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Isaac Merrill House – reviews, photos

3.0 of 5
720 Kearsarge Rd, North Conway, NH 03847
Hotel amenities
Isaac Merrill House
Ranked #20 of 27 North Conway B&B and Inns
3.5 of 5 stars 78 Reviews
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78 reviews from our community

What travellers say about this B&B/inn
  • Dining room(5)
  • Very nice(4)
  • Wood floor(3)
Traveller rating
    34
    21
    9
    8
    6
Only show reviews for Family (14) | Couples (42) | Business (3)
Date Rating
Amherst, Massachusetts
Senior Contributor
22 reviews 22 reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
8 helpful votes 8 helpful votes
“Great Stay! We'll be back.”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 22 December 2011

We arrived into an inviting lobby. Just through the front desk was a warm, comfortable living room. Off of the living room was the dining room where hot beverages, wine and cheese awaited us. But first we wanted to go to our room and drop off our bags. We stayed in room 19 on the first floor. The room was beautiful, spacious and very comfortable. The bathroom was large and nicely decorated. The room had a gas fireplace and flat screen TV. We thoroughly enjoyed our room although we didn't spend much time there as we were out and about.
After dropping off our bags we returned to the dining room for a glass of wine. We sat on a couch in front of the fireplace and socialized with other guests as well as the host. In was all very nice.
Breakfast was wonderful. There was a buffet of breads, cereal, fruit, yogurt and beverages. Once we were settled in at the table, a server approached with the option of pancakes, waffles or french toast with sausage. Breakfast was delicious.
The staff were wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. The well kept and clean.
After reading other reviews, I wasn't sure people were reviewing the same Inn. As we checked out, we asked to see the room with the fireplace and 2 person Jacuzzi for a possible future stay. The room was very large with a king bed, gas fireplace and a 2 person Jacuzzi in the room (not in the bathroom). This room, #17, was separate from the main inn and also had a private deck overlooking a large back yard. We of course immediately booked this room and will be returning for Valentine's Day.

Room Tip: I can recommend 17 and 19 as I stayed in one and saw and booked the other.
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  • Stayed December 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Berlin, MA USA
Contributor
14 reviews 14 reviews
Reviews in 8 cities Reviews in 8 cities
11 helpful votes 11 helpful votes
“Good Breakfast”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 22 November 2011
1
person found this review helpful

It's not a high end B&B, but it's an OK place to stay. It's a very old house, the room was showing it's age. But, the service was excellent. One minor problem was fixed right away.
Breakfast was well above average with a big selection including made to order pancakes and sausage. The dining area was very clean with cloth table cloths and a fireplace. It had a nice warm feel to it. North Conway center is walkable if you can handle a 15 minute walk.
The great breakfast puts this B&B as a "yes" recomendation.

  • Stayed November 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Carl16 about Isaac Merrill House
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Rochester, VT
2 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“Sadly dissapointed”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 October 2011
4
people found this review helpful

My husband and I wanted to enjoy a nice B&B with New England charm and this looked like such a lovely place on line. Sadly, we didn't research reviews. We stayed in Rm 3 on the third floor. It was very small and gave the impression that it was under construction. No pictures on the walls, the knots in the original wood floor had been filled with wood putty and left as is. The extremely tiny TV was plugged into an extension cord that ran loosely along the floorboards from the opposite side of the room and the cable connection from half way around the room. The bathroom shower was of poor quality and very stained and there was no fan in the bathroom which gave it a wet, musty odor. I know that this is a 1700's farmhouse but that is no excuse for the poor quality of these things. The floor refinishing should have been completed, if wiring wasn't put into the walls the extension cords could have at least been tacked along the floor/baseboards. We had reserved for 2 nights and therefore 2 breakfasts. The first was okay with decent service. However, the second morning we had to clear away the dirty dishes from a table so we would have a place to sit, and saw 2 other couples having to do the same. We were there on a holiday weekend and paid $170 per night for our room. For this price, breakfast should have been staffed sufficiently and the room quality much better than it was.

Room Tip: Maybe some of the rooms in this place are good, the pictures on line look nice. Perhaps ask for the...
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  • Stayed October 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Ginny S about Isaac Merrill House
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
isaacmerrillhouse, Manager at Isaac Merrill House, responded to this review
19 November 2011
Yes, you got us on the non-working fan and the extension cord. We have scheduled the election to come and take care of both items.


As for the floors, those are 230 years old. They are the original. A lot of people like that. We are sorry you did not. And yes we know it was a busy breakfast that morning. It was Columbus Day weekend, the busiest day of the year. We all worked split shifts all week to help our guests. It is impossible to hire an extra person for 1 week.
We want to not only put out fresh food for you in the dining room, but wish to continue the cooking to order from the kitchen for all our guests.


We hope you understand and thank you for staying with us. We know it is our guests that allow us to stay in business in these tough economic times and your notes help us better the inn.


