The Mayflower Inn & Spa is an exquisite country retreat on the edge of the idyllic town of Washington, Connecticut. It combines the coziness of a simple New England inn with the style and service of a luxury hotel, and makes the perfect spot for a relaxing getaway.
This sophisticated country manor sits in a 58-acre luxury estate on the outskirts of the small town of Washington, CT, around a two-hour drive north of New York City. It’s believed to have provided television writer Amy Sherman-Palladino with the inspiration for the Independence Inn and the fictional town of Stars Hollow in the “Gilmore Girls” series.
I stayed there with my husband over Memorial Day weekend in 2025 as a weekend trip from Boston, which is just shy of 3 hours away. We enjoyed a relaxing break in one of the inn’s stunning suites and took full advantage of the excellent spa facilities. It also makes an ideal base for exploring the local area on a weekend in Connecticut.
Read on to discover the Mayflower Inn’s best features, and which areas I think need a little extra attention.
Booking a stay at the Mayflower Inn
The Mayflower Inn is part of the AubergeResorts Collection, which includes some of Northeast America’s most distinguished luxury hideaways.
Booking our stay at the Mayflower Inn through the hotel’s web site was really simple, and the communication ahead of our visit was excellent.
The hotel staff reached out to me both by text and email to share information about the dining options and the spa, and to check if we’d like to make any reservations. The most popular treatments tend to book up quickly, so it’s worth reserving your spa treatments in advance.
I also received useful information about things to do in the surrounding area, which was very helpful for planning our break.
The only slightly negative aspect was that I requested an early check-in, which they said they’d try to accommodate, but ultimately they weren’t able to do so. I thought this was a little disappointing but understandable when you consider the Inn only has around 35 rooms in total.
Exploring The Inn
Driving along the winding driveway to the Mayflower Inn, you certainly get a Stars Hollow kind of vibe from the cute cottages and pretty gardens. The hotel offers complimentary valet parking, and the valet parked our car right outside the Inn’s front door, which was really convenient when we wanted to go out and explore the local area.
Once you enter the historic Mayflower Inn, you can see how staying here inspired Amy Sherman-Palladino to create “Gilmore Girls”. I almost expected to see Lorelei and Michel behind the front desk! The layered textures, patterns and colors had me redesigning my living room.
This boutique hotel is chic in a classic New England style but still feels cozy and welcoming. The stunning decor in the main building features colorful printed wallpaper, antique furniture, brightly colored soft furnishings, and curios dotted around every surface.
Generous use of plants softens the overall look and gives the Inn a fresh vibe that feels very relaxing.
The sitting room is a cozy space with a large fireplace, and you can enjoy complimentary tea, coffee, and nibbles here each morning between 7 A.M. and 11 A.M.
In the afternoon, you can take tea in the sitting room or treat yourself to a complimentary glass of prosecco.
The Library Room is one of my favorite places in the hotel. It’s a private nook with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, where you can sink into one of the leather armchairs and lose yourself in a book for hours.
The Mayflower Inn has a total of 28 rooms and 7 suites, which are located in the Inn itself and several separate cottages. We stayed in a suite in Standish Cottage, which is just a short distance from the main house. Our bags were taken straight up to our room, so as soon as we had our keys, everything was in there waiting for us.
A Suite at the Mayflower Inn
The beautiful decor of the Inn’s common spaces continues into the bedrooms and suites at the Mayflower with bright throws, squishy armchairs, and quirky elements like window seats. Our one-bedroom suite was quite spacious with a large living room area, a King bedroom, a bathroom, and a separate water closet.
The living room featured a seating area with a TV and a gas fireplace, a couch and coffee table, a small table with two chairs, and a dresser area with a mini-fridge and coffee service.
A welcome gift of fruit, cheese, crackers, and wine greeted us, and the evening turndown service replenished our snacks and added an evening herbal tea.
Our suite also had a small balcony with two rocking chairs and a table. This overlooked a pretty wooded area and provided the perfect peaceful spot for a morning cup of coffee.
The reasonably-sized bedroom had a comfortable king-size bed, a dresser, and two padded armchairs. Some suites even have a romantic four-poster bed that looks like it could come straight out of Bridgerton!
Our bathroom was a very generous size and featured a soaking tub, two sinks, and plenty of counter space, which was very welcome. The fluffy robes and handmade complimentary toiletries completed the experience.
My only complaint about our suite is that the shower and toilet were located together in the water closet. Personally, I find that layout uncomfortable if one person is showering and the other person wants to use the toilet.
