relaxing. Downstairs, to the left of the foyer, is a sitting room with a fireplace and to the right is a reading room, filled with pictures. If you like dogs, you will like the décor of The Boxwood! Sandi owns a Pug, and there are even pillows with pictures of Pugs on them in the television room!
Beside the sitting room is a television room, and beside that is the breakfast and dining area. In the rear is a lovely closed in porch. Upstairs are 3 of the rooms. The 4th, the carriage house, is located above the garage. In the stairwell, there is a lovely stained glass window. I asked Sandi about the history of the house, and she said it was built in the 1920’s, and restored by her and her husband in 2000.
All of the downstairs rooms are open to guests to enjoy, but the kitchen is off limits.
Sandi showed us our room, and told us if we needed anything, to let her know. My husband and I checked out the room, and liked it a lot. It is not huge, but it is spacious enough for two people. The bed is made of cherry wood, and is Queen sized, topped with pretty blue and white comforters and pillows. There is a T.V. cabinet at the foot of the bed, and an end table with a lamp to the right of the bed. The floors are hard wood, and the walls are nicely insulated. We never even heard our fellow house mates during our stay! The closet is nice sized. In the bath room (which I’ll describe more in a moment) we found thick blue towels, and a basket of soap and shampoo.
I have only a few small complaints about the room .And I hate to sound picky, because I really like the Boxwood, and the owner. But I feel that for anyone who may be considering the Inn, here’s what we discovered.
In our room, there was no remote for the TV. This was not a huge deal, as we didn’t plan to watch much TV, but it was still a bit of an inconvenience. I wanted to ask Sandi about it, but I never got the chance.
Secondly, there was only one robe in the closet. While it was a beautiful robe, I’m surprised that a room meant for two people would only have one robe for folks to share. Maybe the other robe was being laundered?
Third, the bathroom. The Boxwood Inn website describes all of the rooms as having a private bath. And this is true, for the Monroe, Jefferson, and Carriage house. But for our room, the Tyler, our “private” bath was actually down the hall. No one else was allowed to use it, but still……..my hubby and I didn’t like leaving our items in the bathroom unattended, so we had to lug all of our toiletries and shower items back and forth. I think the Boxwood should actually say that all rooms have a private bath, and that the Tyler has a semi-private bath. OK, complaining done!
After unpacking, my husband and I decided to stroll through the lovely gardens around the house. There are millions of flowers blooming, and it is so relaxing and beautiful!
At about 5:00 we left the Boxwood to go to dinner and see a movie. We chose the Kings Arms tavern in Colonial Williamsburg, just a short drive from the Boxwood. It was a delicious dinner! It is pricy, though. Dinner for two was $100, and that didn’t include any beverages or dessert. But it was an historic and charming tavern, and all proceeds from the place goes to support Williamsburg restorations. They served unique dishes such as Laura Dunne bread and peanut soup.
After dinner, we drove back to the more modernized part of town and stopped off at the General Store for Hagan Daas ice cream. Take my advice and pick up some Williamsburg travel guide coupon books! It is chock full of money saving coupons for all kinds of area attractions, and we were able to cut quite a bit off of our dining expense by using the coupons. For example, at the Haggan Daas store, we had a coupon for buy one get one free ice cream cone.
After dining, we realized we had no idea where the movie theater was! Luckily, I had the number to the Boxwood with me, and I called Sandi. Again, she was very helpful and gave us directions. Thanks Sandi! We found the theater, only about 5 minutes away from the Inn. It is nice that it is located so close to everything you might want to explore! At the theater, we saw “Spider Man 2”, and then went back to the Inn. It was very late when we arrived, but the Boxwood had lovely white electric “candles” in each window, making it look festive and inviting.
We felt like two naughty children sneaking around in the dark! We tried to be very quiet so as not to disturb the other guests, and of course, we hesitated to use the bathroom for fear of bothering someone.
At about midnight we went to sleep, and it was very comfortable. No noise, no distractions. Happy Anniversary!
The next morning, July 1st, we awoke to the smell of something good cooking! Breakfast is served at 8:30, so we hurried to get ready. We had seen a chalkboard sign in the dining room the night before that listed the breakfast for the next morning. So we knew we would be having apple pancakes, egg casserole, hash browns, juice, and coffee. It was soooooooo good! Absolutely scrumptious! Sandi was out waitress, and brought us big platefuls. We chatted with her and out house mates for a bit, and admired the view from the dining room window of the gardens. Breakfast is served family style at a large wooden table that seats 8 people.
After breakfast, my hubby and I packed up our things and checked out. At the required time of 10:00. It was very quick and simple. Our total bill, for the room, meal, wine, flowers and tax was just $158.10.
I would recommend the Boxwood to anyone looking for a romantic and relaxing get away. It is not suited for couples with children, as kids under the age of 18 are not allowed. I would also suggest paying a bit more money and getting the Monroe room, or really splurge and get the Carriage house. You won’t be sorry! For more information, you can visit the Boxwood on the web at http://www.boxwoodinn.com/info.htm
"Great Hotel Write-Off"
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Finzz2dlft
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Member: Kami Griffin
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
"I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints."
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