The Wolfeboro Inn

An 1812 inn on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in the village of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire — sometimes called America's oldest summer resort town. Forty-four rooms across the original brick-and-clapboard inn and an attached lakeside building, with a working tavern (Wolfe's Tavern), a private beach, and a dock. It's an independent lake-town inn that's been the local center of gravity for parts of three centuries.

Wolfeboro is the small-village alternative to the Lakes Region's more developed shorelines. The inn anchors it.

The setting

The hotel sits on North Main Street, a few hundred feet from the Wolfeboro town docks where the M/S Mount Washington and the M/V Sophie C mailboat tie up. Walking distance to the village's bookstore, ice cream stand, and Black's Paper Store. Lake Winnipesaukee opens out from the property's beach. The drive in from Boston is two hours; from Portland, 90 minutes; from Conway and the White Mountains, an hour north.

Wolfeboro is on Route 28, well off the I-93 ski-traffic corridor. The town stays quieter year-round than the western Lakes Region.

The building

The original 1812 building is brick-and-clapboard, with a small second-story porch and the kind of low ceilings and creaking floors that confirm its age. The lakeside addition is a later building in matching colonial vernacular, with rooms facing the water. Materials throughout are wood, brass, and velvet — Federal and Colonial-revival rather than Victorian. The Wolfe's Tavern — pub, fireplaces, the regional hangout for steins of beer — is on the ground floor.

Independently owned. The tavern is a destination in itself; locals fill it on weekend evenings.

The rooms

Forty-four rooms across the historic inn and the lakeside building. Layouts include kings, queens, and a few suites. From around $325 in shoulder seasons; summer runs higher. Bathrooms have been updated. The historic-inn rooms have more character; the lakeside rooms have the views. Furniture is colonial-traditional.

Food & drink

Wolfe's Tavern is the on-site dining program — pub-leaning menu, fireplaces, hundreds of beer steins hanging from the ceiling, and a Sunday brunch that books up. Open to non-guests. Breakfast is served separately for inn guests. For destination dinners, Mise en Place in Wolfeboro is two minutes' walk; the Bittersweet in Wolfeboro Falls is 10 minutes.

On the property

The lake is the amenity. Beyond that, the inn is modestly programmed.

• Private beach on Lake Winnipesaukee
• Dock with seasonal water-shuttle access
• Wolfe's Tavern on-property
• Open year-round; summer is peak

Who it's for

• Travelers doing the Lake Winnipesaukee mailboat run and wanting to walk to the dock
• Couples who like Federal-period architecture and tavern dinners
• Multi-generational family weekends — the rooms are family-tolerant and the village is walkable
• Repeat Lakes Region visitors who'd rather skip Meredith and Weirs Beach for Wolfeboro

Who it's not for

• Travelers expecting a modern boutique — this is a 200-year-old inn
• Light sleepers in the historic-side rooms — old buildings have old-building sounds
• Anyone wanting a full resort with spa, pool, and kids' programming

Nearby

The Wolfeboro town docks are out the front door. The M/S Mount Washington and M/V Sophie C mailboat both leave from here for lake tours and island runs. The Wright Museum (WWII home-front) and the Wolfeboro Historical Society are five minutes' walk. The Cotton Valley Rail Trail leaves from the village. Castle in the Clouds — the 1914 mountain estate above Moultonborough — is 35 minutes north on NH-109. The White Mountains and the Kancamagus are an hour north. Lake Winnipesaukee's other towns (Meredith, Center Harbor) are 30–40 minutes around the shore.