A friend of mine booked this place for the weekend for our group of 20, and I've gotta say-- I was…read morea little nervous after reading some of the reviews on here. However, the Salt Ash Inn blew us all away and we loved our stay!
We arrived late Friday night, and the owner left all of our room keys on the counter for easy check-in. We had all of the rooms booked since we were such a large group, so we had the common area downstairs to ourselves and hung out late into the night. I believe one of the rooms on the second floor houses staff, but aside from that, no one else was occupying the rooms during our stay. The common area is really nice: there's a pool table, a fire place, a bunch of seating and tables, and even a bar. There is also a large speaker that guests can utilize until 9pm.
We visited in early February when the temperatures were expected to be as low as -7, and the most common complaint about this place was the faulty thermostats, so we prepared for the worst and brought all of our warmest clothing. Our very first observation, after turning on the thermostats in each of the rooms as high as they would allow (68 degrees), was that the rooms heated up quickly. It didn't take long for the rooms to reach a comfortable temperature. We all slept comfortably, without using any extra blankets or layers of clothing, to our great but pleasant surprise. The beds are CRAZY comfortable, too. I slept in the Green Mountain room on the 3rd floor and it appeared that all of the mattresses were Tempurpedics. The shower in that room is quite small, but the water heated up quickly. Your best bet is bringing your own toiletries, as they are not provided. There's just a one-size-fits-all soap in the showers that I opted out of using. Clean towels were on every bed when we arrived, and each bathroom has a hair dryer.
We booked this place for its proximity to Killington, where we all skiied on Saturday and Sunday. It was less than 30 minutes from the mountain. In terms of bars/ restaurants/ civilization, the Salt Ash Inn is essentially in the middle of nowhere; expect to drive a bit if you plan on going out for meals. We discovered a much more happening bar + restaurant scene right near the mountain, so plan accordingly if that's what you're looking for. As a large group, we were content with hanging out in the common area of the inn with our own drinks and food. You should be prepared to drive yourself if venturing outside of the inn; the area is incredibly desolate (at least in the dead of winter) and I wouldn't imagine that calling an Uber is an option. We drove at least 20 minutes every time we went out for a meal.
The coffeemaker in the kitchen was free for us to use, but there was no kitchen staff onsite during our stay. Therefore, I cannot speak to the less than desirable reviews I read about the Salt Ash Inn breakfast situation.
All in all, I would 1,000% percent stay at the Salt Ash Inn again. It is a really fantastic accommodation for large groups! The common area can get quite loud, so if you aren't booking the entire inn, you definitely run the risk of staying at the same time as a group that occupies the space late into the night. I would book this place again in a heartbeat!