Fox Trail Lodge...depends on what you are looking for in a lodge!
Written: Nov 30 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: close to Foxwoods, historic, small/quaint
Cons: old, small, breakfast
The Bottom Line: If you want a unique experience, this is for you, but if you are looking for the standard comforts, go elsewhere.
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| HJS33's Full Review: Fox Trail Lodge, North Stonington, Connecticut |
682 Norwich Westerly Rd.
(aka Route 2)
North Stonington, CT 06359
www.foxtraillodge.com
1-860-535-2721
Check In: 3 pm – 6 pm (and they ask that you contact them if you plan to arrive late so they will keep your reservation)
Check Out: 11 am
24 hour cancellation policy
Background
We have driven by this place many times on our way to and from Foxwoods and/or Mystic, Connecticut. At first I kept asking my husband to remember the name so I could look it up when we got home, but we both kept forgetting. Then one time one of us (probably my husband) was smart enough to write it down. Good thing we did! Last minute planning (about 5 days before we planned to go) left us without a room at Foxwoods, where we usually stay, so after searching the area to find an affordable place to stay overnight, we decided on Fox Trail Lodge.
Location
You can literally see Foxwoods from the lodge, although I would not recommend walking there. I was amazed at how close we were to hectic places like the casinos, yet you could not tell, because the atmosphere of the lodge was just the opposite. You are also a fairly short drive to Mystic (maybe ten minutes or so, depending on how fast you drive).
Getting to the lodge is fairly simple from 95, maybe about 5 – 10 minutes depending on how fast you drive, and it is a straight shot once you go through the rotary on Route 2. We tend to come down from 395, which is also a pretty easy ride.
Reservations and Rates
Making a reservation is very easy. All you do is call them up, and if they have availability, you can reserve a room. You do not receive a confirmation number though, and I was not told which room I had, so if you are looking for a specific room, I suggest you request it.
Unfortunately, they do not have a way to make online reservations, which I was bummed about, but once I got there, I realized that it probably was not worth it for them to pay for such a service.
The price of a room was pretty reasonable. We paid $144 plus tax, but I have found that sometimes the rates are $99 a night. They also offer discounts (20% for seniors and 10% for AAA members and AARP members). I would check their website just in case they have any specials (even though right now I believe they still have some sort of July special listed, and it is WAY past July).
Check In/Check Out and First Impressions
This is a quaint lodge, consisting of two historic buildings built in the 1800s that are on 7 acres of land (they used to have 200 acres, but sold a bunch of it off). When we drove onto the gravel driveway and saw the small parking area, we knew we were in for a unique experience.
We walked up to the first building and got ourselves checked into our room. Check in was easy, and the person who helped us was extremely nice. She even took us on a little tour of the property, told us some of the history, and showed us the kitchen and dining area, where breakfast would be the next day (7 am – 10:30 am). She also gave us keys to our room as well as a key to the building, which is locked at 9 pm.
Check out was easy as well. We could not find a person to check out with, but after reading a sign, we realized we could either buzz for someone to help us, or use the drop box.
The Lodge, The Room & The Amenities
As I mentioned, there are two buildings. We were in the same building as the check in/check out desk, which they refer to as the smaller house. The downstairs seemed to be mainly that, a little check in area, complete with some informational fliers on things to see, the check in/check out desk and a place to sit. They really do try and keep the atmosphere as close to the authentic 1800s feel as possible, but with modern amenities to help keep your stay more comfortable. Check out the website if you would like to see some pictures.
From what I can tell, the upstairs held four rooms, one of which was ours for the evening. After walking up the narrow and steep steps (a scary, scary fire hazard, but stairs like these are not unusual in old historical places like this) and through the narrow hallway, we went into our room. If you have arthritis or some other handicap that makes it difficult or impossible to walk up steep stairs, you probably want to let the reservation person know so they can give you an appropriate room.
I was surprised at how small the room was. I guess that is what the website meant when it called the rooms in the small house “cozy.” I could have handled the fact that it was small except that we got back into the room really late, and one area of the floor (which was a really fantastic hard wood floor covered by a oriental rug) made such awful noise when you stepped on it that we were limited to walking on one side of the bed for fear of waking up the rest of the people at the lodge. But, despite this, the room was quite comfortable overall. The big bed with the gorgeous wooden headboard was lovely and very comfortable. They even had a wonderful old dresser complete with a mirror on top.
Then of course, there were some modern amenities. We had a TV with cable and a pretty decent selection of channels. They also had an air conditioner in the window, which would be great on a hot day, but unfortunately, it was a cold day, and the open area not only let noise in from Route 2 (you are pretty close to the road), but the cold air as well. We did have a floor heater that we used that worked extremely well, but we did not leave it on overnight or while we slept for fear of a fire.
Every room in this lodge has their own private bath. Our bathroom was modern as well (thank goodness). The sink was actually in the bedroom area, but the toilet and shower were in a small closet-like space. The worst thing I can say about the shower is that the water pressure was very weak. BUT, the redemption factor for me was that there was lots of hot water. Also, they left enough towels for both of us to use, and they were the nice towels, not the gritty harsh white towels that you often get in a hotel. These were actually soft and colorful.
The second building held some rooms (not sure how many, but I think there were at least 5). From the pictures online, the rooms in this building appear to be bigger than the ones in the house we were in. This is also where the kitchen and dining area were, and they had a beautiful patio area, that I can only imagine would be fantastic in spring. Since it was too cold to eat breakfast outside, we went inside and had our breakfast in the dining room. The dining room was very cool, as it had an authentic oven from the time period.
I’m not sure why, as the lodge does not advertise itself as one, but I expected a better breakfast, one more like what you get at a B&B. So, needless to say, I thought the breakfast was pretty weak, but not as bad as many of the continental ones. They did have a few choices, and even when we showed up at the late end of the breakfast time (10 am), there was still food left. They had hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, cold cereal, some sort of cake (that I believe was orange) and bagels. They also had juice and coffee, but the coffee was incredibly weak, so I ended up getting coffee elsewhere. My husband and I left feeling pretty unsatisfied with breakfast, but perhaps our expectations were a bit too high in this regard.
Area Attractions
As I mentioned before, Foxwoods is literally down the road, probably less than a mile. You could also make the drive to Mohegan Sun, which is probably 10 minutes or so away. Then, of course, there is Mystic, which offers a variety of places to visit, and that is also probably 10 minutes or so away. I personally recommend Olde Mystic Village. I had a great time shopping there. If you plan on visiting the area, I would check out the links on the lodge’s website as well as the pamphlets they have in the front desk area. You never know where you might find a good deal.
Overall
The rates are extremely reasonable, especially if you take into account how close you are to Foxwoods. As I mentioned in the title, it all depends on what type of lodging you are looking for. If you want a generic hotel room that is bigger, then this is not the place for you. If you want a place with character, you may want to check it out.
Thanks to all who read/rate.
Heidi (hjs33)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
HJS33
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Location: West Bloomfield, MI
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