Mezze Guesthouse
Five rooms above one of the Berkshires' serious restaurants — Mezze Bistro + Bar. The Clark next door.
Mezze Guesthouse is a five-room property above one of the Berkshires' actually serious restaurants. That's the proposition. You eat at Mezze Bistro + Bar — a real, regional kitchen working through the seasons of Berkshire County for the better part of two decades — and you walk upstairs to a clean, quiet, well-built room. The Clark Art Institute is across town. Williamstown Theatre Festival's stages are five minutes away. There aren't many trips this neatly assembled.
Five rooms means it's almost always sold out for the festival weeks and the Clark's bigger exhibition openings. Book accordingly.
The setting
Williamstown sits in the far northwestern corner of Massachusetts, against the Vermont and New York lines. It's a college town — Williams College anchors the village center — with the Clark, MASS MoCA in nearby North Adams, and the summer Theatre Festival giving it a cultural density that's disproportionate to its size. The Guesthouse is a short walk from Spring Street, the village's main commercial stretch, and a five-minute drive to the Clark.
The drive from Boston is just under three hours, mostly the Mass Pike to Route 7 north. From New York it's about three and a half via the Taconic.
The building
A new-build in restrained New England vernacular — clapboard or board-and-batten, painted in a quiet palette, set above the existing Mezze Bistro + Bar restaurant. The interior leans contemporary but materially honest: lime-washed walls, oak floors, pine and wool furniture. The whole property reads more like a private guesthouse than a hotel.
The rooms
Five rooms, each somewhat different in shape because the building permits it. Beds, linens, and bathrooms are at the higher end of what the area offers. From around $275 in shoulder seasons; festival weeks and fall foliage run higher and book out months in advance.
Food & drink
Mezze Bistro + Bar — the actual reason most guests are here, separately or together. The kitchen sources from Berkshire farms, runs a strong wine list, and treats the seasons properly. Non-guests book on heavy rotation. Lunch and dinner. The bar is one of the better serious cocktail rooms in the county.
On the property
A guesthouse at this scale doesn't need much programming. The restaurant is the program.
- Mezze Bistro + Bar restaurant on the ground floor
- Walking access to Spring Street and Williams College
- Five-minute drive to the Clark Art Institute
- Open year-round
Who it's for
- Theatre Festival attendees in summer
- Clark and MASS MoCA visitors
- Williams College alumni and parents
- Diners who'd come for Mezze even without the rooms upstairs
Who it's not for
- Big groups — there are five rooms total
- Travelers who want a full-service hotel with spa, pool, and gym
- Anyone hoping to book on short notice in July or August
Nearby
The Clark Art Institute is five minutes by car — one of the better small museums in the country, with the Lunder Center and the original Tadao Ando–extended gallery. MASS MoCA in North Adams is fifteen minutes east. Williamstown Theatre Festival, on the Williams campus, is a five-minute walk. Tourists and the Bridge of Flowers are within a half-hour drive. Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts, is twenty minutes south.
