Berkshires Untold
Modish mountain retreat
Arty Appalachians
Set amid the rolling valleys and precipitous peaks of western Massachusetts, Berkshires Untold conjures a contemporary take on New England nostalgia, where warm woody interiors, retro mountain-lodge decor and shelves crammed with books evoke the spirit of artists past. Curl up fireside in the library lounge with a battered copy of Moby Dick (written just three miles from here) or take yourself off for a hike along any number of heart-swelling Appalachian mountain trails. In the evening, reward yourself with a signature cocktail or smoky single malt in the sociable 70s-style club room – all muted mossy velvets, wooden beams and eye-popping upholstery.
Facilities
Rooms
65, including one deluxe suite.
Checkout
11am. Check-in is from 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
More Details
Rates don’t include breakfast, but the Club Room restaurant has a full breakfast menu to order from.
Also
The Deluxe Two King Suite is adapted for wheelchair use and has a roll-in shower.
Free Internet Access
Pet Friendly
At the Hotel
Lounge bar, parking garage, free WiFi. In rooms: Apple TV, air conditioning, writing desk, Revival New York linens and bathrobes, Le Labo toiletries.
Our Favourite Rooms
Rooms at Berkshires Untold invite the outside in, with warm woods and olive-green tones inspired by the colour palettes of the local landscape. All come with luxury touches like premium Revival New York bedding and bathrobes, and Le Labo toiletries. Bag the biggest room in the hotel – a sizeable suite with two king-size beds – for twice the space of standard rooms, a lounge area and verdant views.
Packing Tips
If you’re not going to read Moby Dick in the landscape that inspired it, then when? Bag yourself a thrift-store copy for pennies and pack it alongside the sturdy walking boots you’ll need to scale Mount Greylock. The snow-capped humps of this Massachusetts giant are said to have been the inspiration for Melville’s leviathan, his ‘grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air’.
Children
Standard Two Double rooms sleep four, meaning families are well catered for here. There are plenty of family restaurants in nearby Lenox and Pittsfield as well as, of course, the great outdoors, to keep kids entertained.
Gallery
Food & Drink
Dress Code
Play up to the Club Room’s modern interpretation of 70s-style decor with some of your own: think psychedelic prints, outsize collars and platform heels, but maybe leave the flares and giant sunglasses at home.
Hotel Restaurant
Breakfast at Berkshires Untold is served in the Club Room, a light-filled double-height space with beamed ceilings, funky parquet floors, plush leather sofas and great green fronds of potted plants. Hors d'oeuvres and desserts are served in this sociable space throughout the day. In the evening, sip cocktails and soak up the retro vibe.
Hotel Bar
In-keeping with the region’s literary heritage, books share shelf space with wine and spirit bottles behind the bar at Berkshires Untold, where a variety of cocktails, bourbons, beers and more are available.
Last Orders
The Club Room is open from 5pm to 10pm, seven days a week (dinner is only served Wednesday to Sunday).
Planes
It’s an hour’s drive from Albany International Airport. Taxis are available at a cost of around $150–200 one way.
Trains
Pittsfield station is five miles from the hotel and serves local routes as well as a few major cities, including Boston and New York.
Automobiles
Bringing your own set of wheels is by far the best way to experience the Berkshires winding mountain roads and vast national parks. Cars are available to rent at the airport and there’s free private parking at the hotel.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
Literary buffs will be in clover here in the heart of New England, with Herman Melville’s modest mustard-coloured clapboard house and Edith Wharton’s somewhat grander turn-of-the-century mansion just two local highlights. Step inside Arrowhead to see where, in a tiny, book-crammed study overlooking Mount Greylock, Melville’s man-versus-whale epic was conceived. Or take the ghost tour at The Mount, the 42-room country house (in 50 acres of formal gardens) where Wharton penned some of her best-loved works, including Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth. You never know, you might even encounter some of the ‘spectral shapes crouched in corners’ that Wharton described so vividly in her ghost stories.
Head for the Norman Rockwell Museum in nearby Stockbridge for the planet’s biggest collection of Rockwell originals, catch a play by the legendary Shakespeare & Company, whose alumni include Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray, or experience the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a summer performance on Tanglewood's immaculately manicured lawns.
The changing colors of New England’s landscape – the lush greens of spring and summer, autumn’s dazzling display of fiery reds and oranges, deep purples and mellow yellows, and winter’s thick white blanket of snow – mean you might quite reasonably expect rather different experiences depending when you visit. Leaf-peepers naturally favor the fall months, when elevated forest views can look for all the world like Rockwell’s palette. Take the relatively gentle trail to Olivia’s Overlook in the Yokun Ridge South reserve for sweeping views of the Berkshires mountains, keeping your eyes peeled for bears and foxes skulking in the less densely wooded sections. Or stroll through 500-acre Kennedy Park to see the fabulous fall foliage up close and breathe the crisp, woody autumn air. More seasoned hikers can take on the rather more strenuous vertical ascent up Lenox Mountain, or make like Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne and hike Monument Mountain, where the pair are said to have met during a storm in 1850.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
