There are some good things about Hills Country Inn and some bad things. I certainly wouldn't seek this place out as a place to stay.

It's located pretty much in the heart of Sullivan County, southwest of Catskill State Park, in Callicoon Center, NY, a town that, while not in the middle of nowhere, is certainly on its edge.

First, the good things: The breakfast that's available to those who are staying two nights is excellent: nice French toast, bacon and sausage, fruit, a nice variety of cold cereals. The pool is very large (although very cold)--almost an anomaly given the state of the rest of the place--although not tended to very well. There literally was a frog in the pool the morning of August 25. The grounds (including the pool area) are lovely and well kept. The main building is very nice and well furnished.

Otherwise, the place is spartan at best. The rooms are from the 1950s--no hair dryer, no iron, one picture on the painted panel walls, no clock, no radio, no television, no phone and no air conditioning. To be sure, we happened to stay at Hills Country Inn during a rare heat wave, but the discomfort of staying in a stuffy room (with an offensive undetermined odor) with only an oscillating fan blowing on us cannot be described adequately.

The place tries to explain its frugal accommodations by stating on its web site that "[t]here are no phones or TV's in the rooms as our appeal is more nature-bound," but this kind of justification just doesn't cut it in the 21st century. If I'd wanted accommodations like these, I could've stayed at the monastery in nearby Livingston Manor.

The so-called 60s Clubhouse ("reminiscent of the Catskills in its 1960's heyday," according to the web site) is as tired as the rooms. That is, the space hasn't been decorated to make it look retro--it *is* retro, obviously not having been redecorated in the last forty years.

The town of Callicoon Center likewise is from a previous century. There's a Village Market, which is where one can get the morning paper, and not much else. The town has a bandstand a few hundred yards away from the inn. The village also has something someone has called Stan's Exxon, which is nothing more than a garage with a hand painted sign indicating its name. I wonder if the multibillion dollar corporation is aware that someone has appropriated its name.

The nearest signs of real civilization are in Roscoe, eight miles to the east, where one can find a serviceable grocery store, three gas stations, and three restaurants.

It's possible that the spartan accommodations of Hills Country Inn may appeal to some people; I'm just used to more and more modern amenities when I stay at a hostelry.