By Jeff Clarke, courtesy Vermont Tourism
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A locally owned hotel aims to offer an authentic Vermont experience when it opens this spring between Waterfront Park and the Church Street Marketplace.
The 125-room Hotel Vermont will evoke its home state in many ways. Guests will arrive to the smell of brewing cider. Indigenous materials, including Vermont marble and white oak, are being used in its design. Hen of the Wood, a restaurant known throughout the state, will open a location in the hotel. Local aromatherapy experts at Lunaroma have created organic guest-room amenities.
The hotel’s developers, owners and operators, as well as its design, construction and management teams, are all Burlington based. Longtime Vermont hotelier Hans van Wees is general manager.
“This project is a first for Burlington,” said van Wees. “We are bringing an independent, luxury boutique hotel to the city so travelers can enjoy our destination and locals can use this as a meeting place, especially with our Hen of the Wood location.”
Hen of the Wood is known for its farm-to-table cuisine orchestrated by Chef Eric Warnstedt, 2011 James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Northeast.
Juniper, the hotel lounge, will serve breakfast, coffees, small plates, local beer and wine, and carbon-negative cocktails that represent Vermont’s 11 microdistilleries.
Off the lobby, a terrace and adjacent fire pit will overlook Lake Champlain, as well as the 7,500-square-foot Harbor Terrace, Burlington’s first green roof and garden with bronze sculptures by Vermont artist Richard Erdman.
The third floor has more than 2,000 square feet of green roof space. Hotel Vermont offers two water-view meeting rooms for up to 80 guests. The hotel expects to earn LEED certification.
It will also be the first in the state to offer 100-megabite synchronous broadband Internet access.
www.hotelvt.com
