Sayed Saleh understands that service is often the Achilles' heel of the American hotelier. Mr. Saleh is the owner of The Orchards, in Williamstown, Massachusetts about 70 miles southwest of the Sagamore, in the Berkshires. A 49-room property centered around a courtyard and pond, The Orchards is decorated in English antiques. The guest rooms have fireplaces and four-poster beds. The hotel does an authentic afternoon tea, and has a good restaurant, Yasmin.
At The Orchards, service is meticulous, discreet and refined. I was a guest during the lull before the start of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which fills the hotel in the summer. All requests were granted and often anticipated with deference.
The Orchards Hotel:
Media Reviews
Media Reviews
The Good Life / Forbes FYI
The Financial Times
The Orchards, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Located in the laid-back part of the Berkshires, the Orchards is removed from the bustle of Tanglewood music festival. It is like a tiny Ritz-Carlton with chipmunks chattering on the branches outside the windows.
As always in the Berkshires, cultural events set the tone. On my visit, local museum exhibits by Austrian artists inspired a menu of Wiener Schnitzel (far airier than your standard) and duck. The Orchard's wine menu is one of the best of the state, and the pride of owner, Sayed Saleh, who loves to pull 1961 Rothschilds off the racks in the cellar.
As always in the Berkshires, cultural events set the tone. On my visit, local museum exhibits by Austrian artists inspired a menu of Wiener Schnitzel (far airier than your standard) and duck. The Orchard's wine menu is one of the best of the state, and the pride of owner, Sayed Saleh, who loves to pull 1961 Rothschilds off the racks in the cellar.
Quarterly Review of Wines
Mountain Greenery
The Berkshires have it all – beauty, culture and
The Orchards Hotel.
Sayed Saleh […] has run major hotel properties in Boston, like the Colonnade, and who knows the hospitality trade, being named "2003 Hotelier of the Year" by Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Saleh brings sophistication to this rural jewel. He also brings perhaps the finest climate controlled wine cellars in the region. Much of his own personal wine cellar is also on the property, and it is staggering in its excellence. The passion of the wine married the passion for dining. Chef Boehm may be young, but he has a rich culinary background, working at the one-star Die Ente in Wiesbaden, Germany, and working as well with chefs Kaus Weingartz, Harold Schmidt and three-star Michelin Master Chef Eckhard Witzigmann. Boehm wasted no time in making Yasmin's a culinary destination. Gourmet Magazine has praised it, as has Forbes and the Financial Times. The dining is elegant, and on any night the menu can show a dazzling fusion of electriticm from Europe, Asia, America, and the Middle East. German china, Queen Anne flatware, crystal and fresh flowers are a given. There is also a very serious catering and function center at the hotel.
The Berkshires have it all – beauty, culture and
The Orchards Hotel.
Sayed Saleh […] has run major hotel properties in Boston, like the Colonnade, and who knows the hospitality trade, being named "2003 Hotelier of the Year" by Preferred Hotels and Resorts. Saleh brings sophistication to this rural jewel. He also brings perhaps the finest climate controlled wine cellars in the region. Much of his own personal wine cellar is also on the property, and it is staggering in its excellence. The passion of the wine married the passion for dining. Chef Boehm may be young, but he has a rich culinary background, working at the one-star Die Ente in Wiesbaden, Germany, and working as well with chefs Kaus Weingartz, Harold Schmidt and three-star Michelin Master Chef Eckhard Witzigmann. Boehm wasted no time in making Yasmin's a culinary destination. Gourmet Magazine has praised it, as has Forbes and the Financial Times. The dining is elegant, and on any night the menu can show a dazzling fusion of electriticm from Europe, Asia, America, and the Middle East. German china, Queen Anne flatware, crystal and fresh flowers are a given. There is also a very serious catering and function center at the hotel.
Yankee Magazine:
2002 Editor’s Pick
2002 Editor’s Pick
2002 Yankee Magazine's Travel Guide to New England Editors' Pick: The Orchards, a luxury hotel with English antiques, features fireplaces, afternoon tea, a courtyard with fountain and ducks, and fine dining "It's sophisticated pampering at its best."
Gourmet:
The Magazine of Good Living
The Magazine of Good Living
At the Orchards, lunch or dinner in clement weather can be had alfresco at the edge of the courtyard garden. Or it can be taken in the elegant dining room, where my companion and I ensconced ourselves that first evening at a table nicely set with fresh flowers, German china, Queen Anne flatware and sparkling crystal. For our wine we decided on a Raymond Chardonnay '84 from the list of California and French vintages, which includes a special house selection of Bordeaux. I started my meal with chilled creamy strawberry bisque, and my friend began with coconut beer-batter shrimp in orange horseradish sauce. The cuisine turned out by the Executive Chef is exceptional in an area where most of the local restaurants tend toward unimaginative American homey fare.
New York Times:
European Chefs a Specialty
European Chefs a Specialty
Orchards, a five-minute walk from campus, is a good place for dinner. At the hotel's Yasmin restaurant, visiting European Chefs rotate through the kitchen every 18 months. Among the specialties of the current crew: tuna tartare with taro root ($9), rack of lamb roasted to pink perfection and served with mashed barlotti beans and a tomato tart ($28) and Tahitian vanilla bean parfait with poached mango (222 Adams Road; 413-458-9611).
