Review of Church Landing at Mill Falls, Meredith NH, USA
Nice lake view, quaint place, no warm welcome:
While vacationing in New England, my husband and I together with another couple stayed at this hotel for 2 nights.
First of all, I have to say that it is not easy to find a top hotel in this region. We settled for the Church Landing because it seemed to be the best choice in this area. A good point is that is located directly on the Lake Winnipesaukee and many rooms have good views of this beautiful stretch of water. Unfortunately, the Church Landing is sandwiched between the lake and the busy highway. You do not have the impression of a picturesque place …
As a room category we chose an accommodation in the Boathouse Lodge that is furthest away from the lobby area which is a good thing. It probably is the quietest part of the hotel. We had two Boathouse King Patio Rooms, one above the other and imagine we shared a tree together! We only discovered this at the end of our stay when having an aperitif together in our room in front of the fireplace. Our friends had the trunk of the tree in their room, we had the crown of it! A strange thing, but it goes together with other experiences we had at this hotel. The rooms are furnished in a quaint style (think of the tree), everything is rustic and it makes the impression of being dated although it cannot be that old (the boathouse seems to be the newest part of the hotel). On the positive side, the accommodations are spacious. The same is true for the bathrooms, but they also look a bit tired. There is a whirlpool tub and a separate shower. In my view, the rooms are quite pricey considering the location and the furnishing (465 $/night and room).
The room is not the only thing that seems quirky. Actually, the whole hotel – even the whole village – made a strange impression on me. You have to know that all the hotels in Meredith belong to the same group, and this shows. Everything is in the same style, rustic, quaint and often looking rather dated.
As far as service is concerned, when arriving we were not welcomed in a warm way. An elderly lady at the reception rather gave us a lecture than made us feel welcome! The younger employees in general were friendlier than the elder ones, and this threaded its way throughout our stay.
Once we had dinner in the hotel restaurant, the Lago. The food was mediocre and the service slow. The following night, we made an escape from Meredith and went to Squam Lake Inn in Holderness where we had a good meal and felt more at ease.
All in all, we did not have a great stay at the Church Landing. The only highlights we encountered were the lake view and breakfasts in the Waterfall Cafe – that probably also belongs to the same hotel group, I do not know for sure – where food was good and service was friendly even though the charming host was both times under a lot of stress. I have the impression that the Church Landing is well frequented by long-time regulars and we just did not fit in …
Date of stay: October 2014
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