My wife and I stayed at the Cameron Estate Inn as part of a wedding anniversary getaway. This is a pretty long review, so grab a drink. Hahaha...

I will start out with a quick shout out to the folks who mentioned the place having a different (perhaps unwelcoming, for lack of a better expression) vibe about the place. That seemed to be the case for me, and I still can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe it'll come out as I write...

When booking, I noticed something on my confirmation e-mail that said, “We request you dine with us at least one evening during your stay.” That seemed a little pushy. I think I understand why it's requested, as they want to provide a full experience, but it was still a bit strange. Since the reviews were good, I was fine with making a restaurant reservation as well.

On arrival, we were greeted at the reception desk and shown the room. Like others indicated, it was a rather minimal introduction. You know when you find a place where the owner greets you warmly, chats with you about your trip, and seems really interested in you? This ain't the place for that. The intro is certainly adequate, but that's about it.

We stayed in the first floor room (the “Ulysses S. Grant” room), which was right next to the innkeeper's desk. It was certainly convenient, and it was just a few steps to the restaurant area, but it almost felt like we were doing a perp walk whenever we left the room, always under the watchful gaze of the staff. Normally it's comforting to know that the staff is looking to see if you are enjoying yourself, but this felt a little...well, different.

The room itself was decent and relatively clean (some small dusty areas in the cracks and some small ants running across the bathroom floor), and the high bed was relatively comfortable. We had no TV in the room, but apparently there was one at one time, as there was a disconnected TV cable laying under the dresser. The room was heated via a couple of steam-heat radiators, and single space heater, and a gas fireplace. The steam heat gets the room REALLY warm, and if there was a way to adjust the temperature, we didn't know about it. I did turn off the space heater, and we did enjoy the fireplace for a while (although it got way too warm).

Our dinner at the restaurant was pretty much uneventful. The service was very good, but with quite a few tables going, the one server in the place was a little busy. Still, she had a good attitude, and she took care of us well. The food wasn't the greatest I've ever had, but it wasn't bad, either. Certainly 3-star quality (and price). I had a hanger steak, which was prepared nicely, but the sauce was a bit heavy, and the presentation, while attractive, seemed a bit dated. Once we finished our meals, we asked the server about the complimentary soft drinks for guests, and she happily brought us two carafes of cola, along with a couple of nice glasses with ice, which we took back to our room.

After dinner, we decided to relax in the room. I brought my iPad to see if we could catch a movie, but I didn't get a wifi signal. (Does the website mention wifi? I don't remember.) Fortunately I brought my portable hotspot, so we were able to make do.

We would have also liked to relax with a bottle of our own wine, which is standard procedure for us at B&Bs. The Cameron Inn website mentions - in several places - that since they have a liquor license, guests must consume alcohol purchased from the Inn. Well, it says “in common areas,” but it doesn't specifically call out the guest rooms themselves. Rather than inquire, we decided to stick with the complimentary soft drinks. Don't forget that the soft drinks are served from the restaurant, in restaurant classes. If it's after hours, there's no restaurant staff, and there's nobody at the innkeepers's desk, so the complimentary drinks aren't available.

Our first morning, I left the room to get coffee, and I noticed a wireless router sitting - unplugged - near the floor. I mentioned it to the innkeeper, and he said that it just needed to be plugged in, and that I was welcome to do so. Apparently they unplug the router at night. Strange! At least we had a decent connection for our second night for e-mail, etc.

Breakfast offered a choice between an egg dish (such as a crustless quiche), a starchy dish (such as pancakes), and a yogurt-granola thing (I think). The first morning, we opted for the egg item. The quiche was served in a shallow ramekin, along with a small starchy item (potato?), a single slice of bacon, and a fruit display consisting of one orange slice, topped with one kiwi slice, topped with a small bunch of grapes. No toast. No danish. Don't get me wrong - it was certainly tasty, but there wasn't much of it, and we hoped for a little better start to the day.

After a day of sightseeing, we returned to the Inn, having skipped lunch, and having dinner reservations elsewhere. I neglected to stop for snacks along the way, and we asked the innkeeper if they had any kind of snacks available. They did not. She mentioned that possibility of ordering from the restaurant, but we didn't want to do that.
When we got back from dinner, I noticed that the wireless router was again unplugged (what's with that, anyway?), so I plugged it back in, and we were good for the night.

