Support Local: Make Yourself at Home in the White Mountains Region This Winter

Learn more about how New Hampshire’s Main Street businesses are caring for their customers in our “Support Local: Go the Extra Mile” series, which includes regular e-newsletter articles as well as regional videos. Sponsored by the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism.

Cutting a scenic swath across north-central New Hampshire, the White Mountains Region is heralded as one of the nation’s earliest tourism centers. Since the 1800s, inspired in part by the picturesque landscapes of the White Mountain School of artists and the writings of Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne, vacationers and adventurers have been drawn to this land of vast woods, soaring peaks, and idyllic mountain towns. It’s no surprise that many of the nearly 100 locally owned hotels and inns you’ll find in this spectacular region can trace their roots back a century or more.

The Inn at Ellis River in the town of Jackson, for instance, began as an 1893 farmhouse that over the years also served as a local boardinghouse. Transformed into a B&B in the 1980s, it’s currently run by Mary and John Kendzierski. The Massachusetts couple had been vacationing in the region for years before buying the inn in 2014 and settling permanently in Jackson, which John likens to “a Norman Rockwell painting” and Mary describes as “a little small village that doesn’t ever seem to change.”

Along with its fellow businesses around the White Mountains Region, the 22-room Inn at Ellis River was enjoying a strong winter season in early 2020. “January and February were some of the better months we’d had,” John recalls. “Then on March 16, the wheels fell off.”

In the wake of the Covid shutdown, the Kendzierskis were forced to lay off staff and ultimately kept the inn shuttered for more than three months. They took some comfort in sharing their challenges with fellow innkeepers at the nearby Christmas Farm Inn & Spa and the Wentworth Inn, but the one of the biggest buffers against financial hardship was the loyalty of their guests.

“They really worked with us back in April and March by moving their reservations,” John says. “It was a real help to us, to not have to refund thousands of dollars.”

One couple even forwarded a deposit for a spring stay they knew would be canceled. “They just wanted to help us out,” Mary says. “They told us to buy some flowers for the inn. We had some people do some pretty amazing things for us.”

The Kendzierskis likewise pitched in to help their own community, sharing excess toilet paper and ordering takeout meals from local restaurants. Meanwhile, they spent their hiatus giving the inn a facelift and staying in contact with their guests through social media and email newsletters.

Reopened since July, the Inn at Ellis River has revamped its guest experience far beyond just donning a coat of fresh paint. It has implemented numerous state and federal Covid safety recommendations, including no-contact payment, strategically placed hand-sanitizer stations, mask requirements, and social distancing in common areas and dining rooms. Gone is the breakfast buffet setup, with morning treats such as fresh-baked pastries, savory frittatas, and John’s famous signature bacon now being served individually (guests can also order breakfast via room service if they choose).

But Mary says it’s important that the inn also provides guests with some sense of normalcy, for the very same reason that the White Mountains Region is such a draw year-round. It’s an escape — and staying at one of its inns and B&Bs should feel that way too.

“We don’t want our inn to look like a hospital setting when you walk in, with everyone wearing a hazmat suit,” she says. “People can still feel casual.”

And all the effort hasn’t gone unnoticed. “We’ve gotten very positive feedback from our guests,” John says. “They appreciate all the precautions that we’ve taken, and they still feel comfortable here.”

Thinking of planning an overnight stay in the White Mountains? Here is a sampling of locally owned businesses that are open and ready to take your reservation! Find more options at visitnh.gov/places-to-stay.

The Bernerhof Inn Bed & Breakfast, Glen

Adair Country Inn & Restaurant, Bethlehem

The Darby Field Inn & Restaurant, Albany

The Red Elephant Inn, North Conway

Sugar Hill Inn, Sugar Hill