For weddings, trips to Historic Deerfield, and parent visits before graduations, the Deerfield Inn has offered temporary refuge for guests since its founding in 1884. Innkeeper Laurie McDonald likes to imagine that the guests fit into three buckets of visitors.
The first bucket is tourists, who are attracted by the rich history ingrained in the Deerfield area. “[Tourism] absolutely has something to do with the historical landmarks,” Ms. McDonald said. “People that enjoy the nature of Franklin County in Western Massachusetts want to go hiking or skiing or fishing, on top of learning about the history of the street.”
The second bucket is local families, who visit the Inn’s three dining rooms, including Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern. Furthermore families spend the night at the Inn
for rehearsal dinners, baby showers, bridal showers, and weddings.
The third bucket is parents from Deerfield Academy, Eaglebrook School, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Amherst College, who book rooms while visiting their children.
The Inn is convenient and well located for visiting parents. Ms. McDonald said, “It’s nice to be able to wake up, come downstairs, have breakfast and then just walk up the hill to go to whatever events are happening at DA.”
Due to the limited number of rooms at the Inn, parents will book rooms years in advance to the actual event or graduation ceremony. According to Ms. McDonald’s families have called to schedule “four years in advance, hitting all the major weekends…And then we have to guess when they’re going to be because we don’t have a calendar that far,” she said.
The busy times during school events can pose logistical challenges. “Those are the weekends that I wish I had 200 rooms, not 24 rooms,” Ms. McDonald said. “So the challenge is making sure we’re staffed and ready for everybody.”
Ms. McDonald enjoys the experiences during those busy weekends. She said, “We love when the parents are here and students are coming in.”
Historic Deerfield currently owns the Inn, with no plans to sell the hotel. Ms. McDonald said, “Historic Deerfield is very happy with the Inn. So as of right now, I think they do not have any intentions to sell because it helps with cash flow.”
One of the biggest sources of the Inn’s revenue is their three dining rooms. “Since I started, we have opened up all three dining rooms,” Ms. McDonald said. “The tavern, the formal dining room, and the terrace downstairs. So we’re really utilizing those spaces on the busy weekends.” Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served all week, except for Tuesday lunches.
While the Inn operates the dining rooms year-round, they collect much of their income in the late spring. Since many people host baby and bridal showers in the spring and schools hold graduation ceremonies around May, that month is one of the busiest months for the Inn. The Inn also receives an influx of visitors during September and October. Ms. McDonald said, “September and October have everything to do with the fall and leaves and students…just everything beautiful about Western Mass.
Ms. McDonald has worked in Western Massachusetts for most of her life. She first accepted an innkeeper position at the Deerfield Inn in 2019. At first, when she was 18, Ms. McDonald started waiting tables at the Inn and eventually worked her way up to becoming the manager at the Inn’s restaurant. Later, she met the Founder of Yankee Candle, Mike Kittredge, who hired her to become the general manager of Chandler’s Restaurant in Yankee Candle.
“I love this job,” Ms. McDonald said. “I left my previous job where I was making more money and working less hours to take on this job…but it’s much more rewarding. I just love the energy here and hope that all the guests do too.”
Four months after the Deerfield Inn hired Ms. McDonald, COVID-19 hit the area, and the
workers had to shut down the venue. Since reopening, Ms. McDonald has helped rebuild the restaurant and business to its peak revenue in the Inn’s history.
Coming from the Yankee Candle business and training at Disney, Ms. McDonald strongly believes in the importance of creating an experience at the Inn. “It’s not a place where you just come and get something to eat,” she said. “The experience could be you having dinner with your parents and not seeing them in a little while. So we’re helping to build that experience for you.”
To create memorable experiences, the Inn hosts events such as fancy lunches where children dress up with their parents and grandparents, wine-tasting dinners with chocolate in every course, Thursday night live music on the patio in the summer, and pizza, burger, and oyster nights. Ms. McDonald said she is fond of dinners with Santa and the Inn’s ugly sweater day, where families created “fun little memories” with waiting staff who wore festive sweaters. She also recounts helping with petite weddings and engagements where the staff hid the ring in chocolate desert.
“It’s kind of a little nod to the community to be able to open up the Inn and enjoy it,” Ms. McDonald explained. “And those are just magical moments that you get to witness…very sweet experiences.”