Every two weeks, the Berkshire Visitors Bureau sends out a newsletter which highlights upcoming events in the Berkshires. At Hampton Terrace, we consider this a valuable resource, and encourage anyone who wants to receive this information to go to their website www.berkshires.org and fill out the short form for their on-line newsletter. And stay at Hampton Terrace! CLICK HERE

Memorial Day Weekend is always a big deal here. It represents, at least to us, the official threshold between “mud season” and Spring….although it has been very Springlike for several weeks. By then, every urn at Hampton Terrace has flowers, every hook has a hanging basket and every room is fine-tuned for its run through the summer. We’ve been very busy here for the past several weeks repairing the winter’s damage: our front porch has new concrete and paint, there is new white paint on portions of the main house, and Jose’ is working today on the Carriage House wood trim. Also, Memorial Day Weekend marks the official re-opening of many historic houses, Jack’s Grill in Housatonic and other businesses that consider themselves seasonal. We still have some rooms open for Memorial Day Weekend, and unlike many inns who are looking to book a 3-night stay, we will accept two nights if it includes Saturday….and that policy leaves some rooms available for just Friday or Sunday. If staying just Sunday appeals to you, give us a call at 800-203-0656 or CLICK HERE.

At Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox, MA, we send a restaurant recommendation list to all of our guests with their confirmations. This list features 5 or 6 restaurants within walking distance of our inn, but also includes another 20 or so in surrounding towns. Since it opened probably 6 years ago, Napa has been at the top of our list and for many of our guests, their favorite restaurant in Lenox. But they are gone. The good news is that they re-opened immediately in Great Barrington with menu totally intact and a much larger space. In Lenox, their building sold, and according to the papers, the new owner (after declaring that he would do what it takes to keep Napa as a tenant) set rent higher than Napa would be willing to pay. So the former Napa space is now empty, although the owner of Napa did lament his absence from Lenox and speculate that he might re-open a location there in a different space. We’ll see. Meanwhile, we will continue to send our Hampton Terrace guests to Napa, although instead of a one block walk, it will now be a 20 minute car ride. Susan and I went last week and can testify that the barbecue ribs did not suffer from the relocation. To stay at Hampton Terrace and receive our restaurant recommendations CLICK HERE.

Plan a trip to the Berkshires this weekend for the Berkshire International Film Festival, May 15-18 in Great Barrington, MA. Events include the screening of 60 films and Q&A sessions with over two dozen filmmakers. The opening night features “Man on Wire,” with Philippe Petit in attendance, a Kevin Bacon tribute including the actor himself and special guests, and finally a new digital edition of “Blade Runner” with special effects wizard Doug Trumbull in attendance. For more information, check out www.biffma.com and stay at Hampton Terrace. We have rooms left and look forward to hearing from you. 800-203-0656

While attending a technology workshop last month presented by the Berkshire Visitors Bureau, I was impressed with Bob O’Haver of GrayMatter Technologies and his comments concerning Search Engine Optimization. Over the years, virtually all of our bookings at Hampton Terrace have come via people finding us on the search engines, and keeping current on “search engine optimization” has always been my high priority. Hampton Terrace’s website is very complex, with literally hundreds of pages that are daily indexed by Google, Yahoo and others. As the secret algorithms change, it is very important to have someone who is watching the statistics to make sure that we do not fall in relevance, compared to other lodging properties in the area. I just returned from the Professional Association of Innkeepers convention in Anaheim where I attended every seminar available on the topic. Afterwards, I met with Bob for over an hour, and found that every strategy that currently employs is consistent with the latest recommendations by national experts. So Gray Matter it is for us. So if you find this entry on Google….or if you find our website near the top of key word searches….thank Bob. I am. To see Hampton Terrace’s website, CLICK HERE.