On the recommendation of friends, my mother and I stayed 3 nights at Emily's B&B to attend parent events at my daughter's college. Not being bed and breakfast people, we were pleasantly surprised. In the Emily Dickinson suite, a very reasonable rate got us two rooms with a comfortable bed in each and a small kitchen and dining area. Emily provided various kinds of breakfast foods, including fresh fruit, cereal, breads, tea, juice and coffee. She was unobtrusive yet responsive, although we did not need much. The house is lovely, especially in the fall in New England. If you want an informal, homey environment, this is the place for you. If you want attentive and various kinds of service, this is not the place for you, although, having stayed at various places in Amherst, I am not sure where you would get that anyway. We will stay at Emily's on all future visits to Amherst.

This cozy and convenient B&B is within easy walking distance from the train station and from the parking lot on the town commons. It doesn't have a website, so it may not be as full as other places in town that can get booked up quickly because of the area's 5 colleges. It also doesn't have a sign out front because it is in a residential neighborhood, so make sure you take down the address.

I stayed here in the carriage house for two nights and found it thoroughly relaxing. There's a garden to the side with bright geraniums and a fountain; the wall of windows on the other side of the spacious room looked out over a woodsy area, so it was like a wall of trees. Yes, it is a serve-yourself breakfast operation, but there's plenty of orange juice and some freshly prepared grapefruit halves along with locally baked pastries and muffins. The sitting area and kitchen are cozy and bohemian but immaculate. The proprietors and staff are friendly and helpful but leave you alone since they assume that you want your privacy.

To that end, there are no televisions or even clock radios. Bring your own alarm clock and blowdryer and plenty of books since it is a really quiet and mellow place. They have nice glycerine soap, but make sure to bring shampoo and conditioner-- though the B&B is a stone's throw from a CVS.
The garden has deservedly won an award from a MA archictectural association.

A delightful find. We stayed there for three days and absolutely loved it. We will never stay anywhere other than Emily's when visiting our daughter in Amherst. We had the lovely house to our selves and could wake up and do breakfast, which was ample andfresh) anytime we wanted. No set times or restrictions. Fresh flowers everyday, a wonderful array of books to read, real New England charm. This was a peaceful, relaxing and charming experience. Would highly recommend to anyone.

I spent two nights at Emily's in March 2003 withi my girlfriend. The room was clean and warm, the location is really close to downtown (4 minutes' walk). So why the 'Okay' rating? The major problem I had with Emily's is that it's really not a 'bed & breakfast' at all, as most people understand the term. Most people think of a bed & breakfast, and visualize themselves staying in someone's home, chatting with the host over a home-cooked breakfast, getting some local color. But "Emily" (that's not her real name) doesn't live there, nobody lives there. At Emily's, you make your own breakfast in the kitchen down the hallway, or help yourself to the fruit and store-bought cakes that may have been left there for you. Since there's nobody there, you need to figure out where the kitchen is on your own. The milk in the fridge was sour (over a week out of date), and the only cereal was Fruity Pebbles and some other "kid cereal". Instead of the personal experience that you expect at a Bed & Breakfast, I feel like our experience was even *less* personal than if we had stayed at the Howard Johnson, or Motel 6.In fairness, I should say that we did bump into someone who said she was keeping an eye on the place, and who also told us that "Emily" was out of town for a couple of weeks. Perhaps when she's around, it's a more personal experience.The rooms were sparsely furnished, and the bed had seen better days, but you can never be sure what you're going to get at a B&B, and it was only $70/night. If you're looking for a cheap room near downtown, it's not a bad deal. Just know that you're *not* getting a bed & breakfast, it's more like a self-catering room. And don't forget to pick up some fresh milk before you get there.