Earlier this spring, my family and I stayed at the inn just as a weekend getaway. Upon our arrival we were warmly welcomed and shown to our room. It was warm and cozy, with the type of decor I would expect from an old New England inn -- antiques, pretty lamps, soft sheets. We ate our breakfasts (wonderful!) and dinners at the inn, while eating lunch in North Conway. We all ordered different meals and shared, and everything was divine!

There are other places to stay in the area, but I would never stay anywhere else because the Inn can't be beat for comfort, beauty, and delicious food!

Oh, I do have to make a comment about the December 30 review. A fire would be nice, especially in chilly New Hampshire and especially in the large dining/sitting room. However, it is my understanding that this is a two man operation (Tim and Bobby) with more staff in the evening for dinner. I think it's a little unreasonable to expect them to keep fires going all day on the off chance that a guest would happen by. I'm sure if you had asked, they would have been happy to make a fire for you!

My husband and I travel often enough and always prefer a B & B whenever possible. We had many choices for our visit North, but ended up staying at Crystal Lake. It was reasonably priced, and seemed quaint and homey right on the lake. Here's a few comments about our stay:
1) The Inn is across from the lake..not what we expected, but not a big deal as it was December and quite frigid.
2) Old inns need a lot of maintainance. While the inside was comfy looking and our king sleigh bed was nice, it was freezing in our room (Room 7) for most of the time we stayed there. At one point, I was under a blanket with my coat on!
3) The common room near the pub and dining room had a lovely wood stove, but it, like the rest of the Inn remained cold both day and night. It sure would have been nice to read by the fire on those cold winter days! Not quite sure why the stove was not lit both days and nights we were there.
4) Old Inns have old windows. The wind was whipping fiercely the two nights we were there, and the window shook so loudly that it kept us awake for quite some time. When my husband tried to fix it, he saw that the top of the window had been duct-taped to the molding. The tape fell off, and the window dropped down making it sound as though someone was constantly trying to break into our room. He tried to fill in the gaps with toilet paper to stop the rattling.
5) The first morning after we braved the cold, we told the owner/innkeeper about the heating problem. While we were out that day, he had left a space heater in the room for us. It took many hours before it filled the room with warmth, but it did eventually!
6) The fan in our bathroom came on with the light and it sounded like a 747 was landing in there. The shower stall was quite confining. We are average size people. Picking up dropped soap was a challenge and forget about shaving my legs.
7) Tuesday is Mexican night at the Inn's pub and restaurant. No other food off the regular menu was served, although the owner had previously informed us that they would indeed offer regular menu items should Mexican food not be our thing. I did ask come dinner time, but was told no. Well, it was too darn cold to get in the car and go anywhere else, so we stayed. The chef made my "Chimi" without the beans. Very, very yummy, as was breakfast both mornings.

The owner is a very nice guy and he had an easy way about him that made us comfortable in his place. Upon check-out he informed us that he discounted our rate because of the heating issue. Somewhere around 5% was better than nothing. That was good PR. I hope some needed repairs get underway this spring. We love the history and ambience of an old inn, but as guests, in this case, we would have preferred more comfort.

The welcome was warm but the inn was disappointing. The decor was tired and bore little relationship to the photographs on the website, It was not what what we were expecting for $180 a night. We cut our losses and did not stay.

We stayed for two nights and I must say, the food was fantastic, as well as the InnKeeper, and the staff at the restaurant and Pub. They were very accommodating and friendly. All of our meals were delicious and the atmosphere was terrific. Tim was very friendly. The common areas of the Inn are very homey.

We were disappointed in the rooms.
The rooms, although clean, were a bit shabby and tired-looking. No tub, just shower. Our towel bar kept falling off. The bed was not very comfortable.

The pictures of the Inn and lake on the Internet are misleading.
The lake is across the street from the Inn, and not visible from the Inn. The picture on the Internet is not a true depiction of what you will see.

The town of Eaton has no cell phone coverage, so keep this in mind when visiting.