White Mountains.
The White Mountains' hotel stock skews historic and earnest — country inns with cooked breakfasts, Victorian resorts run by local families, ski-lodge holdouts. Sugar Hill Inn is the regional gold standard. Adair, The Wentworth, and The Chandler round out the independent scene. Most of the larger White Mountains resorts have been absorbed by destination-club groups and therefore aren't on this list.
Inn at Thorn Hill
A Stanford White-designed 1895 inn in Jackson village — 25 rooms, spa, heated pool.
The Chandler
Newly built White Mountains luxury — the minimalist answer to the region's Victorian resort tradition.
Adair Country Inn
A 1927 estate on 200 acres above the Presidential Range — cozy, gourmet, a bit formal.
Darby Field Inn
On a ridge above Conway — 13 rooms, panoramic White Mountain views, Mount Chocorua trailhead outside.
Sugar Hill Inn
Voted New Hampshire's top B&B — a 1789 farmhouse-inn with a tavern and 5-star dining on site.
The Notchland Inn
An 1862 granite-block lodge inside Crawford Notch State Park — 13 rooms, trails from the door.
The Wentworth
An 1869 White Mountains resort inn with spa suites and private hot tubs — Jackson's grand dame.
The Wolfeboro Inn
A 1812 inn on Lake Winnipesaukee — 44 rooms in America's oldest summer resort town.