Thanks again for staying with us.
Richard
Isaac Merrill House
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Boston, Massachusetts
1 review
2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“Very quaint New England BB, but customer service is very poor”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 29 September 2011
2
people found this review helpful

I should preface this review by saying how much I genuinely wanted to thoroughly enjoy my stay here. My husband and I are newlyweds and were looking forward to spending a mini-honeymoon weekend in N.Conway until work slows down enough for us to be able to go away for a couple weeks. I had read the previous reviews and was not even remotely concerned about peeling wallpaper or warped floors and doors. I've stayed in countless New England inns and feel as though such "defects" are standard in structures 200 plus years old and that they truly add to the character of the place. When we arrived on Friday night we were met by a very pleasant older couple who checked us in and helped us decide where to go to dinner. The room was smaller than I had anticipated but not uncomfortably so and it appeared cleaned and well-maintained, which is really a top priority for me. However, the next morning I noticed a substance that appeared to be dried blood on one of the blankets (making it impossible that it was caused by either of us), in a large enough quantity to be very easily noticed by whoever had initially made the bed. Though my initial instinct was to pack everything up and run, my husband and I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were understaffed and it was an oversight. No one was at the desk when we went down so we decided to have some breakfast in the dining room and then call the reservation line to request all new bedding. Unfortunately, breakfast was not the pleasant experience we were hoping for. First of all, it was difficult to find a table without the previous diners used plates and silver ware still on it. Once we did find a table for two that was clean, we proceeded to wait almost 30 minutes for the waitress going between tables to notice us and take our pancake order (there are no more than 10 maybe 13 tables in this entire small dining room). She walked by us multiple times without even acknowledging us. This was on top of having no information about what the standard breakfast practice is at the inn, either from the innkeepers or in our rooms, so we weren't sure exactly how to proceed. Ultimately, we were too hungry to be ignored for so long so we left and went to breakfast down the street (which was delicious). On the way my husband called the reservation line and informed the woman how there appeared to be dried blood on our bedding and requested all new bedding. Rather than sounding appalled by this, the woman merely stated that it would be taken care of (not a good sign in my opinion). However, when we returned to our room that afternoon (several hours later) only the comforter had been changed and the blanket with the blood like substance (which was exposed when the comforter was removed) was still on the bed! When we went down to speak to the innkeepers about this and stated that we had requested all new bedding, they looked at us as though we were incredibly unreasonable and demanding. Finally, the bedding was changed, though not without unnecessary frustration for us. Then, as we were getting ready to go out for the night, all of the electricity in our room went out. My husband went down to tell the gentlemen at the desk and he stated that he would have to remember where the fuse box was now. Again, no apology for yet another intrusion into our honeymoon weekend. We ended up going out to dinner with no real assurance that we would come back to electricity. Thankfully, the electricity was back on when we came in but went out again first thing in the morning, making it very difficult to pack and get ready. At this point we were both done with the frustration and just dropped the keys off on the unattended desk on our way out. Unsurprisingly, we didn't attempt breakfast there again.

Like I said, I really wanted to love this inn. I'm a New England girl, born and raised, and have always preferred inns to main chain hotels not only for their charm and history, but also to support local innkeepers. Unfortunately, this is by far the most unpleasant experience I've had at such an inn, especially considering the significant nightly rate, and my husband and I will not be back.

  • Stayed September 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 1 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask K M about Isaac Merrill House
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
isaacmerrillhouse, Manager at Isaac Merrill House, responded to this review
11 October 2011
WOW. I sincerely apologize. This should never have happened. First, thank you for staying with us and we hope you will give us another try. As for the bedding, please be assured that our bedding is sent out after each guest stay to a professional cleaning service in Gorham NH. I have called the manager there and asked them to inspect our bedding each time. As for breakfast, sometimes everyone comes down at once. We have 15 rooms and 11 tables. What happened to you happens maybe 3 times a year. That is no excuse, so once again I apologize.

Thank you for taking the time to write your review and again, thank you for staying with us. Our oil man thanks you too!

Isaac Merrill House
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St-Jean
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Rustic but obsolete”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 20 September 2011
1
person found this review helpful

First of all I must compliment the staff of this Inn .
Without them this place would have a completely different evaluation....
Our room, #16 is a very large room with a gaz fireplace 4 windows a balcony.
Our first impression of the room is a rustik look with it's crooked floors we where pleased
and found all of this charming. This is when things changes.... We are told that the thermostat cover of the fireplace is a little defective but it would get repaired the next day since it was broken by the owner just that morning..
The fireplace thermostat is so defective that making the starting and closing of the fireplace very hazardous. It took me at least 5-6 times to get the fire going I was afraid that the whole thing might explode. The fire would not go off by itself since the thermostat would not regulate the temperature. Than I tried to plug my cell phone in the wall, every outlet was at least a quarter inch sunked in, so much that the prongs could not connect with the plug. I finally found one in the bathroom that was within specs. Than the bed side table light was defective also, when I tried to turn on the light by turning it's knob I could hear the sizzling sound in the socket. Now for the bed, this bed is definitively not recommended to a newly wed couple, the noise that came out of this bed was unreal. As one would turn in the bed, the noise would wake the other. Myself I got very little sleep, monitoring the heat of the fireplace, turning it on and off . For the light I unplugged it from the wall, it made me too nervous, a real fire hazard as far as I'm concerned.
But not having any light at night diden't bother me too much since so much light came from underneath the door, a dime could easily roll under it. The next day the thermostat wasen't repaired and I would assume judging by the state of the room that it won't be repaired by the end of this year. I asked for another bed cover to compensate for the lack of heat of the fireplace since I diden't want to pass another night awake getting ready to evacuate the room in case of an emergency. It wasen't a very restfull stay but the breakfast is good and I repeat myself by saying that the staff is great.

  • Stayed September 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 2 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Michel P about Isaac Merrill House
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
isaacmerrillhouse, Manager at Isaac Merrill House, responded to this review
21 September 2011
You got me!

So today I replace the thermostat, put a sweep on the door and bought a new lamp for the bed. Mattress will be delivered tomorrow.

If it wasn't for your review, I wouldn’t have known.

Thanks!

Isaac Merrill House
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Additional Information about Isaac Merrill House

720 Kearsarge Rd, North Conway, NH 03847
Price range (per night):* INR5,480 - 8,668

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