Longhouse: 1 Queen 4 Single

Reviews of Mad River Barn

3 out of 5
Mad River Barn
Route 17, 2849 Mill Brook Road, Waitsfield, VT

Reviews

9.2

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 89 out of 130 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 27 out of 130 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 11 out of 130 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 130 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 130 reviews" "

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.6/10

Staff & service

8.4/10

Amenities

9.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.2/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

melisssa

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great vibe!
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

kieran

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Food is great
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024

10/10 Excellent

Bogdan

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Leonard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice little hotel with friendly staff. Perfect for families. Great breakfast in the morning.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

6/10 Okay

Howard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

8/10 Good

Carrie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Mad River One Night Stay
Stayed here on night only in the middle of a college tour trip. Checked in about 8pm...noone at the desk, key was left on desk with receipt and room number. Definitely "contact less" which I did not mind at all!!! Our room was in Barn-B3 specially. Room was plenty big even with a Queen and Twin bed. Bathroom was large with a lovely walk-in shower. All the basics supplied....beautifully manicured grounds/gardens. Comfy beds, clean linens. Breakfast included was made to order...delish. Would stay again but would request a room upstairs if available as whomever was staying above us had kids that sounded like they were going to come through the ceiling at any time right up to almost midnight.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Tae

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Staff is very friendly and the beds were very comfortable. The property itself is beautifully landscaped
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

Steven

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

10/10 Excellent

christopher

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Barbara

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Mad River Barn has been nicely updated, while keeping its quaint inn feelings. Convenient to Sugarbush Resort. Good food. Clean. Reasonably priced.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

8/10 Good

Jennifer

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff and owners are terrific. The restaurant food and breakfasts are delicious. Overall the atmosphere is friendly and fun and welcoming.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022

10/10 Excellent

Travis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very unique and quaint Inn! You definitely get a Vermont wilderness vibe with this barn and the attached restaurant and bar, I would highly recommend this place as a rental for anybody visiting the Mad River Valley for the ski resorts or other outdoor activities! If you're an astronomy buff or astrophotographer this place is great for low light pollution on clear nights to see all the constellations as well!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2022

6/10 Okay

Skylar

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Good accommodations for number of people. Limited parking and owner had dog barking for hours in the middle of the night which kept us up. Would probably look for quieter accommodations in the future as the accommodations were primarily intended as a place to sleep.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2022

10/10 Excellent

Camille

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great location minutes from mad River and sugarbush ski areas. Great food and beverage options between the pub and restaurant, and complimentary breakfast! We look to stay here each time we visit the area.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022
Response from Jess, Inn Manager on Jan 27, 2022
Hi Camille, We are so glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We hope to see you again soon :)

8/10 Good

Peter D

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2022

10/10 Excellent

Christine, Natick

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Very spacious room, comfortable beds, full size bunks, and the food is delicious. Daily breakfast included.
Stayed 6 nights in Dec 2021
Response from Jess, Inn Manager on Jan 6, 2022
Hi Christine, We're so glad you enjoyed your stay! We hope to see you again soon

10/10 Excellent

Christian

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
New, roomy, quaint, and quintessentially Vermont with an updated, modern feel. Really great (included) breakfast, awesome common room and bar! A few outdoor hot tubs and a kids game room would make it the best place to stay in MRV...
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2021
Response from Jess, Inn Manager on Dec 16, 2021
Hi Christian, We are so glad you enjoyed your stay with us! There are some longer term plans in place to expand the game room and separate it from our pub space, hopefully in the next year or two. We hope you able to come back and visit sometime soon!

6/10 Okay

Ann-Marie P.

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Customer service
The Mad River Barn was our most anticipated stay of our 9-day semi annual trip to VT. The entire feel of the place was right up our ally. As with many travelers, most don't book direct from a hotels main website. Had we done that we would have seen a clear breakdown of the different room and crisis would have been averted. As it were, we booked a room on hotels.com which had a photo of a farmhouse room not the bunk room. As a couple we would have never booked bunk beds. It was a later check in and after seeing the room we quickly brought it to the receptionist attention. I think she was equally surprised when she pulled up hotels.com and saw the same photo we did. With it being peak season, no other rooms were available. The young lady offer us a refund, which wasn't going to work as we had NO other place to stay in town. When we reached out to the manager, she told us that we were offered a discount on the room?? I think if that was case we would have gladly accepted it. We didn't appreciate that response. It wasn't about the money, it was about the "Barn"not paying attention to the details on hotels.com. It's unfortunate as they seem to have gotten all the details correct at there facility. In visiting the hotels.com website it appears that the image now matches the room. You will find many great reviews, which are probably spot on. It's a shame they didn't do the right thing and refund the money? We were right and they should have made it right. They didn't!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Lawrence

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021

10/10 Excellent

Jorge

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
What an amazing, albeit brief stay. I would stay there again especially for ski season. Breakfast was fantastic!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Mad River Barn Management on Oct 19, 2021
Hi Jorge, We are so happy you enjoyed your stay with us! Sugarbush saw the first snowfall of the year last night, ski season is right around the corner and we'd love to have you again!

