Stipulated: the perfect travel time for a three-day weekend getaway is four hours. More, and you waste your vacation. Less, and you’re still near home. Hence our series, The Four-Hour Rule, dedicated to revealing the best destinations that are far away, yet still close to home.
This month: we head to the Berkshires to check out a newly minted “motor lodge” that weds plush accommodations with an arresting natural backdrop.
Images: Tourists Welcome
SLEEP
Tourists is a riverside retreat that aims to revive the classic American motor lodge. Here, high design meets lush environs seamlessly, with 48 quiet, uniquely appointed rooms nestled under a canopy of foliage with outdoor decks for getting your forest bath on. There are rooms for solo travelers or romantic duos from the Canopy to the Sanford Suite complete with window nooks for maximizing a Sunday dive into a good book. And should you have the tikes in tow, try the Caravan room, with a lofted play lounge nest and matching twin beds. If you’re itching to stretch the legs, head over to the communal lounge and kick back on their plush, leather sofas fireside or — if you have it in the wheelhouse — play a little diddy on the piano.
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EAT
Come early 2019, you’ll be sorted on-site at Tourists Welcome with their forthcoming restaurant Loom, helmed by James Beard Award-winning Chef Cortney Burns. In the meantime, their Lodge Bar is open all day for George Howell coffees, snacks and sweets. Plus the important stuff: cocktails, house-infused spirits and loads of beer and wine. For a proper woodland dinner, head just a couple of miles away to A-OK BBQ, peddlers of some seriously authentic pit-smoked meats.
Images: Berkshires Outfitters; North Adams
DO
By day, the options are damn near endless. Gear up at basecamp (with a little help from Berkshire Outfitters) and hit one of the many trails nearby, from Mount Greylock (the highest point in Massachusetts) to the flowing waters of The Cascade. Leaning toward more wintry timing? Pack your skis and drive 20 minutes south to Jiminy Peak, the biggest ski area in the Berkshires. If you’re going next spring, you can also hit the Ramblewind, a tree-to-tree adventure park that shut up shop for the season last week. If you’re more of an indoor cat, head over to the Clark to take in some art or Hancock Shaker Village for one of their many exhibitions and family-friendly events.
Main image: Tourists Welcome
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