Route 30, south of the village, an easy 10-minute drive northwest of Manchester, is one of the region's most welcoming inns.
This place beats offers a more informal alternative to the Inn at Ormsby Hill in Manchester with its homey New England ambience helped along by a gregarious innkeeper.
Another plus is the garden: 12 acres, with century-old landscaping that encircles the property, providing a colorful and fragrant barrier from the outside world. The tranquility here is intoxicating.
Dating from 1784, the inn is comprised of nine vintage white clapboard buildings with black shutters. Rockers on the colonnaded front porch beckon to the weary. Like much of this house, there
is a story behind almost every stone. The white Dorset marble slab porch is no different; this marble was taken from the same quarry that supplied the stones for the New York Public Library.
Inside, the air-conditioned common rooms entice with wingback chairs, tartan fabrics and plenty of wood-burning fireplaces. A full country breakfast is served each morning in the traditional dining room with its hand-painted mural of the surrounding countryside or in the bright and airy greenhouse section. In the evening, diners select from a menu of seafood and hearty standards.
Evoking a library, the dark, woodsy tavern offers a fireplace and a more romantic setting for quiet meals. An awning shades the terrace, which is made of marble from down the road. Set amidst grand perennial gardens, with prize-winning peonies 
and aubergine smoke bush, are two tennis courts and a heated pool. Use of cross-country skis and bicycles is free, and the sauna is a popular apres-ski stop. A nearby summer theater is within walking distance as well.
The largest meeting room seats 30 and some guest rooms have access to a wireless Internet signal for no charge. Guests can also get Wi-Fi on the front porch of the main inn for no extra charge. The country-style guest rooms come in a variety of sizes and are comfortable and individually appointed with carpeting or wood floors, pretty fabrics, some antiques, digital clocks and baths.
Rooms in the Main Inn and Hemlock House have private phones and Wi-Fi while most of the other buildings have phones with data ports. Although Shubert House adds an enclosed porch and Truffle House features a sitting 
room with an ornamental fireplace and views of the gazebo, neither offers phones or Wi-Fi.
Field House and Carriage House are the two units where smoking and pets are allowed, however, Field House is the least private of all accommodations, particularly in the summer when the lower level serves as the pool house.
The friendly owners and staff make guests feel as though they were visiting the estate of a well-to-do aunt—except for the 10% service charge. Guests should also be aware that there is no cell phone service in Dorset at this time. For those wishing to take in the charming shopping areas of Manchester Village, an equally quaint inn is the Reluctant Panther.