Hawthorne Inn

This was a beautiful place to stay. The room was lovely, very room and clean and fresh. The bathroom was spotless with many nice bottles of wash and lotions. The bed was very comfy and there is a gas fireplace which in the cooler weather would surely be a welcome touch. We stayed in the Emerson room. It was quiet and we never heard other guests. The breakfast was delicious and plentiful. The owners and hosts, Marilyn and Gregory couldn’t have been nicer. They made our stay memorable and we will definitely stay here when in the area again!

I stayed at this lovely Inn with my film crew a few weeks ago. To be completely honest, I was a little naïve about what the B&B experience would be, and was worried about putting my director & producer up at a place that might not meet their standards — But let me tell you, I could not have been more pleasantly surprised!
The rooms were beautiful, spacious and comfortable. Everything you would expect from a high-​end hotel, and more! My personal favorite was the array of products in the bathroom. Not the standard, tiny, generic ‘hotel-​shampoos’… No, these were full-​sized, well-​made products! It felt like home — that is, if my bathroom at home was much cleaner, more elegant & spa-​like.
The Inn-​keepers, Marilyn & Gregory were nothing short of fantastic. They were knowledgable about the area, and super friendly — but have perfected the art of being helpful without smothering their guests, as can be a inconvenience for some travelers. They made us feel incredibly taken care of, helped us with dinner reservations, informed us of the history on the area in an engaging way… the genuinely full package. Any time I had a question, I knew where to turn.
Now on to what I miss the most… The breakfast. I arrived super early in the morning on my first day. Marilyn settled me into my room, and told me I was welcome to come out for breakfast at 8.30. When I left my room, I expected the standard selection of cereal, english muffins, and orange juice. Not at the Hawthorne Inn! Instead I walked out to a beautifully set family style dining table, where Marilyn & Greg served the other guests and I a delicious, holiday-​worthy 3 course meal. For the calorie conscious traveler, I’ll assure you, it was healthy and light and fresh. Granola, customized omelets, fruit, toast etc… They even respected & remembered people’s dietary wishes and, without hesitation accommodated the vegetarians, etc. I mentioned in passing that I was allergic to egg yolks on the very first morning, and every breakfast following that one, they made my plates individually catered sans egg yolks without me even asking — even the french toast. My own mother doesn’t even remember to do that.
We were on a weird schedule, and rudely rolled out of our beds later than the scheduled 8.30am on most mornings. At most places you’d be out of luck, and left to fend for yourself, but they still somehow managed to get all of us fed each morning without any sign of annoyance.
It goes without saying that my colleagues and I really enjoyed our stay there. I for one, was genuinely sad to leave and have to come back to my breakfast-​less, less home-​y apartment in Los Angeles.
Thanks again to both of you. I look forward to having another excuse to travel back to Concord & stay at the Inn.
Carmela Makela

I stayed here last year and realized I never wrote a review.
I made a week long reservation to get away from my hectic job on the west coast. I’m originally from Connecticut, had friends to visit in MA and NH and loved the idea of Concord as a location for a getaway. I stayed here in October and the foliage was as lovely as can be.
The Inn itself is a beautiful home, in a beautiful setting. Park-​like is the best way to describe it. The rooms are lovely. coming back after a day away and parking in the driveway is a sigh of relief. The bed was luxurious. I have a few small complaints that nonetheless took a little bit away from the experience.
For one, I’m fairly sure the host (whose name I regretfully have forgotten) told me the room I was renting had a soaking bathtub, but it did not. I was surprised to find it had only a standup shower, which didn’t seem to gel with the vibe of the place.
The road the Inn is on is quite busy, just about as busy as roads get in this part of Massachusetts. If you have a room on the ‘road side’, expect your peace to be interrupted regularly.
Also, I would ask about the air conditioning before you make a reservation. Apparently they only put units in for part of the year. A few days I was there were actually a bit uncomfortable due to lack of A/​C.
Finally, the bathroom had one of those high efficiency lightbulbs that starts out quite dim and gets brighter. I’m all for saving energy but the bathroom isn’t the best place for such a thing. Oh, and don’t go expecting a big screen TV or anything. There is a small TV as an afterthought but it’s not that kind of place.
Despite these small things, I had a lovely time. The location is unbeatable for doing things in Concord… You really can just walk to everything if you don’t mind a medium stroll.
The hosts were very nice. I can’t speak about the breakfasts because when I vacation I sleep in and there was no waking me for the breakfast time period. I got the feeling they would be very helpful if you were looking for things to do, but I was pretty well set for what I was doing and kept to myself.
I’d gladly recommend the Hawthorne Inn keeping in mind the items above.

This is a delightfully charming Inn, conveniently located across from Alcott’s Home and next to Emerson’s. It takes you back to the era of Transcendentalism. The hosts are charming. They provide wonderful information on the area including excellent dining experiences. Gregory is an extraordinary historian, artist and chef. The breakfasts are sumptuous. The rooms are quaint. I loved our sky light. I highly recommend The Hawthorne Inn if you are visiting Concord.

I stayed here years ago and I think it was my first authentic bed & breakfast experience. Despite the not-​so-​great circumstances of my being there and my company, I remember having a great time. Breakfast was good, as was the conversation with fellow guests. The grounds were nice for a stroll and, of course, it’s directly across the street from The Wayside — the former home of the Hawthornes and the Alcotts. There’s something magical about saying you could have been a neighbor of the author of «The Scarlet Letter»…

When I arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport, rain was falling and the sky overhead was dark and gray. By the time I drove through Ted William’s Tunnel, past Fenway Park to the 95 North, and connected onto Route 2A, however, the sun broke though the clouds and bathed everything in golden sunlight.
Off of Route 2A on Lexington Road in the heart of Minutemen country, I arrived at the Hawthorne Inn, my favorite bed and breakfast in Concord, Massachusetts. The owner of the inn, Marilyn, greeted me at the entrance and showed me to my room. The inn is furnished with furniture, art, and artifacts that are representative of colonial New England of the 19^th Century with other kinds of art, such as Japanese ukiyo-​e prints, Haitian voodoo masks, and 17^th Century Persian helmets, scattered about here and there.
Walking into my room, I noticed a cat on the 4 poster bed in my room. She was friendly and didn’t seem to mind me hanging out with her.
The room had teal wallpaper, lots of folk art, a love seat near the roll away desk, and a rattan reading chair by the bed. It was very comfortable, very cozy. I hung out in my room with the cat for a while before going out to downtown Concord for dinner.
After dinner I sat in the sitting room downstairs where the fireplace was blazing and I met some of the other guests in the inn. We talked some more in the morning when we ate breakfast in the communal dining room together. Breakfast included your choice of coffee, tea, muffins and other baked goods, a seasonal fruit plate, yogurt, or granola. Rooms at the inn range from $ 125 — $ 325 per night depending on the season.
After breakfast, I went into downtown Concord to look for an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-​Reliance, which I found in a book in my room. In the essay Emerson emphasizes the importance of avoiding conformity and trusting in our own ideas and instincts:
«Trust thyself, every heart vibrates to that iron string…»
This spirit of individuality and the belief that there is no problem that we can’t handle if we apply ourselves to the solution is what attracts me to New England, to Concord, to the Hawthorne Inn. There’s a sense of history there where our country was essentially founded, a creative energy burns there also where so many creative thinkers and writers lived. Walden Pond, the Minutemen Park, the old North Bridge where the «first shot heard round the world» was fired are all in Concord. It’s worth visiting to remember that
«Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you
peace but the triumph of principles.»