Right Out of a Romance Novel:
By Marti Mayne
hat do you get when you combine a renowned romance novelist with a B&B that
opened right around Valentine’s Day? You get the Inn BoonsBoro on the Square in Boonsboro, MD. There’s romantic, then there’s fabulously romantic, and the Inn BoonsBoro has transformed the inn’s namesake, a Western Maryland town into a destination for romantic respites. Close to the site of the Antietam National Battlefield where the bloodiest one-day battle in the Civil War (with close to 23,000 casualties) was fought, one might once have found history, but would have been hard-pressed to find love here. Then romance novelist, Nora Roberts, and her husband Bruce Wilder decided to save what was formerly the Boone Hotel from a slow demise. Evicting resident pigeons and replacing crumbling walls with resolve that even a subsequent fire while under construction couldn’t extinguish, the Inn BoonsBoro opened right after Valentine’s Day in 2009 taking its place front and center on the village square.
It comes as no surprise that Nora Roberts’s inn would ooze romance from every element of design to packaging. It starts in the guest rooms, each named after literary couples from stories with happy endings. To insure guests enjoy romance Nora-style, beds offer up luxurious sheets, a generous supply of hypo-allergenic pillows in two densities, an all-season, hypo-allergenic duvet and a cashmere throw. There’s a decidedly natural flair to many of the lighting and furniture pieces you find throughout the inn. Don’t be surprised to see leaves and twigs intertwined into chandeliers, furniture and artwork to bring the outdoors inside.
And in what is a one-of-a-kind touch, each room has its own signature fragrance, created by a local crafter and with the watchful approval of Nora herself. From the soaps, lotions and bath salts to the scented reed dispensers, each room’s fragrance varies as much as the décor which is designed around the scent. Stay in the Nick and Nora room, and you’ll be treated to a green tea and ginger scent; it’s pomegranate in Marguerite and Percy room and heather in the Jane and Rochester room. The Elizabeth and Darcy room sports an English Lavender scent and design elements too. To carry on this theme, every few week a different bouquet of flowers designed to go with the room décor is delivered to each room from the local florist. It’s all part of Nora and Bruce’s effort to shop local and build community partnerships.
The Inn BoonsBoro
The Inn BoonsBoro
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