Adirondack Rock & River Guide — Hotel in Town of Keene

My women's hiking club stayed at the Rock & River Lodge the last weekend of August. We had the Guide House to ourselves. ||||ROOM: I shared Stoddard with a fellow club member. Stoddard is the largest room in the Guide House. Stoddard has a queen size bed, twin, and pull out sofa in addition to a chair, 2 bedside tables and an end table by the sofa. The bathroom is very large and the room has many windows so that you really feel emerged in the great out doors. I think the Stoddard room was built in the last 5-10 years and doesn't feel abused.||||FOOD: Breakfast was excellent. Freshly baked muffins, bread, butter, yogurt, granola, fruit, cereal, and scrambled eggs with vegetables were available each morning. The eggs with vegetables were FANTASTIC. The muffins were also great. It's all made from scratch; homey and delicious.||||GROUNDS: You have to drive down a dirt road to get to the place (made me love it more!). The owners live on the property and there appeared to be a second guest house with other occupants in it while we stayed for a four day weekend. There is a hiking trail on the property in addition to a butterfly garden and a vegetable garden. VERY scenic - it sits in a valley and you are surrounded by mountains.||||GUIDE HOUSE: Is open to all who are staying on the grounds, our club made sure to lock our rooms when we weren't in them (you never know...). Coffee, tea, water and left over breakfast muffins were often available in the dining hall. At one of the dining hall there are chairs and a sofa with books and games. There is also deck attached to the Guide House, which was simply perfect for our club; after a day of hiking we came back to the house, showered, enjoyed wine and snacks (which we brought with us) on the deck until we were ready to go to dinner. A few of us watched for shooting stars one evening on the deck. It was peaceful, relaxing and fun. T-shirts and mugs are available for purchase - honestly because it was so wonderful I bought a T-shirt (I don't usually buy promo stuff). There are two parts to the Guest House. The newer section has bigger rooms that accommodate more people, the older section of the house has smaller rooms for 1-2 individuals. Either way we had 12 people with us and we had no problems with sleeping, showering, being comfortable and spreading out.||||BTW - cell service is limited. The best service in the Adirondacks is Verizon, especially around Lake Placid. I have Verizon and was in and out of 1-3G while at the Rock & River - truth be told I didn't care :-) I was able to text my husband good night from Stoddard...

Caveat: if you're looking for a 5-star resort, this isn't the place. You won't find TVs in the rooms, A/C or room service. What you will find are clean, modern rooms at the end of a 3-mile country road in a bucolic location. A buffet breakfast (fresh and lots of choices, including oatmeal, fruit, baked goods, Belgian waffles, eggs) is included for the Guide's House guests, and you get to interact with Ed, the owner, at breakfast. He is an absolute encyclopedia of Adirondack lore and information (hiking routes to 46'ers and other peaks, climbing routes, swimming holes, paddling spots--you name it!). The lodge is located at one end of the Jackrabbit Ski Trail (a cross-country route) and is surrounded on three sides by wilderness. It's truly in a beautiful location, especially if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle.||||On top of the lodging, Rock and River does guided rock and ice climbing, as well as hiking (a fair amount of folks hike 46'ers with R&R guides). I have gone rock climbing a number of times with R&R guides--though not on this trip--and when you do they make up a bagged lunch for you! On this trip the focus was on hiking and I was given some good advice by Ed (as usual!)||||If you are an outdoors lover you will absolutely adore this place! For those looking for a group rental the Climber's Lodge is a converted barn, including a huge stone fireplace with a climbing wall on the back side (for those rainy Adirondack days). This is absolutely my favorite place to stay in...

Stayed in the Guide's lodge with my wife after camping here with my Scout troop a couple of times. It was everything we hoped for - quiet, clean, comfortable. An ADK Camp feel without the need to rent for a week. The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful. A completely relaxed approach to your stay. This is not a hotel but yet much better than a B +B. You can hit some trails right out the door. Otherwise it's a short drive to all of the High Peak Trailheads. The guides for climbing, etc are wonderful too. Breakfast is a simple affair - some baked goods, make your own waffles and maybe some scrambled eggs with great coffee. Designed to get you out on the trail quickly so don't expect anything fancy. We can't wait to go back. Cell reception is spotty or non-existent. There is Wi-Fi but it's a little finicky and kind of slow. This allows you to really unplug. But it also means do your web research before you come. We stayed in the Stoddard room. I was particularly impressed with the well-thought out tribute to its namesake Seneca Ray Stoddard, a 19th century ADK Photographer. A copy of his guide book and a collection of his photos are in the room and on the walls. A great connection to...