10/10 Excellent

Lyle

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Unfortunately because of covid, pub & restaurant were closed. However, the chef fixed a fantastic breakfast every morning which was included. A good base for going either direction to shop or leaf peep. Bed was comfortable & the main inn was full, so we were had a room with 4 extra bunk beds. If you had a family or friends with you, that would be the way to go. No alarm clock or coffee pot in room. And, it was fairly noisy in the room above us. It’s a wooden structure so you could easily hear people walking. But, overall a beautiful property & we would stay there again, just would try to get a room in the main inn. Book early - they said they are already full because of the ski season starting.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2021
Response from Mad River Barn Management on Oct 11, 2021
Hi Lyle, We are glad you enjoyed your stay! We are also very disappointed that we weren't able to open the restaurant/pub this season. We will be back open in December for a busy ski season! It proved to be too much with the challenges faced by Covid and we weren't comfortable stretching our staff even thinner for the summer/fall this year. We look forward to cozy nights of beers and burgers by the fire in the near future! There are definitely several rooms around the property that are great for families. We appreciate your feedback on the amenities in the rooms. I will certainly look into adding alarm clocks, that is a recommendation. We do have coffee available for inn guests in a press pot that is located near the breakfast area. This is typically out until at least 8pm each night. We appreciate all of your feedback and we hope to see you again! Take care

6/10 Okay

Dawn, Temperance

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very nice surroundings inside and outside! Very clean! What we were disappointed in was that the bar/restaurant was closed and paper thin walls and ceilings!! You could hear everything—people walking upstairs and in the hallway—just wasn’t very soundproof!
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021
Response from Mad River Barn on Oct 11, 2021
Hi Dawn, Thank you for your feedback. We are also disappointed that we were unable to open the restaurant & pub this season. Covid has put a major strain on restaurants in the area and as a team we chose to hold off until the winter instead of stretching our staff too thin on top of a very busy event schedule. While we took as many soundproofing measures as possible during the renovation of the inn we are sorry to hear you did not find the room to your standards. This is historically a VERY busy time of year and we hope you are able to join us again during a quieter time!

8/10 Good

Joyce

Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
We stayed for two nights and first impression was that the place was a cute industrial rustic mix with some modern touches. We had a barn room and it was on the smaller side but sufficient for 3 guests. One of the smoke detectors was chirping in the middle of the night but the staff replaced the batteries the next day The surrounding area is beautiful especially during foliage! It's a cute place to stay
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2021
Response from Mad River Barn Management on Oct 11, 2021
Hi Joyce, We are so glad you enjoyed our stay! Our designer, Joanne Palmisano, did a fantastic job with the interior of the building. I'm sorry that the smoke detector was chirping throughout the night! Our on-site overnight manager would have been happy to address this, but I'm glad it was taken care of first thing in the morning. Take care and we hope to see you again!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very enjoyable stay and great breakfast!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 11, 2021
We are so glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We hope to see you again

4/10 Poor

Patricia

Business traveller
Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Beware all Elderly Patrons
There are no elevators or provisions for elderly patrons or the handicapped. We had to lug suitcases up several sets of stairs to get to our room in the Annex. My husband fell on his shoulder on the stone outdoor stairs trying to get a small roller suitcase up the stairs. We didn’t know the kind of accommodations we had reserved until check-in and then all rooms were booked so that we could not change rooms. However, breakfast was great!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Mad River Barn Management on Oct 11, 2021
Hi Patricia, We are so sorry you were unhappy with your accommodations. Our property can certainly be a little challenging - all of the buildings have been in their current locations for well over 100 years and it is a tough property to navigate! We recommending calling the front desk directly for future reservations as we do have three rooms on ground level, one of which is fully ADA compatible. If you do chose to book through a site such as Expedia or Hotels.com I would suggest using the "Special/Accessibility requests" option when booking your reservation to send a note to the property addressing your needs for the stay. I will certainly pass along the breakfast kudos to our chef! Take care, and we hope to see you again.

