MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME: Twin farms’ cottages are house-like. (
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Somewhere along the way the term “all-inclusive” took on a pejorative meaning. It became synonymous with Cancun mega-resorts and bargain Caribbean cruises, where lousy food and cheap liquor are plentiful, and boozy guests act like teenagers on spring break.
Twin Farms is not that kind of all-inclusive — not even close.
Nestled in a valley in northern Vermont’s Green Mountains, on 300 acres of rolling farmland, dense forest, gardens and ponds, Twin Farms is all-inclusive in the most exclusive sense: gourmet cuisine, personalized menus, fine wines (from a 26,000-bottle cellar), an endless supply of top-shelf liquor, a pillow menu. A crackerjack staff caters to your every desire, mixing the perfect pre-dinner cocktail, laying out a picnic atop Ski Hill to greet you after a long, steep climb, whipping up off-the-menu onion rings (because they remembered last time that you liked them), building a bonfire and supplying the ingredients for a late-night s’mores fest. Then there’s the full menu of hardy, patrician activities: hiking, biking, fly-fishing, canoeing, tennis, croquet, and come winter, ice skating, snow-shoeing, sledding and skiing on the resort’s private six-trail slope — all equipment provided.
And best of all, you only have to share this adults-only paradise with 39 other guests.
Twin Farms may be a five-star, Relais & Chateaux member hotel, but true to its New England sensibilities, it doesn’t flaunt it. In fact, the place at first appears deceptively rustic. A gravel driveway winds through untouched fields of wildflowers, ending at a humble 18th-century wood farmhouse once owned by Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis and his wife, journalist Dorothy Thompson. Inside, there are the requisite rural trappings – antique furnishings, stone fireplaces, lofty wood-beamed ceilings, antlers.
Look a bit closer, though, and you start to see inklings of what makes this place unique. Among the artfully placed antiques, still-lifes of fruit and vintage pottery … isn’t that a Jasper Johns on that wall? A Milton Avery over the desk? A Cy Twombly scribble above the stone fireplace, next to a Nam June Paik television sculpture in the Pub? Yes, and you can thank the resort’s owner, Thurston Twigg-Smith, who served on the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art, for sharing his outstanding collection, which includes pieces by Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney and Frank Stella, to name a few.
The art isn’t just on display in the public areas, it also graces all the 20 accommodations – 10 rooms/suites and 10 freestanding cottages. And these cottages — more like houses, really, at around 950 square feet — are the main draw for guests. There are delightful follies, like the Moroccan-themed Meadow, with a tented ceiling and enormous chandelier over the bed, a mosaic-tiled fireplace, richly patterned rugs and pillows and a wall of masks gathered from all over the world. A favorite of many guests, the ultra-modern, two-story, glass-and-stone Aviary, created by noted architect Peter Bohlin (who designed Apple stores worldwide), features a sunken whirlpool tub next to a towering woodburning fireplace, an upper porch nestled among the treetops and bird-themed paintings throughout.
All this comes at a hefty price, however. Off-peak (Sun. to Wed.), rates start at $1,260 per couple per night for the Main House rooms and hover around $2,000 for a cottage; prices can go as high as $3,100 for the 3,000-square-foot Alpine-style Chalet. (That includes tipping and all activities and meals, though you’ll pay extra for reserve wines and spa treatments.)
So, is it worth it? Several guests I spoke with during a recent stay gave an unqualified yes. A husband and wife from Connecticut had been coming for years, since Twin Farms opened in 1993 with just a handful of rooms. They got their friends from New Hampshire hooked on the place, too, and the boisterous quartet set about making all the newbies feel welcome. Among them: a lawyer and theater director from Brooklyn escaping their two toddlers, an attractive, recently engaged twosome from outside Philly, a couple who’d just dropped off their firstborn at a nearby college, a winemaker from California and his family.
Everyone ticked off what they liked: the beauty of the setting; the mix of luxury (fine wine and food) and informality (no dress code); the absence of children (though there are a handful of family weekends); the warmth and professionalism of the staff; the opportunity both for quiet, romantic couple time and for meeting new people.
Indeed, sitting around the bonfire on a cool evening, chatting with a glass of 2005 vintage Turley Zinfandel in one hand and a roasting marshmallow in the other, I felt like I was away at the coolest camp ever. And once I’ve socked away a thousand bucks and a boyfriend, I can’t wait to come back.
For more information, visit twinfarms.com.