I really struggled with how to rate the Red Clover. As you'll see, it gets rave reviews here on Trip Advisor. And we had a positive enough experience -- friendly, helpful staff and a pleasant room with a comfortable bed. But therein lies the problem. That's a baseline expectation for a B&B in this class. For us personally, we did not experience anything exceptional that left us with the same wow-factor we've had in other inns at this price point. Let me elaborate...

* Lack of "Homey" Touches. An inn without a plate of fresh-baked cookies set out for guests?? Disappointing. Not only do most inns have this, but they also have a bowl of fresh fruit either in your room or in the kitchen. Here, the kitchen is off-limits to guests. So there isn't bottled water to help yourself to each day (beyond the two they put in your room) and if you need milk or anything for the tea/coffee from the machine, you're out of luck. There are plush bathrobes in the rooms, which is good, but I wasn't a fan of the auto-dispenser for soap/shampoo/conditioner in the shower. I get that it's more eco-friendly, but the lack of individual soaps, etc. left me feeling as though I were in a $100 room in a national park instead of a $200+ room in an upscale B&B.

* Average Breakfast. Nothing earth-shattering to report from the breakfast menu. It is a hot breakfast cooked to order versus a continental, but again, other inns are doing more than just the standard omelets and waffles. We've seen fresh squeezed oj, "cottage cakes", a smoothie opener. Here, the serve yourself juice and coffee always seemed to be running low, the eggs were a bit overdone and the home fries were actually not hot at all. The staff seemed super harried, which I'm not sure I understood given there were only about 5 tables occupied. It looked like there were pastries, but they were tucked back in a corner jammed up against a 4-top table-- so they weren't exactly easy to get to.

* Charm/Quaintness Factor Lacking. I don't think there's too much the owners could do here. Normally, we don't care so much about an inn's "parlor" or common area, as we're always out and about doing things. But the ski conditions over New Year's were lousy, so we actually wanted to spend time at the inn and found ourselves contemplating other options instead. There is a "reading" room, which is really a small sunporch type of room that had one small settee and didn't appeal at all. The other area by the fireplace only has two couches and it's actually part of the restaurant's dining room, which really takes up the bulk of the inn's common space. Oh, speaking of the restaurant...

We did enjoy the New Year's Eve package here. The restaurant has an ambitious, creative menu and it was, again, nice and points should be given for that creativity. But the execution didn't always come together as well - but it's possible that it may have been because it was a price fixe and a busy holiday night. The filet and the duck in course 4 were definitely the standouts--cooked perfectly. I just don't feel that we could rave about it like the multi-course dinner we had down at the Reluctant Panther in Manchester last year. However, we don't know much about the Killington/Rutland dining scene, so I could see how perhaps this is viewed as "the" spot for dinner. You just have to put it in perspective. Is it 5 star food for that area alone or 5 star food based on all your collective dining experiences?

One final comment: the upstairs hallway of the inn had a foul odor. Thank goodness it wasn't in our bedroom because it actually smelled like sewage. We weren't the only ones who noticed it either because another group commented on it as well.

While my comments might seem overly critical, I feel they are justified given this inn's price point. If you're out all day and want to stay somewhere other than a hotel, the Red Clover is certainly fine. But if you've stayed at inns like the Inn at Manchester or Wyndham Hill down in Southern Vt and plan to spend a lot of time on-site, I just can't recommend it as an actual destination. Some of these inns are doing such a fantastic job with "little extras" that I think we have become spoiled. Sorry!