North America > United States > Vermont

Silas Griffith Inn
Danby, Vermont

By Dave Grossman, Hotel Magician,
February 2007

We had a lovely 2 night stay at this historic Inn located in Danby, Vermont – about 15 minutes from Manchester. The Inn is, as most B&B’s tend to be, owned by a husband and wife team. She runs the kitchen (Emma’s) and he mans the front desk.

Located on top of a hill near the (extremely small) town’s church, the Silas Griffith Inn consists of a main house that includes reception, a lounge area for guests, and one guest room, and a large second house which houses Emma’s downstairs and several guest rooms upstairs. There is a hot tub located outside which, while open year round, might be a bit scary to get out of during the cold snowy winter months! There is an outdoor pool as well. We stayed in Georgia’s room which was very nice. Our favorite feature was the fireplace which doubled as the heater – controlled by thermostat!  Nice bath amenities were provided although it was a bit small and lacking a tub. You can only expect so many modern amenities in a historic Inn! 

The Inn has some modern comforts but would be considered more “homey” than upscale. Breakfast at Emma’s was absolutely delightful. Like your own mother’s cooking. We sampled pancakes, French toast, omelets, bacon (the excellent Vermont maple coated kind!), sausage, and fried potatoes and were impressed both mornings. Everyone there was extremely polite as well and made us feel right at home.  We did not sample the dinner fare as we wanted to explore Vermont more. 

Hotel Magician Hot Tip

For dinner our first night we ventured to another Inn called the Swiss Inn. They served a wonderful Swiss dinner of raclette and fondue and we’d go back anytime. A word of warning on driving there, though: In Vermont some roads close during winter and become snowmobiling trails. This makes certain routes *much* longer. In this case, Danby – Mt.Tanbor Road was closed making the travel from Danby to the Swiss in about 40 mins rather than 20. There are also no warnings that a given road will end until you are right up on the end – and in-car GPS’s will not know the difference. On the way back to New York, we stopped at the Equinox Resort in Manchester. Far pricier than the Silas Griffith Inn, the Equinox Resort is also one of the oldest Inns in America. Look for a future review.

-DG