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This Best Western has a unique Brandywine Valley character befitting the area’s fine estates. Winterthur Suites and Chambers are appointed with reproduction furniture and fabrics on display at Winterthur, An American Country Estate. Country French boudoirs have the exuberant palette of Matisse, van Gogh, and Monet—vibrant hues that take their cue from nature. Gentle curves and carving on the furniture complete the look, which is as inviting as the bountiful Brandywine Valley countryside.
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Eleventh and Market Streets 206 rooms, plus 9 one-bedroom suites and 2 two-bedroom suites. Fitness club. On-site dining. Packages start at $419 including tax |
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Be a guest at the Hotel du Pont, and you may feel like you’re staying in a luxury château. The epitome of elegance, this twelve-story Italian Renaissance hotel in the center of Wilmington, Delaware was commissioned by Pierre S. du Pont, founder of Longwood Gardens. Eighteen French and Italian craftsmen labored for more than two years carving, gilding, inlaying, and painting the hotel before its 1913 opening, when it was immediately proclaimed a rival to the finest European hotels. The hotel was a magnet for the rich and famous, including Charles Lindbergh, Ingrid Bergman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Joe DiMaggio.
Rooms are appointed with Queen Anne and Chippendale furnishings; oversize bathrooms have soaking tubs and separate shower.
Another mark of distinction is the hotel’s magnificent art collection, displayed throughout the building. More than seven hundred original works by N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, John McCoy, and other Brandywine Valley painters make the hotel’s art as impressive as a museum’s.
The Green Room in the hotel serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is the most elegant restaurant in the city. Afternoon tea, cocktails, and light fare are served in the lobby lounge; check with the hotel for hours.
The Inn at Montchanin Village
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Route 100 and Kirk Road 28 rooms and suites; fitness center; on-site dining. Packages start at $486 plus tax, includes breakfast for two each morning and a $50.00 voucher towards dinner or lunch. |
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The restored settlement at Montchanin Village six miles north of Wilmington is real, not mythical, but otherwise it’s as magical as Brigadoon, the town in the Lerner and Loewe musical that reawakens for one day every hundred years. Originally built in 1799 to house laborers from the DuPont gunpowder mills, the property later became part of Henry Francis du Pont’s Winterthur estate. Tenant houses, a blacksmith shop, and a school were built by 1859. The village’s importance increased when the railroad came through; in 1889 a train station and a post office were established.
After the mills closed, the structures were rented out and the property languished until Missy and Dan Lickle took it over and converted it to a country inn of the highest order. Each room is unique, but all are are exquisite.
The structures along Privy Lane are no longer used for their original purpose, but are resplendent with flowers an ivy. Plantings help define spaces and create private garden nooks for guests to enjoy.
Krazy Kat’s restaurant is one of Delaware’s top tables. Behind the huge wooden door of the former blacksmith’s shop is charmingly eclectic décor and memorable cuisine.
The Inn at Montchanin Village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Select Registry, Condé Nast Johansens Recommended Luxury Hotels, and Small Luxury Hotels of America.
Map provided courtesy of Stackpole Books.
For information on Wilmington, Delaware, contact our tourism partner, the Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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