Hoping for a bit of advice....

We will be travelling with family (6 adults, 4 children) to somewhere between Boston and New York City. We've all been to the Berkshires before and really love it, but I thought it would be nice to try something new, so I thought of the Hudson River Valley.

Here's my question: travelling from Boston, which would be the closest nice town in the Hudson River Valley to stay? also, given that we will be travelling a long distance in the car with little kids, is it worth the extra driving distance to get to Hudson River Valley vs. the Berkshires? and lastly, does anyone know of an inn that is either small that we could take over the whole place or an inn that has a seperate carriage house or something where we can take this over? -- we are also considering renting a house, however, I only saw one or two on www.vrbo.com that were big enough.

We will be travelling in June - probably a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night. It is a celebration trip for my mother-in-law for her 70th birthday. My father-in-law will be picking up the tab (so although the Mohonk Mtn. Inn looked like it would have a lot for the kids to do, I am reluctant to suggest it as the cheapest rooms are over $400 per night). We definitely want someplace nice though.

A priority is accessibility to golf.

thanks for any help you could offer!!

would also consider Lake George area or Litchfield County in Connecticut....

don't even know where to begin with my research though - of the four areas, have only been to berkshires

help please!!!!

The Hudson River Valley is a very large area and I think actually encompasses the Berkshires. So am assuming you're thinking about the lower Hudson River Valley? There's golf at West Point. Here's a listing I found of golf in the Hudson Valley.

http://www.bearsystems.com/golf/golf.html

There are plenty of websites with info on the Hudson River Valley. Here's just one that concentrates on the lower Hudson.

http://www.hudsonvalley.org/

But when I look at a map, this is pretty far out of your way. Wouldn't Rhode Island or mid Ct. make more sense?

I would look around the Rhinebeck area in the Hudson Valley, from Boston, you would take 90 to Albany, then it's only about 1 hour south on the Taconic Parkway. The Beekman Arms Inn is a famous place to stay and I believe they have a carriage house that might suit your needs. There are lots of things to do in the area, the Rhinebeck Aerodome is one of the highlights, where you can take a ride in a vintage open cockpit airplane.

Here's a good link to the official NY Tourism web-site for this area:
http://www.travelhudsonvalley.org/

My other suggestion would be to stay in Poughkeepsie, we stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn, which has 2 bedroom, 2 bath suites (and studio and 1 bedroom too), complete kitchens and free breakfast in the AM. Only about 1/2 hour drive up to Rhinebeck and close to Hyde Park where there are numerous things to do. We love this area and come up all the time.

Litchfield is nice too, there's the Lime Rock Race Track which might be fun, yet I think it's more of a "grown-up" area.

hi, has anyone stayed at the belvedere mansion - it looks so nice. i spoke to them earlier this evening. we could take over the Hunt Lodge - it has just the right amount of space for us - a couple of large rooms for those of us sharing space with kids and then a couple of smaller rooms - one for the in-laws and one for a babysitter if we can rangle one up.

Another consideration is the Woodstock Inn (this is further driving distance for the family members coming from NYC, but is less expensive than Rhinebeck).

It is a little awkward because if I had my druthers I would opt for the very nice inn in Rhinebeck but I think it ends up being almost double the money vs. Woodstock Inn (where there is apparently the option of a 4 bedroom villa with kitchen living room ,etc - can't seem to find anything about this on their website, but my sister in law who is also researching this trip came up with this option) and since someone else is paying... you see, it just gets to be a little awkward.

The woodstock Inn does have all of the entertainment built in, but that sort of institutional style of place hasn't always been a favorite of mine - it certainly would be better for the kids. It is just that the Hudson River Valley seems like such a beautiful and interesting place to visit.

oh, I feel like the personification of vasilation!!!!