Welcome to the Merrill Farm Resort, North Conway NH
Home base for our visit to the Mount Washington Valley, NH was the delightful Merrill Farm Resort in North Conway. Owned and operated by the Smith Family, this unpretentious, family friendly resort has 62 units that range from traditional guest rooms and motel units to larger family loft units and updated cabins that include efficiency kitchens, fireplaces and outdoor grills. Most units come with mini-fridges and air conditioning. The Resort offers a number of discount packages with local mountains and attractions and accepts AAA. We found Merrill Farm Resort to be a friendly and comfortable location for our weekend visit to the Mount Washington Valley – we wish we could have stayed longer!
The Resort is located on land originally farmed by the Thomas Merrill family in revolutionary times. The parlor, lobby and three guest rooms in the Inn are part of the original farm house. During the 1800s the Merrill homestead acted as a boarding house for visitors waiting for the stagecoach to the Mount Washington Valley. The Farm’s role as a hotel and resort grew along with the Valley with cabins along the Saco River being added in the 1930s and motel units constructed in the 1940s.
Canoes on the Saco River at the Merrill Farm Resort
More recently, the Thomas Merrill House, where we stayed, was built to add 24 modern guest rooms and two-room lofts, as well as a whirlpool, sauna, indoor hot tub and game/meeting rooms. A heated outdoor pool is also popular with guests as are the canoes available at the hotel’s riverfront landing. Antique farm tools, toys, and furniture are casually displayed throughout the Resort, helping to seamlessly connect the old with the new and remind you of the Farm’s colonial heritage.
Upstairs of Merrill Farm Resort loft unit
We stayed in one of the two-room loft units and thought they were perfect for families travelling with teens and tweens who need room to spread out. The loft had two queen beds and a full bath while the lower level had a double bed, full bath, pull-out coach and mini-fridge. TVs are available on both levels. We thought the rooms were well sound proofed as we never even heard the baby across the hall crying at night. Our only quibble is that we would have liked more storage space.
Downstairs of Merrill Farm Resort loft unit
The Resort’s homemade muffins are the centerpiece of a wonderful continental breakfast included in the room rate. Available each morning in the breakfast room and porch, the Resort offers guests five or six different types of muffins hot from the oven as well as cereal, bagels, English muffins, fresh fruit, juices and coffee. Home made chocolate chip cookies are available every afternoon.
Breakfast at Merrrill Farm Resort is yummy
The Smith family and the Resort staff really go out of their way to be welcoming and friendly. The Merrill Farm Resort is located just south of North Conway’s very busy outlet shopping zone including Settler’s Green Outlet Village. We appreciated the proximity to the stores but also enjoyed the low key atmosphere at the Resort and the tree-lined frontage along the Saco River. Another plus, nearby backroads allow you to bypass rush hour traffic jams on Route 16. If you are heading North to Mount Washington, Wildcat, Attitash or the Crawford Notch State Park ask for pointers to West Side Road if you want to take a scenic drive.
If you are considering visiting North Conway, take a minute to visit the Merrill Farm Resort’s web site (http://www.merrillfarmresort.com/) for room options and discount packages. It can also be helpful to call the Resort at 1-800-445-1017 to speak to the knowledgeable staff about your specific needs and interests in order to identify the unit that will work best for your family.
Our complimentary stay with the Merrill Farm Resort was arranged by the Mount Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce as part of a whirlwind family with teens review weekend around and about the Mount Washington Valley. Our accepting these accommodations in no way obligated us to provide a positive review and all opinions in this article are totally our own. For links to reviews from the rest of our visit, check out our Mount Washington Valley Top 10 – Summer Edition article.
Thanks Judy – we visited many spots both North and South of North Conway center, and enjoyed being close to evening shopping and having access to the river. We also found using the West Side Road shortcut (the front desk can tell you about it) allowed us to avoid traffic at rush hour if we were headed North. You make a good point that there are lots of great places to stay in the Mount Washington Valley depending on the needs of your family. Thanks for stopping by
I really think if I were traveling with teens and tweens I would want to be staying closer to the center of North Conway Village. The reason I say this is that to be five miles south of North Conway Village when traffic is an issue (or at least it used to be) can be a nightmare with children. If you stay in the center or nearby, the children can enjoy shopping, movies, Conway Scenic Railroad, live summer stock theatre, Arts Jubilee, Mt. Cranmore, Saco River …all within easy walking distance or a quick bike ride.