Haddonfield Inn
44 West End Avenue
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
800-269-0014

Haddonfield Inn Home Page

October 2006

Welcome to www.weloveourlife.com. This is our page dedicated to our experiences while staying at the Haddonfield Inn in Haddonfield, NJ.

Accommodations

	We stayed in the Dublynn Room, the most sumptuous room at the inn. It was green and the furniture was dark wood. There was a high, comfortable king-size bed with a lace canopy, a gas fireplace, antiques, an entertainment center, chairs, small table, refrigerator, and fainting couch in the turret.
	The vanity was in the room, to allow more room in the bathroom to accommodate the double whirlpool. It was a nice room and comfortable. We probably would have changed the layout a little, as it was difficult to view anything around the bed (you couldn’t really see the fireplace from the bed because the bed was so high). In addition, the TV was high up on one side of the bed. To both watch it, we either had to sit sideways on the bed or on a couple chairs on the other side of the room, peering through the canopy (which is what we ended up going when we were killing a little time before going to dinner).
	We were thinking we would have probably made the turret into a little sitting area with the TV; while the fainting couch looked very romantic in its turret, it really wasn’t comfortable or useful.

Inn Amenities

The inn sits in a beautiful neighborhood full of historic well-kept homes. The inn itself has been kept up nicely and the improvement the owners have made within fit right in. There is off-street parking in back. There is a small elevator, which is convenient for those who have difficulty with stairs or have a lot of luggage. The house is a center-hall style with long, wide halls and rooms on each side. The parlor and formal dining room are open to the guests, and there are self-serve beverages (including wine) and light snacks. We happily helped ourselves to some popcorn, popping it in the microwave in the first floor hall. There is wireless Internet available and DVDs to borrow to watch in the rooms. There was a very charming little breakfast room lined with beadboard and containing a fireplace that may have been a converted porch; it was a great place for breakfast and evoked Cape Cod.

Inn Food

Breakfast comes with a night’s lodging, and we were served a nice breakfast of eggs, fruit, and breakfast breads. The owners sat at the table opposite us and talked to us openly about their experiences owning and operating the Haddonfield Inn over the past 15 years. They are on-site but have a separate living space on the top floor. The food was good, but socializing with the owners made it that more memorable for us.

Inn Bar/Lounge

The inn does not have a bar, although there are some limited alcohol beverages available to guests free-of-charge.

Inn People/Service

The people really helped make the experience a good one. It is a self-serve check-in – the owners send out a combination to get in the house prior to arrival and once guests arrive and gain entry, they pick up their keys. We chatted with the owners well over an hour on Sunday morning and probably could have stayed quite a bit longer – they are well-traveled, smart, friendly, experienced innkeepers and we were learning quite a bit from them.

Area/Attractions

Haddonfield is a delightful little town only a few miles across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, but light years away in atmosphere. The quaint shops and cobblestone sidewalks take one back in time and it was easy to forget we were so close to the city. The high speed line train is within walking distance, and guests can get to the city or the Delaware River waterfront that way without having to drive. We visited Haddonfield on a sunny yet brisk afternoon in late October, and chose to walk from the inn into town. We browsed through the shops and located the restaurant where we were having dinner. We walked far enough that we realized it would be a bit far to walk that evening in the dark, but it is an easily walkable town.

Dining

Via Giulia - 26 South Haddon Avenue, Haddonfield, NJ 856-616-1520
Haddonfield has a number of restaurants, all BYOB. Our hosts made a reservation for us at Via Giulia. We had high expectations for the restaurant because of the description we were given – a small, intimate Italian restaurant which got high marks for its food and service. Our experience was decidedly mixed. The restaurant is tiny, with only one room that seated about 30 people. It resembled a big living room. We were there on a Saturday night and apparently there were 2 seatings and we were told to be there around 8 (presumably the 2nd seating). When we arrived, there was a crowd of people standing in the hall off to the side drinking wine, who were quite loud. We searched in vain for someone to give our name to. We watched as people left and others were seated. We gave our name to three different people and they said they would be right with us. We finally sat down at a table squeezed into a space that was clearly not meant to have a table around 8:30, but were not given menus because they “were temporarily out of menus.” Needless to say, we were not impressed. To make a long story short, they did open the bottle of wine we brought with us fairly promptly. We were beginning to understand why people brought multiple bottles with them and sipped ours very slowly. We didn’t get menus until 9 and finally got some bread around 9:15. We were given a “complimentary appetizer” (bruschetta) due to the wait but it didn’t really make up for things. The food – when we finally got it (after someone managed to hunt down a menu) was delicious – freshly home-made pasta with wonderful, delicate sauces. Even though we had a reservation, we couldn’t help feeling that they “made room” for us – the table was a foldable type – and we never really felt welcome. Because dining out is about the entire experience, we couldn’t really recommend this restaurant because of how we were treated and the wait (maybe you need to know someone to get seated at a real table and get a menu within the first hour you are there). We did tell the owners of the inn the next morning about our experience – stressing that the food was indeed good – and they were shocked and said they would probably think twice about recommending it in the future. They agreed it was unacceptable to have to wait an hour just for a menu.

Nightlife

This is a dry town so if you are looking for nightlife you may want to try a neighboring town or make a little of your own.

Weather

Haddonfield is in southern New Jersey. Fall (when we visited) is usually quite pleasant during the day time and can get crisp in the evenings.

Tips/Suggestions

Remember to bring your own if you want alcohol with dinner. If you go, ask for recommendations for dinner and definitely make a reservation if it is on a weekend. If you do choose Via Giulia, you may want to take a magnum along.