Allen House Victorian Bed & Breakfast, Amherst

When we arrived, we were greeted by the extremely friendly innkeeper, who went on to, after serving us home-made cookies with milk, into our room. The room was perfectly clean and the beds were very comfortable. The bathroom was in fine condition and all of the toiletries one would normally expect from a hotel were there, as well. Even though we only stayed on night, we got a great feeling as, whenever we went downstairs, or needed anything, the innkeeper was right there. He was very talkative, which was fine, and very helpful. In the morning, we had one of the most delicious breakfast's I've ever had. The eggs were delicious! I had to ask for the recipe. His wife was exceedingly friendly as well. Despite having recently recovered from breast cancer, she not only made breakfast and did all the cooking, but offered to drive my son and me to the college we were looking at! truly remarkable! Upon our return later that day, we were yet again greeted with cookies, milk and tea. we checked out with no problem and all was well. The innkeeper, before we left, gave us a few recommendations for restaurants to stop at in the area, and I must say, the two we tried were really delicious! Overall, I say five stars! What an amazing trip!

Located near the center of one of America's quaintest towns, Amherst, Massachusetts, The Allen House was a wonderful find: meticulously clean and comfortable, each room is uniquely and lovingly appointed with period art and decor. We instantly felt "at home" (though we could only wish to live in such a home). Recommended!

I should have paid attention to the reviews on this site! We did not have a good experience here either. Ditto what the others said, plus... When we arrived, the innkeeper greeted us in his bathrobe, claiming he was about to take a shower. Since we arrived early, I didn't give this a thought. We were shown to our room, which was lovely and cozy, and bright and sunny after we pulled the shades up. The rest of the house was always kept rather dark, and with the Victorian furniture, it was not a look that appealed to me. When we went out for lunch an hour later, the innkeeper was still in his bathrobe! When we returned from lunch a few hours later, he was still in his bathrobe! The most outrageous thing that happened was when my husband decided to take a late afternoon shower (we had a private bathroom). Several minutes after my husband got into the shower, there was a panicy knock on our bedroom door. At the same time that I was trying to unlock and open the door, the innkeeper was trying to open our door with his key. When I finally got the door opened, he stormed in (still in his bathrobe!) and went right into our bathroom,without knocking, (where my husband was showering), and started yelling "What are you doing? What are you doing?!!! There's water on the floor, what did you do??!!!" I thought there was a major flood. My husband was startled and opened the shower curtain part way, and said he didn't do anything! The innkeeper grabbed a towel and proceeded to wipe up the floor, all the time yelling! His wife strolled in to see what was happening, and got an eyeful of my husband in the shower! She was obviously embarrassed, and finally coaxed her husband out of our room. There was a heating grate on the floor just outside the shower, and the shower curtain was a bit too short. A LITTLE bit of water apparently escaped the shower, and dripped down the grate. What an outrageous and humiliating experience! Unbelievable! By the way, we didn't even receive an apology. Very weird. Also, the inn is located on a main street, so there was a lot of traffic noise.

I recently spent four nights at the Allen House. It's obvious that the innkeepers spent both time and money on this beautiful, old Victorian home. The house itself is in good repair; and the decor, while not my taste, is true to the period. The bathroom and linens appeared to be clean; however the housekeeping ended there. Our room was very dusty, as was the parlor. The towels were shabby to the point of threadbare; there was a big hole in the middle of one washcloth! The breakfasts were uninspired and repetitive; we saw the same fruit compote, coffee cake, sausage and cereal every morning. The only variable was re-heated waffles or eggs. To top it all off, our interactions with Anne consisted mainly of her complaining about how difficult it was to run an inn these days and how tired she was! I would not recommend the Allen House, nor would I go back.

We stayed there last summer--what a disappointment! The breakfast was not what they advertised (just fruit, frozen waffle and lukewarm coffee) and the owners were less than concerned about our needs. When we asked about a breakfast like the one advertised, we were told it was "out of season." Omelets--out of season? We paid about $150 for the night and it just wasn't good value! The room was nice enough but the misleading ad and poor value left us with a bad memory of this spot.