Our second (and final) morning brought us to breakfast for yet another offering of eggs, starch, or yogurt. Sure, the eggs were done in a slightly different style, but they were still served EXACTLY the same way. Same ramekin, same orange, kiwi, and grapes. (Unfortunately, the grapes on my wife's dish had started to rot, so she skipped them.) Seriously, I looked at photos from others who stayed there months before us, and they had the same darned presentation for breakfast.

Along with breakfast, we got to overhear the owner, in the living room, entertaining a contractor, who was presenting plans for adding a building (or more than one) to the property. Yeah, I guess the living room is a comfortable place to do business, but the paying guests shouldn't have to listen to it. I felt like I was intruding and eavesdropping, but I couldn't help it. They were meeting maybe 20 feet from where I was having breakfast.

So in summary, I'll just say that our stay was “different.” It certainly wasn't a BAD experience, but we've definitely stayed in better places, and had better B&B experiences.

What changes would I suggest to the staff?

First, I'd like them to at least pretend like they are welcoming guests into their home. Chat with them. Make them feel at home.

Offer some nice amenities. Sure, it's great to have things available at the guest's request, but don't wait for them to request. Offer things to them. Have canned soft drinks or bottles of water chilled and available for guests to help themselves. Put out some cookies, packs of crackers, or maybe some fresh fruit. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but the effort would be appreciated.

Perhaps establish a late afternoon tea time, so that you can talk with guests and see what they like or don't like. Connect with your customers.

Try changing up that breakfast a little. I understand that it's easier to have a standard plan for serving customers, but you've apparently fallen into a rut.

That's about it. Sorry that's it's so long, but I needed to get it out. Overall, I don't think I would mind staying here again, but with all of the other offerings available in the area, this one is going to be low on the list.

Our trip to the Cameron Estate was a suprise 50th Birthday gift from my wife to me. We stayed on 12/4/11 in the Green Room. The room was very nice, with a very comfortable King size bed, pillows and linens. The lady at the desk was very nice and showed us how the fireplace, Jacuzzi tub and shutters worked in our room. We were a bit suprised that the were no compimentary refreshments offered when we arrived but we had ordered our own so it wasn't a big deal to us. My wife opted for the dinner plan with the room and the food was GREAT! They offered a nice selection on the menu, as well a nice bar selection. The desert was the best part of dinner my wife had EggNog Creme Brulle and I had the Terramissu.

We really enjoyed our room that night as well as the bottle of wine and cheese tray we purchased from the Inn ahead of time. Breakfast the next morning was only served until 9:30 am so if your late riser you may want to make other plans for breakfast. There were two choses for breakfast that morning. There was a Crustless Quiche and Apple pancakes. There was no pastries or toast offered before our breakfast arrived. Just coffee (which was very weak) and Juice. My breakfast consisted of small ramekin with egg and ham, a slice each of orange, kiwi, and 6-8 grapes about a 1/2 cup of potatos and 1 single slice of bacon. My wifes was the same except for 2 silver dollar size packages. After breakfast I was still hungery so I asked for some toast. The girl returned with toasted rounds of French bread, jam and butter. It appears that breakfast isn't done as well here as some other B&B's but all in all we had a very nice time.

While the Inn appears very stately from the exterior the feeling when you enter is not very welcoming. We were immediately asked for a credit card for incidentals. We were offered no complimentary refreshments and were made to feel that we may be intruding. The room was comfortable enough and the antiques were lovely but we did not come away having any great feeling of enjoyment and peacefulness from our stay at this particular Bed and Breakfast. No one shared their name which I have never experienced at other B&B stays. How sad the stately manor only appears stately.

I really enjoyed the "feel" of the Inn. It is superbly decorated. Being able to look into the rooms that weren't reserved was a cool bonus. Staff was friendly and gave us ideas of things to do and local restaurants. My room had a tv, however the channel selection was limited...since my intention wasn't to sit and watch tv...I was ok with it. Breakfast options are limited, but was pleased with what I chose. I loved the apple pancakes. The Hideaway room #24 was nice, however one must keep in mind that since it's 200yrs old, the walls are a bit thin. This room is directly above the kitchen so you will hear that type of activity during breakfast & dinner time. That being said, if there are guests in the Dutch room #23 you will unfortunately hear that activity as well. The room and bathroom were clean and the bed was comfortable.