We love coming to the Highland Inn every March for the Maple Festival as a family. This is a very special place since my husband and I met there in our singles group back in Nov of 1988. We come every year to the Maple Festival as well as trying to come in Oct to see the fall colors. My husband and I spent our honeymoon at the Hotel & they had a bottle of champagne waiting for us when we got there. :^) Every Jan we celebrate our anniversary by staying at the Inn. The Inn was our weekend get-away that helped me to de-stress when we were going through a difficult time with my mother and having to get her house ready to go on the market. If it wasn't for the Inn, I think I would have gone insane. Monterey is a small town, only 1 block by 2 blocks but it's so peaceful, quiet and beautiful! Everyone knows everyone and says "hi, how ya doing?" We've been snowed in on several occasions and good thing everything is in walking distance. Chef Lisa makes the best dinners and it's the only place I will order my Rainbow Trout! Our son is Autistic and when Chef Lisa knows we are coming, she always has pasta ready for Evan. There are different things to do if one wants to stay busy...our son loves feeding the trout at the trout farm about 5 minutes down the road, there's hiking trails, visit one of the maple sugar camps, or going to Hot Springs to ski in the winter or just to shop. We like to just chill out when we are there, but during the Maple Festival there are a lot crafters and everything maple you can think of.
I've read some of the other comments on here and I would have to say to those who are use to the Holiday Inns, Hyatt's, Hampton Inn, you will be upset with the rooms since those hotel are not a step back in time. But for those of us that like comfortable, easy living, totally relaxing, great home cooking and a fabulous very helpful staff...then come on down to the Highland Inn! It's got everything we need, coffee pot, iron, internet wii-fi, TV, walk to everything, clean rooms & beds and just plain wonderful. We hope to come down this Nov as we like to celebrate my birthday at our favorite place and I know we will be there for the 2011 Maple Festival to!
Thank you for everything y'all do...Greg, Debbie and Chef Lisa (& all our friends at the Inn) You guys are family to us!
Charlotte

Hotel needs LOTS of TLC. Dining room nice and the food was great. Ceiling repairs and paint would help the bedrooms appearance tremendously!

If your idea of historical is a deteriorating old building, then you will love the Highland Inn. Don't be fooled by the charming exterior. Our room featured plaster with huge cracks. It was actually pulling away from the lathing. Repairs were in the category of "slather more on."
The room was not very clean and the bed sagged a bit in the middle.

My first visit to the Highland Inn was in 1993. At that time, it was a charming, quirky and a convenient place to stay while enjoying the Virginia Highlands. It is still all of those. The problem is, nothing has really changed in the ensuing 17 years. Really, nothing at all. It is time to re-paint the rooms, tighten up the bed frames and give the place a commercial grade cleaning from top to bottom. The deck in the back of the building would be a much more enjoyable place to relax if the paint wasn't peeling down to the bare wood.

The staff is always very nice, especially the wait staff at dinner during our last visit on Thursday, August 19. I'm sorry I can't identify her by name, as she was gracious and enthusiastic. The food; broiled trout for me and crab cakes for my wife; was good. We were disappointed that the 7 Onion Soup was unavailable that night, but the tomato bisque was an acceptable substitute.

I know discretionary travel is down. The Highland Inn needs to take care of some basics if it hopes to weather the storm. We love the area and hope to continue our annual visits to the Highland Inn for years to come.