Bird-in-Hand Family Inn — Hotel in Leacock Township

BUFFET RESTAURANT REVIEW FOR HEALTHY MEALS

I recommend their breakfast buffet (across the drive from the rooms), included with your room price. I like to eat healthy, but all-you-can-eat is a particular challenge, as the temptation is to overeat. I found the following healthy items:

1. Scrambled eggs which I mixed with the Amish (sweetened) stewed tomatoes. They don't have egg whites without the yolk, but the latest nutrition advice is to eat the yolks anyway.

2. Yogurt, to which I added strawberry or apple toppings (provided for the waffles, toast, French toast, raisin toast, etc.). The yogurt is in a vat, and the flavor wasn't written on the sign, but it was white, so I figured it was either plain or vanilla. It was vanilla.

3. Fresh fruit, including (pineapple, cantaloupe, and honeydew) wedges, pear halves, and whole apples and bananas.

4. They also had cold cereal, oatmeal, and cream of wheat, but I avoid carbs from grains, and want something fancier on vacation anyway.

5. One disappointment was no lean meat. I ate the sausage links, which were rather fatty. I obviously avoided the bacon. If you are trying to eat healthy, or are a vegetarian, the only options I see for protein are the scrambled eggs or yogurt. If you are a vegetarian who doesn't eat milk or dairy, there don't seem to be any good options. I didn't see any nuts or beans.

6. They were excellent at keeping the buffet stocked, I never saw any empty vats. There were always clean dishes ready, too, and they weren't dripping wet, either. And they even seemed to prevent cross contamination from one vat to the next somehow. (They must fish out anything that falls in.)

7. The vats weren't covered, which isn't very sanitary, but at least there weren't any flies in there, and hopefully the vats were changed often enough to limit bacterial growth.

8. The waitress who brought our drinks (provided free with the buffet) had a good sense of humor and kept us laughing. Drinks include orange juice, pineapple juice, tomato juice, coffee and tea (and I assume milk).

As for the hotel, it has an indoor pool, indoor sauna, outdoor pool, pool table, and ping-pong. We also had the "Eagle Room" reserved for a family reunion. It had plenty of dishes in the kitchen, a full-sized refrigerator/freezer, sink, microwave oven and coffee maker, but no stove or oven. The main room had a thermostat which actually worked, so we could keep the temperature comfortable. Noise was a bit of a problem, though, either our noise going out into the hall and the guest rooms right there, or their noise coming in. So, we had to keep the doors closed, which lock automatically, so newcomers had to knock and we had to get up to let people in. They took out the garbage every day but we still had one seriously annoying fly.

The hot water in the rooms was a bit erratic, changing temperature when toilets were flushed, etc. This is a sign of low water pressure and/or too small diameter pipes.

They don't seem to lock the exterior doors at night, which is convenient, but might also be a security concern. The office closes at 10 PM, and they do lock that door. (They have a phone there for late arrivals to call to get somebody up so they...

This is a great family hotel. We called in to make our reservations and the person who helped us was really friendly and answered any questions we had. She was kind enough to reserve us seats on the complimentary Amish tour that the hotel offers. We arrived early to take the tour, went to the front lobby to check in and were greeted by a really nice woman who told us to come in once the tour came back and there would be a room ready for us (and it was we were able to check in by 1/1:30).

The tour itself was great. The tour guide is really informative and he takes you through all of the back roads and shares lots of stories and information. You can tell he has a genuine love for the area. We made two stops one at a home with a popcorn business (we bought more popcorn than we will ever be able to eat - its just that good) and one was a quilt shop with other hand made items and various souvenirs and has a working farm that you can explore certain areas of and both places accepted debit or credit cards. If you stay here make a point to take the tour, you will discover all kinds of places that you can also go to on your own (a lot of the farms sell goods directly from their homes).

When we checked in we were offered our choice of a treat (white, milk or dark chocolate or a loaf of cranberry orange bread) which was a nice surprise. We stayed in the Pool Building for its easy access to the pool and game room as well as its location to the miniature golf course and petting zoo. There are two large indoor pools and a hot tub with a game room and pool tables all in the same area. There is also a really large outdoor pool which our room overlooked and would be great in the summer. Unfortunately the miniature golf doesn't open if its cold or raining so we didn't get to enjoy that, but look forward to trying again when we go back next month.

There is a restaurant on one side of the hotel that offers menu items or a smorgasbord for breakfast lunch and dinner. On Sundays the restaurant also offers a small breakfast buffet for hotel guests only at a really great price. On the other side of the hotel there is a farmers market where you can buy snacks, baked goods and shop, and across the street from there is a bakery and few other stores along with a small pen of animals next to the parking lot that you can feed.

The location , hotel and everything there was to do made for a...

We have been coming to this place since before we had our last child. This is the perfect, quaint, and peaceful place to enjoy a weekend or few days away from the craziness of life. The hotel is always spotless and the pool buildings all have microwaves and refrigerators. We have watched the fish grow up in the pond because of how many times we've gone there, which we love feeding. We've always loved the playground and feeding the goats and alpacas. Plus the ducks and chickens. :-) We became part of the VIP club which allows us to get a free night with every 10 nights we've gone, our name goes up on the welcome screen, and we get a free little loaf cake. The restaurant and buffet are awesome. We've even done the on site mini golf and ice cream. Though we don't use it they also have a basketball and tennis court. We also love the complimentary Amish tour which takes you to this awesome pretzel stand. Even when our youngest was five, we still were able to enjoy it. We also like to play a game where we shout out whoever can see the Amish buggies on the road, the fastest, and we keep score. The little arcade is fun too as well as the ping pong table, which is free, and the pool table which cost a dollar. We just don't run out of things to do there and it's always a peaceful family time. And let's not forget where we spend most of our time... The indoor pool! Or should I say pools. I'm almost positive that my children learned to swim at Bird-in-Hand. We've spent so many hours in their two indoor pools, both with deep ends. The hot tub is a nice size as well. And many of the walls are just windows so it always has a nice ambience. There's a laundry room there as well. Also next door to an indoor Amish/country market and across the street from Cafe/ bakery. Complimentary coffee in the lobby /checkin all day and the staff are very sweet and accommodating. I could go on and on. And for as much of a country/farm feel that you get at the family inn, you're 5 minutes away from civilization where there's outlet stores, plenty of restaurants, and Dutch wonderland. Also close to the Strasburg train things and Sight and Sound theater....