Review- The Gris- Essex, Conn. (The Inn) (26 out of 30)

As a big supporter of the local history I always wanted to stay at The Gris in Essex. Located on Main Street with a Tavern that is widely popular and filled to the rafters on most nights I opted to enjoy a night of peace and quite upon arriving in the US.

The Griswold Inn

I called about a week before leaving and arranged for a standard annex room at the historic 1776 Griswold Inn. Located about 10 minutes off I-95 just off Route 9 in Essex, Connecticut I could not wait to stay over. I arrived at about 6pm and was greeted by a friendly lady in the reception area just to the north of the Tavern. I was given my keys, welcomed and told where my room was. The annex rooms were priced at 100.00 per night ex. taxes... and this I found reasonable for such a place. The Inn was relatively quiet for this Wednesday evening in January... and this I appreciated. I walked to the adjacent building, a house at one time that dated to ca. 1796 and walked up to my room. The Inn oozed history and this I liked. I could picture the guests and persons of times long gone walking up these same stairs.

I arrived at my room at the top of the stairs and opened the door. A large period style bed, comfortable room with nice dresser and a decent standard bathroom. The bed was high and comfortable and after about 5 minutes of searching I noticed there was not a TV. Anyhow I opted to take a nice shower where some niche soaps and shampoos where in the bathroom, nice soft towels ruled the room. I changed and headed downstairs and asked about a TV as I would have loved to have seen the local news that I so miss while living overseas. "With these thin walls you can only imagine how much noise there would be..." with that answer in mind... I thought ok...good to relax and take in the Gris without hearing of the days news. A sampled the Tapas & Wine Bar (review on that in a later post) and retired to my room. BTW a TV is available in the common room next door, but being tired I said... "bedtime for bonzo" and hit the sack after reading about the local surroundings.

Annex Room

I slept very well that evening and rose to a nice breakfast. Totally devoid of people I sipped coffee, enjoyed scones and bagels to my hearts desire while enjoying the sights of this historic inn. I checked out to another friendly face, purchased a 3 button polo and headed to my car BTW there is a great deal of parking available as well! and walked the streets of Essex with a smile on my face.

Dining Area

With this in mind...

Service	5
Room	4
View/Location	4
Meal/Breakfast	4
Experience	5
Compared to Advertised	4
Price (not included in scoring)	Moderate- Nice Price

Sumnmary:
All in all a nice place to stay. The room I had could use a slight bit of updating but then again that is the charm of these old Inns. I will be back!