Overall, the room was very peaceful and relaxing. However, bear in mind that the Inn is over 100 years old, so you’re likely to hear people moving around and even feel the floors shaking a little bit.
Dining at the Mayflower Inn
The Mayflower Inn offers several dining options, including the bright and airy Garden Room, where breakfast, brunch, and casual lunches are served. The pretty wall coverings of birds and flowers, along with generous use of indoor plants, give this space the feel of a greenhouse.
This is in keeping with the Garden Room’s menu, which includes classic breakfast and brunch options, healthy salads, and light lunches.
The Tap Room tavern has atmospheric lighting and offers a dinner menu based on local and seasonal produce. It also hosts a daily happy hour where you can enjoy wines, beers, and handcrafted cocktails.
There’s a separate restaurant in the spa building, and you can also book a bespoke private dining experience in your room or suite, the Library Room, or in the Chef’s Garden. This pretty outdoor space has a hammock and comfy chairs, making it the perfect place to relax with a glass of wine.
Guests can snip flowers and herbs from the Chef’s Garden to take home as a memento of their visit, and I could imagine Sookie bustling around and collecting herbs to use in her latest culinary creation!
Our dining experience
Overall, I’d say the food was fine but not especially memorable. My husband really enjoyed the burger he had for lunch in the Garden Room, but the short rib dish he had for dinner in the Tap Room didn’t really excite him. I felt the same about my chicken dish: it wasn’t bad, just nothing particularly special.
Bearing that in mind, I felt that the food at the Mayflower Inn was very expensive. For example, when we had breakfast in the Garden Room, two eggs with no accompaniments cost $16, and a single shot of espresso was $8.
The service was also below expectations, especially on the last day of our visit when just one person was serving the entire dining room at lunchtime. It’s possible that other staff had called in sick, but I would have expected more staff for a busy Memorial Day weekend.
Overall, the dining aspect let the Mayflower Inn down a little. Maybe we were unlucky on our visit, but I expect better service at a luxury hotel of that caliber.
Facilities at the Mayflower Inn
The Mayflower Inn has a bounty of upscale amenities so you can make your visit as active or relaxing as you choose.
If you like an active break, the Inn has an outdoor pool and tennis court along with a fitness room attached to the spa. The gym is available 24 hours a day, but you have to request access at the front desk outside the spa opening hours.
The fitness center hosts one complimentary fitness class each day, and then other classes are available as paid add-ons. The schedule varies from week to week, but the range includes yoga, pilates, weight training, and meditation, among others, so you’re sure to find something you’ll enjoy.
The Mayflower Inn also offers a weekly programme of experiences like balloon rides and whisky tastings, along with sessions with experts like life coach Gabby Bernstein and skincare expert Irene Forte.
Away from the Inn, you’ll find plenty of historic buildings, cute boutiques, antique shops, and independent eateries in the picturesque small town of Washington, CT. If you’d like to explore further afield, Litchfield County offers a wide range of hiking trails and farm tours.
Exploring the Grounds
The Mayflower Inn sits on 58 acres of land, and I highly recommend taking time to explore the stunning grounds during your visit. A well-marked walking trail will guide you through the woods and around some of the grounds, and it only takes around 20 minutes to complete the trail.
The Inn has several landscaped gardens including the beautiful Shakespeare Gardens, which has a maze of formal boxwood hedges and stunning seasonal blooms. You’ll also find plenty of open grassy spaces with tables and chairs where you can sit and enjoy the surroundings.
There’s a small covered outdoor space where you can sit to enjoy a drink, but this wasn’t fully open when we visited the Inn.
They also have fire pits where you can make s’mores, which I think is a lovely touch. The staff will light a fire for you and bring a complimentary basket of marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers, and sticks to roast your marshmallows.
The hotel doesn’t make it really clear how to request this service, and the hotel didn’t have any gluten-free graham crackers so we had to provide our own. But once we got organized, it was a totally lovely way to enjoy an evening outdoors.
The Retreat
Visiting the hotel’s spa was a highlight of our stay at the Mayflower Inn. The Retreat is open from 8 A.M to 7 P.M. daily, and all guests enjoy free access to the spa facilities throughout their visit.
I’d say this is a must-do if you stay at the Inn.
The Retreat is housed in a separate building overlooking a beautiful pond area and has a very tranquil vibe. There’s a large relaxation room with lots of very comfortable seating where you could sit and read a book, meditate, or just relax and enjoy the view.
There’s a stunning indoor pool and also a highly Instagrammable indoor spa pool surrounded by tall windows and beautiful plants.
