Longfellow's Wayside Inn — Restaurant in Sudbury

DINING - if you're just here for a meal (lunch & dinner only), make sure to ask for a historic room if you can get it. Reserving ahead will help. I didn't know and ended up in a big conference-center room and it's not what I had in mind. The food is very good, not great, and there are some fun regional specialties in there if you're from away. The service is fantastic and my server explained all the different dining rooms they have - which all serve the same food. Some are reserved for special events, and in the old bar right when you enter, you can get a different menu of drinks and appetizers. I will say the restaurant skews toward an older crowd, I would say. Old folks and special events.

LODGING - staying the night is possible on a second-floor hall with 8 rooms, some much larger than others. I stayed in a room with a queen canopy bed for about $180 and it was quite nice. There's a seating area, a good-sized lighted closet, and two dressers to put things away, and a small attached bathroom. While it is a very nice experience to stay overnight and keeping in mind that the Inn is part of a greater complex, there are some drawbacks: the biggest might be there there is no TV in the room, nor coffee maker, microwave, or fridge. If you have to watch TV, there is a sitting room for overnight guests with a TV and games. (I say, unplug and read a book.) My biggest complaint is that there is no individual temp control. It was pretty cool after dinner and I thought it would be fine, but around 9 pm, the air cut off and stayed off all night. I found it very stuffy, and after opening the windows around 1 am, it finally felt cool enough to me in the early morning hours. Basically, I didn't sleep well because I was too hot. According to my breakfast waitress, most folks are too cold, so maybe I'm the outlier or it was just cool enough outside to cut off for the night. Other things to note is that there is a lot of hustle and bustle and food smells in the building until about 8-9 pm when the dining room shuts down. I assume it feels like how it's felt for about 300 years - a bustling tavern with lots going on. There's no fan in the bathroom - at least not a working one, there was a switch - and no hooks for towels or robes. Though again, there was perhaps a spot for one, just no hook on the screw. There are soap/shampoo/conditioner dispensers in the shower, which I'm all for, but the conditioner is among the worst I've ever used. My hair was like straw afterwards. I enjoyed the included breakfast more than the expensive dinner the night before, and it's served in one of the historic rooms, so that's a plus. And afterwards, I was able to look through the rest of the dining rooms without any people in them. #1 - keep in mind that most of the Inn was rebuilt after a fire in the 1950's, so the hotel rooms and many of the dining rooms aren't original to the 1700's. They're either reproductions of the oldest stuff or reproductions of the rooms Henry Ford added on in the 1920's (like the big dining room.) #2 - the oldest wing that survived the fire is pretty cool and there is one more hotel room, #9, that you can rent up a very steep flight of steps in this wing. It's supposed to be haunted and stays booked up to maybe a year out. Make sure to ask to see it if it's not open - sometimes those rooms are closed for events, but I got back to them by asking at the front desk. I wanted to see the old stuff!

There is a large parking lot across from the Inn and a shop that sells antiques and plants (cash only.) A smaller lot next to the Inn accommodates handicapped and overnight guests with an easier entrance...

The restaurant is exceptional and the restaurant is always 5 star. However, this review is about the stay NOT food. ||||In June, when we made the reservation in June, we alerted the front desk in emails that we were arriving late from a Los Angeles flight and we needed a room near the elevator and we reserved with a card for a stay on 9/13/22. I gave the flight and arrival time for 8:30PM in Boston and then we would leave Logan to get to the Inn. We received a call from the front desk at 8:30PM [while at Logan deplaning] and asked if we are coming. I reminded the speaker that we are arriving as soon as we get luggage and the car. I was told the front door would be unlocked. ||||Arrival between 9:30-9:45 PM. no outside light near the front door [I am 74 with mobility issues--this was unacceptable], plus, the door was LOCKED! I knocked loudly and often, no answer. I then called the Inn number--got an answering machine, tried again with the other option and reached someone around 10PM. This gal was wonderful and was the restaurant manager--exceptional customer service! She started to help us up the stairs and I said that my emails with the front desk stated we would have a room near the elevator. She informed me that the elevator was not working. We questioned why the front desk or innkeeper did not contact us about such.||||My husband and I slowly made our way up the stairs to our room with our luggage. The next morning's breakfast was delicious and the usual I would expect from the restaurant--exceptional food. As I was checking out, I mentioned the difficulty when we arrived, I was asked if I would like to speak with the innkeeper to which I said YES! I overheard the messenger say that 'she wants to talk to you' to which the 'innkeeper' said that someone will be in at 11AM for me to talk with them. He never cam out to ask what the difficulty was. I only expected an apology but received nothing! ||||BEWARE --of Longfellow's for your hotel needs, the service is awful and if arriving late, stay closer to Boston. To not address issues of customers is major for any business. The foundation should be made aware of this as well. Foundations rely on donations and perhaps their members have never stayed there! ...

My aunt and Uncle had their wedding here on 28 October, and to say it was a disaster would be an understatement. First, they made the wedding on Sunday only because there were supposed to be revolutionary war reenactments all day Saturday - and since it rained Saturday, the wayside decided to reschedule the re-enactment event to Sunday. There were tons of reenactors all over, and all you could hear during their vows was gun fires, drums, and flutes outside and it was awkward. There was also a fiasco with the tables - the bride was under the impression that the space could fit 8 tables, and then a couple days in advance they said no only 6, so she had to do damage control and move it to two long tables last minute.

But then when we thought things could get worse, in the middle of the ceremony the power went out! It got dark and then during “cocktail hour” the bartenders said they couldn’t serve us drinks without power due to Massachusetts state law (we looked this up later, couldn’t find anything of the sort) and they weren’t even nice about it - like “oh well, no drinks for you, not our problem” even though there were literally bottles of wine and cups just sitting there (ever heard of a cash bar??) It was so dark it was a fire hazard and I could have fallen down the stairs - they served platters of cheese and crackers in the dark with no tongs, so we couldn’t even see what we were putting on our plates. They had no backup generator, and were dismayed that we even asked about it. Finally, after 2+ hours of no power, we had to just pick up everything and leave to go to a nearby restaurant that could accommodate a group of 50-ish people so that folks could eat (and drink!) something. The wedding ceremony ended at 12:15pm and we didn’t end up eating until 4pm. It was a major disaster, and the worst part is that the wayside inn staff wasn’t even nice or apologetic or accommodating about it (no one brought out candles or flashlights when they power went out -they just shrugged and walked away!)

Brides beware - do not book this as a...