The Wolfeboro Inn, HCH (NH)
Hay Creek Hotels Travel Series Stay 3 of 6
Written by Stavros
The New England Travel Journal visited The Wolfeboro Inn, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire as as the third hotel in our travel series partnership with Hay Creek Hotels (HCH). HCH manages a collection of timeless boutique hotel properties largely in New England. To book a future stay at any of the HCH we visited or any of the many hotels in their portfolio use Promo Code NETJHCH20 for 20% off the best available rates.
The Stay
The Hotel
The Wolfeboro Inn is a grand three-story building with white siding and a steeply sloped roof with direct access to Lake Winnipesaukee. When looking at the front of the hotel from North Main Street you don’t get the full picture of just how large this hotel actually is. It looks like a modest single family Colonial residence until you walk around to the parking lot. From Main St., you can also access the on-site restaurant, Wolfe’s Tavern, and authentic New England pub.
As you make your way around to the front side of the building to the main entrance of the hotel, you get an idea of just how impressively large the hotel and property are. The main lobby is warm and inviting, dressed with dark leather colored sofas that sit in front of the impressive stone fireplace. Bookshelves line each side of the fireplace and run from floor to the ceiling of the first floor. There’s plenty of firewood stocked to keep the fireplace running for what might be a whole winter. The open ceiling allows you to look up to the second and third floor balconies, or to look down at the main from the balconies above.
The Exterior and Grounds
The hotel has a large outdoor area that is often used for wedding receptions with enough space for a few seating areas as well. On the far end of the yard sits a gazebo that boasts some pretty spectacular views of the rest of the property and also Lake Winnipesaukee. On most days, the Winnipesaukee Belle is docked at the end of the Wolfeboro Inn’s yard. During the summer, the Belle takes passengers on a 90-minute cruise across the lake a few days each week.
The Rooms
We stayed in room 101 which was on the main floor just past the grand fireplace. The room itself was quite spacious and a large slider door that opened up to a small brick patio and the hotel’s large lawn. We opted for a room with two queen beds this time as we change up our usual travel crew. The beds themselves were very comfortable and lent us great uninterrupted sleep that energized us for our adventures the day ahead.
To Eat
The easy go to when staying at the Wolfeboro Inn is none other than Wolfe’s Tavern. The tavern has been around for about 130 years and serves almost the same number of different kinds of beers as it has been operating for. The restaurant serves a hearty selection of classic dishes and favorites from the likes of New England fish and chips and all the way to full racks of ribs. Between the drink and food options, there’s plenty to make even the pickiest eaters happy.
While exploring Wolfeboro some of our favorites that stood out are all within walking distance of the Inn. Yum Yum Shop has to be by far one of our favorite pastry/coffee/ice-cream shops of all time. They had all sorts of homemade desserts such as cookies, donuts, cakes, pies, muffins, and puff pastries to name a few. Their selection of hot drinks like coffees, teas, and hot cocoas is just as impressive. You can even buy a gingerbread man scented bar of body soap! That’s probably the only thing they sell that won’t taste delicious. We tried a variety of their cookies, including their most popular gingerbread man and a few others. We loved this place so much it’s definitely going to be a stop at least once every time we’re in Wolfeboro. Just as great as their offerings are, the outdoor seating and live music starting in the afternoons made us love Yum Yum shop that much more.
Another great place for quick food is Dockside Grill located, you guessed it, right on the Wolfeboro Docks. We grabbed a quick dinner at Dockside on our first night up at Wolfeboro and enjoyed our sandwiches and ice cream while sitting at an outside table only about 10 feet away from the calm waters of Lake Winnipesaukee. We even hung around long enough to catch the sunset over the lake which made our night that much better.
To Do
At the Inn
The Wolfeboro Inn is a great spot for weary travelers to check in and rest up for all their upcoming adventures. There are plenty of seating areas inside and outside of the hotel to hang around to take a break from a busy trip. When the weather cooperates, walking across the great lawn and down to the lake is a great way to take advantage of all the Inn has to offer. From the dock, you can either take a ride on the Winnipesaukee Belle or spend some time at the private beach for access to the lake.
Away from the Inn
We visited Wolfeboro at the end of July and although our schedule didn’t allow for it, the most obvious thing to do is spend time in or on the Lake. We spent plenty of time walking around downtown and got great views of the water, but we definitely wish we had the opportunity to take a boat trip. Cate park quickly became a favorite spot of ours as the garden beds were overflowing with colorful flowers of all kinds. There was even live music in the evening with plenty of space to sit socially distant either on the park benches or on the grass.
Main Street has plenty of boutique shops and places to grab coffee, snacks, or a meal. Shopping is also another big activity as there are plenty of quaint little shops for souvenirs or gifts to bring home. Walking around and window shopping was another fun part of our visit.
On our second day during our trip, we ventured outside of Wolfeboro and headed towards Moultonborough to visit Castle in the Clouds. On our drive up, we stopped at the Moultonborough Firetower, which is a wooden tower that offers great views above the treetops of the surrounding towns and the lake. Only 10 minutes past the tower we finally arrived at Castle in the Clouds (CITC). CITC offers so much to do, you can spend a whole day just in this one area. There are a handful of different walking and hiking trails for those looking for some exercise. In the summer, they have special events called Music in the Clouds which require tickets but is a great experience. Perhaps the most known part of CITC is the guided tour of the Lucknow Mansion at the top of the mountain. The former home of the shoe tycoon Tom Plant, the Lucknow Mansion sits onto the Ossipee Mountain and boasts unimpeded views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the surrounding hilltops for many miles. The house is undisturbed and still resembles what it looked like when Tom Plant and his family lived in it before his passing in 1941.
Another fun nearby trip is Gunstock Mountain. Located on the west side of the lake, the ski resort offers a lot of fun activities in the offseason. More hiking and exploring, but what we went for was the mountain coaster and the zip lining. Although we were not able to reserve the zip lining we did enjoy our ride down the mountain coaster before heading back home.
Highlight
Wolfeboro quickly became one of our favorite new towns that we discovered this past summer. The town itself is located in a corner of Lake Winnipesaukee without being too busy like the larger tourist towns in the area. Wolfeboro is also located very close to a lot of great adventures in the surrounding areas, like Castle in the Clouds and Gunstock Mountain.
To read about the rest of our Travel series Partnership with Hay Creek Hotels Visit our Season Wrap Up Story.