Spa Facilities
The large changing rooms are fully stocked with plush white robes, leather slides, and complimentary organic toiletries. Each changing room also has its own gender-specific steam room, which you can use if you’d rather not use the co-ed steam room near the pool.
If you prefer a sauna, the Retreat has a complimentary barrel sauna set outdoors overlooking the lake. This holds up to three people, and you can book it for a 30-minute session, but it’s rarely busy, so you can usually reserve it on the day. There’s also an infrared sauna inside the spa, which is bookable for around $60 per session.
The spa has its own restaurant that serves light lunches and healthy snacks. They also had some complimentary snacks like dates and energy bars for guests to help themselves to, along with some flavored waters, teas, and bone broth.
Luxury Treatments
Of course, you can choose from a wide range of spa treatments at the Retreat. I had a very luxurious facial and opted for a dermaplaning upgrade, which left my skin feeling amazing.
My husband and I also both did massages, which came with some options for complimentary add-ons. I picked dry brushing from the selection offered, and my husband chose cupping and reflexology.
In total, we spent around $1000 in the spa, so it’s quite pricey, but the treatment rooms were beautiful and we both really enjoyed our treatments. In fact, I’d say the massage was probably one of the best massages I’ve ever had.
If you don’t want to book treatments, you can just relax and enjoy the complimentary facilities. You can also treat yourself to some of the products used in the spa’s gift shop, which is separate from the main hotel gift shop in the reception area.
The downsides
Although we had a fantastic time at the Mayflower Inn, we did encounter a few problems. They weren’t enough to spoil our weekend, but it took the shine off our stay just a little.
Disorganized Service
When we checked in at reception, the guy behind the front desk seemed pretty disorganized. He told us that our room wasn’t ready yet, and that we could wait in the sitting room until it was done. That’s fine, it happens sometimes, so we went for lunch and took our coffee into the sitting room to wait.
After about 90 minutes, I received a text saying that our room was ready, and I returned to the front desk to pick up our keys. The same guy was there, and he obviously had no recollection of talking to us. The hotel isn’t that big, and there can’t have been that many people at reception since I last spoke to him so it felt strange, when many 5-star properties go out of their way to know guests’ names and faces before they even arrive.
Later on in our stay, I asked the same guy for some information about how to get set up to make s’mores in the garden, and he just gave a very vague and unhelpful answer.
Overall, it was a minor flaw in an amazing visit, but that kind of service is not a great look for a luxury hotel.
Support for Dietary Requirements
My other main concern was around the standard of support for gluten-free guests. Things got off to a great start when we had lunch in the Garden Room on our first day. They had already noted on our reservation that my husband can’t eat gluten, and so he was offered gluten-free bread and burger buns.
However, when we ate at the Tap Room that evening, he was disappointed to see that the only gluten-free desserts on the dinner menu were ice cream and sorbet. Gluten is such a common allergen, so I was surprised that they didn’t offer any other gluten-free desserts to make the menu more inclusive. It was a real letdown at the end of an otherwise excellent meal.
When we went to make s’mores in the garden, they weren’t able to provide any gluten-free graham crackers. Luckily, I’d anticipated this and picked some up when we went into town earlier, because otherwise my husband wouldn’t have been able to enjoy s’mores with me.
It felt like they made some effort for gluten-free guests, but didn’t really go as far as other hotels we’ve visited. So I think they could definitely have done better in that respect. However, when I checked the website again, gluten-free desserts were available on their most recent menus so hopefully that’s an area that they’ve already worked to improve on.
Finally, bear in mind that the Mayflower Inn is in a pretty rural area, and we had no cell service whatsoever during our visit. If we weren’t on WiFi, we had no signal at all, so we had to make sure we downloaded maps and started navigation in the car before we left the property’s driveway. I’m not sure if it’s the same for all cell phone carriers, but there was certainly no signal with Verizon.
The Wrap up: Would I recommend the Mayflower Inn?
Although we encountered a few minor hitches, my overall impression of the Mayflower Inn is very positive. We had a wonderful, relaxing stay in beautiful surroundings and enjoyed exploring the towns in the local area.
I wouldn’t recommend the Mayflower Inn for a family break, because there isn’t really much for kids to do at the hotel. Little kids might enjoy running around the maze and exploring the grounds, but older kids will probably be bored.
However, it makes the perfect getaway for a special occasion, a babymoon, or a weekend away with your best friends.
So save your visit for an adults-only occasion and make the most of your stay in this beautiful, luxurious Inn. I highly recommend the Mayflower Inn, and after all, so does Amy Sherman-Palladino!
