LUX Hotel & Spa Awards 2016

LUX - Hotel & Spa Awards 2016 27 HO160052 Best Country Inn 2016 - Augusta & LUX Excellence in Sustainability - Augusta of happy chickens who produce the freshest eggs for the Inn’s breakfasts each morning. Our guests very much enjoy interacting with the llamas, whether feeding them some grass over the fence, or getting to see them up close and personal with one of our inside barn tours that are offered each morning. We also offer guests a chance to collect farm fresh eggs – often still warm – from our chickens during the barn tour. But importantly, the farm atmosphere only adds to our guest’s stay, and does not detract. The residence for our animals, the barn, is located quite a distance from the inn, and there are no odours since the llamas and chickens are well cared for and the barn is kept very clean. We don’t have any roosters, so there isn’t any early morning crowing to wake the guests up (and the barn is far enough away that you wouldn’t hear it anyway!). The nicest part of having farm animals is watching the llamas graze or frolic in the pasture, and they are visible from five of the guest rooms as well as the living room and both front porches of the Inn. Although our hotel is very traditional in terms of its farmyard heritage, we are also very much in touch with the latest technological needs of our guests. For these services, we offer complimentary high-speed commercial Wi-Fi throughout the property (including relaxing in the Adirondack chairs in the front yard, on the porches, and even in the hot tub!). We also worked with AT&T, to install hidden antennas throughout the inn as part of a “macrocell” project to bring quality cellular service. Guest rooms are fully equipped with flat-screen LCD/LED televisions with HD channels, DVD players, and a clock-radio complete with nature sounds and a CD player (as well as an MP3 connection plug). Each guest room has several strategically placed multi-outlet power strips for the convenience of plugging in guests’ “devices” without the need to hunt around for available outlets. And complementary to the in-house technology is the ability for the guest to do an online booking in real time on our web site. Smaller properties need to be able to accommodate the guest’s need to do a booking on their own time – sometimes 3:00 in the morning – or you stand to lose their business. We also have our full room availability on AirBnB, Expedia, Booking.com, and many other sites. But don’t let the quiet farm ambiance fool you. Maple Hill Farm is loaded with amenities to give you a spa-like experience. Many guest rooms have HUGE private double whirlpool tubs, gas fireplaces, and private decks, along with luxurious robes for relaxing. All guests have access to a dry sauna and a secluded outdoor hot tub with an open view to the surrounding woods. A selection of herbal and flavored teas are always available along with organic coffee and decaf in our guest kitchen area, or enjoy a beverage from our full bar service. So enjoy a relaxing farm atmosphere at an intimate country inn, but with comfortable spa features and personal attention to detail. We believe that the unique blend of traditional and contemporary service is what has made our establishment such an outstanding success. We are confident that we will continue to build upon our services in the future. We are on a path of continuous improvement in terms of our environmental sustainability. We have a fully electric Tesla car and two additional Tesla charging stations later this summer (to supplement our two existing public charging stations) and we are starting to look at battery storage for some of our peak power demands along with an expansion of our solar electric array as part of our plan to become fully self-sufficient over the next decade.