8/10 Good

Elizabeth

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
Hi Elizabeth! We are glad you enjoyed your stay. We would love additional feedback on what we could do to improve further if you have a chance to reach out to us! Take care and we hope to see you again

2/10 Terrible

Mary

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
the beds were horribly uncomfortable, as were the rock hard pillows. from room 5b all night long there was a slow CONSTANT banging heard through the walls. no tv was a shocker in this day and age. the restaurant was not open and area restaurants had over 1 hour waits. we went to bed hungry. woke up tired and miserable with a funeral to go to. I wish I never heard of the mad river barn. we stood at the reception desk to ask a question with the clerk on the phone planning a wedding and never said hold on to see what we needed or acknowledge us in the least bit. we left without any assistance whatsoever.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from MRB Management on Oct 23, 2021
Hi Mary, We are sorry that your stay with us did not meet your standards. Typically guests enjoy our memory foam mattresses, though they may not be for everyone! Our overnight manager would have been happy to address your concerns with a noise from upstairs if it had been brought to our attention that night - we apologize for the disruption. While half of our rooms do in fact have TVs, we have MANY guests that are in fact very thankful to have the opportunity to unplug and relax while staying with us. TVs and mini fridges are available in all of the Longhouse and Annex rooms on the property. We have tried to be very transparent with our guests regarding the hurdles we have faced reopening our restaurant. While we can't speak for your experience at area restaurants, we encourage to you check out an article from Food and Wine regarding the challenges faced by the service industry right now - it is titled 'The New Rules of Dining Out'. Finally, we are surprised and disheartened to hear that your interaction with the staff member on duty was a negative experience. Our full time wedding & events manager handles all of the 'planning' of events, but the front desk does often receive calls to finalize room bookings. We apologize if this particular call took a few moments longer than usual! We hope that you are able to return to the Mad River Valley to visit in less of a peak travel season (foliage weeks are historically the busiest of the summer/fall) to have a much more private experience in the surrounding area.

10/10 Excellent

Christie

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We hope to see you again soon

10/10 Excellent

Todd

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We hope to see you again soon

10/10 Excellent

Virginia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very rustic
Great true rustic fell. We had a good night's stay and breakfast was in a beautiful old room with one wall encompassing a solid Boulder of granite.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
Hi Virginia, We are so glad you enjoyed your stay with us! Much of our decor was created and emphasized by our wonderful designer Joanne Palmisano. I highly recommend checking out her books - Styling with Salvage and Salvage Secrets to see more of her work! Take care and we hope to see you again!

10/10 Excellent

james

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
All good
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We hope to see you again soon

10/10 Excellent

Jan

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The chef for breakfast was wonderful, food was excellent. The coffee was the best I have had. Would like to see microwave and small coffee pot in the room.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
Hi Jan, We are so glad you enjoyed your stay with us. Janis does such a fabulous job with breakfast - she spoils guests (and staff!) daily! Our coffee is Vermont Coffee Roasters Dark Blend :) We are working towards upgrading the amenities in our guest rooms. If you stay with us again feel free to ask a staff member to show you where the kitchen microwave is, and coffee is typically available all day & evening in a press pot next to the coffee maker by the breakfast area! Take care & we hope to see you again!

8/10 Good

Cate

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The room was amazing! And Jenny(?) the cook was so gracious and accommodating. Disappointed that the restaurant wasn't opened.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021
Response from Jess on Oct 8, 2021
Hi Cate, We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us! We really tried to get the restaurant open for this summer/fall but the staffing shortages caused by the pandemic proved to be too challenging for us to overcome and offer a product we were proud of serving. As events wind down for the season we will transition our focus back to the restaurant and pub for the ski season - we hope you are able to visit us again and enjoy the awesome atmosphere of the pub as soon as it reopens! Take care, Mad River Barn

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Eggs with goatcheese at breakfast were great and made to order
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021
Response from Mad River Barn on Aug 24, 2021
Hello! We appreciate your review. We would love to hear what you would like to see improved as far as the grounds, facilities and cleanliness of the property so we can enhance the experience for future guests. Please feel free to reach out to us either here or at info@madriverbarn.com. Take care, Mad River Barn management

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Felt at home. I will be returning because we loved it so much.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021
Response from Mad River Barn on Aug 24, 2021
We appreciate your review & hope to see you again soon!

10/10 Excellent

Ronald

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean comfortable rooms and friendly staff
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

8/10 Good

Brenda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great service
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Stephanie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Can't wait to go back
Loved our stay! Beautifully decorated, super nice staff, comfortable beds, gorgeous setting, nice continental breakfast. Perfect for our family of 5.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021
Response from Mad River Barn on Aug 24, 2021
We are so glad you were able to visit! We appreciate your review and hope to see you again in the future :)

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2020

8/10 Good

John

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2020

10/10 Excellent

Diane

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It was our 2nd visit and we were not dissapointed. The entire staff was friendly and helpful. Food and drink were fabulous. Can't wait to return.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Kelley

Travelled with family, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Check out Mad River Barn!!
Mad River Barn is definitely the place to check out, their staff is ALL friendly! Loved the rooms, pub and restaurant were great too!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Randy

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
great rooms and meals
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

6/10 Okay

paul

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Cozy, quiet. Perfect to unplug. Breakfast was amazing. Food In pub was superb. Great overall experience.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Nadia

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Love the Barn!
Love the Barn! Nice people, attractive and comfortable rooms, and vibrant apres ski bar scene. Delicious breakfast included. Wish the menu changed more often as we like to eat there a lot when we are in the area!
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Rebecca

Stayed 1 night in Jan 2020