I stayed here for one month, late November to late December 2014. I don't know if Kathleen is still taking boarders, but it was boarders and overnighters at the time.
Tha Gathering Inn is a lovely place! The current owners, Rick and Kathleen, are sweet people who are passionate about VT and providing comfortable lodging for an affordable price. The scenery is gorgeous and for guests there is access to beautiful green fields, an old cemetery, a lovely garden, and a refreshing stream (that you can bathe in!) all in the shadow of a mountain. The inn looked particularly gorgeous in the fall :) I would definitely recommend it to anyone passing through and looking to spend time in the warm country atmosphere that defines VT and its people!
I lived at the Gathering Inn as a boarder for 5 months of 2009 while working as a botanist for the Forest Service. First of all, I must say 2.5 mile the bike ride down Route 100 to work each day was probably the most beautiful commute I will ever have in my life. The way the clouds hang in that valley is always spectacular, not to mention the wildlife, the cliffs, and the waterfalls around the headwaters of the White River. Kathleen and Rick really take care of the place--inside and out--as well as their boarders. Kathleen and Rick also take good care of their guests, especially when they have advance notice, however Kathleen is sometimes stretched thin with her day job, so the availability of her delicious breakfasts (and dinners) depends on the day of the week. Nonetheless, the meals together are just wonderful, and well worth the attending as a guest or as a boarder. Meat is usually available, but as a vegetarian, I can say that Kathleen's vegetarian dishes are spectacular, and inspired me to try a lot of new things with my own cooking. The herd of happy free-roaming chickens are just wonderful and Kathleen is always dispensing the amazing eggs on the boarders and guests (you can sleep in--there are no roosters). As a boarder, it is fun to spend time with the guests and Long Trail hikers, as long as you are okay with never knowing when guests will show up. The Inn attracts so many neat people with great stories to tell. There is no shortage or wonderful conversation, beautiful poetry reading, creativity, camp fires, and music. You can certainly choose to isolate yourself, but The Gathering Inn really is a community. Overall, the inn is a magical place--so magical, that I am greatly looking forward to spending a second summer there.
I will say in the spirit of fairness that before the incident she was quite nice - though struck me as fake from the first - and does treat the overnighters very well. The free fresh eggs from chickens out back were much appreciated.
Third, the accommodations aren't much anyway. It's always cold, everything creaks, it's dreary as hell, and Kathleen is always lurking about if she isn't at work. My bedroom upstairs was directly above the garbage cans, so it was the "gathering inn" for an army of black flies, which I had to smash every afternoon. Hard water forced me to keep water in the room for brushing my teeth, and shower only two or three times a week.
Second, a long-term boarder, an older woman and alcoholic who hit on me and was duly rejected, snooped on me via the internet and discovered that I lean to the right politically, which she hurriedly shared with Kathleen, whose attitude toward me became uncomfortably suspicious and conspiratorial. Finally, coming home one day, she presented me with a hand-written note and stated I was being evicted "without cause" on the advice of her lawyer, and refused to elaborate. It was only later, through a neighbor, that I discovered the reason. I offer this anecdote as a warning to anyone considering a long-term stay at this place. Upon leaving I was, predictably, accused of stealing a pillow and a comforter. Through contacts I had made in town, I was already on friendly terms with the local constable, who assured me that everyone was all too familiar with Kathleen's paranoid mental state and not to worry about it.
We were greeted warmly and asked to kindly remove our shoes upon entering the house. The shared bathroom was clean and the shower was hot. Our room had two twin beds and a double. Towels and bed linens are included. There was no breakfast. No a/c but we were brought another fan. I was asked to pay $27.50 for each person the next morning. The Gathering Inn is at the intersection of VT100 and Scenic VT125. As of August 6, 2010, VT125 was under (re-)construction and much of it was only gravel until repaved.
My wife and I drove several states over to stay at this "vegan bed and breakfast" as its advertised, only to find its under new ownership and no longer a bed & breakfast, or an inn, or vegan (it changed hands in October of 2008). It is now a "transitional" boarding house for "short term occupancy"...translation: no warm greeting, no B&B charm, no "let me show you to your room"....there -are- however plenty of chickens roaming the grounds, random folks wandering the halls and (yup) a cemetery in the back (to be fair, the cemetery -is- hidden by a garden that is, as put by the new owner, "inhabited by an invisible goddess." Our room was cute, as was the house, but it smelled like whatever one of the boarders had been frying. The wastebaskets weren't emptied, the dresser had stuff in it, and one of the lamps didn't work. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then enjoy the scenery and maybe you'll get a nod from one of the other boarders as they wordlessly pass you in the hall. Otherwise, you may want to consider staying in one of the dozen other legitimate B&B's in the area. Our stay was saved, however, when one of the boarders took pity on us and cooked us breakfast while the innkeeper was off at her other job. A life experience none-the-less!
I would stay here again if the Old Hancock Inn has no vacancy.
First, Kathleen is a rather strange person. She stays in her room with four cats and a rabbit in a kiddie pool; smells like a zoo. She is hyper-vigilant about shoes, and even if it's freezing and you're moving things for her inside or out, she'll pounce on you for having shoes on. Her demeanor can only be described as a phony kindness barely masking complete weltschmerz, bitchiness and cynicism. This is because she took over the Inn with a former boyfriend who left her, leaving her quite alone with the failing project.
Even so, unless you're on your way to or from Killington, and the Hancock Hotel just across the street is closed, my recommendation is to avoid this place.
Gathering Inn At Hancock is a US Lodging based in Hancock, Vermont. Gathering Inn At Hancock is located at 1295 VT-100, Hancock, VT 05748, USA.
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