We will spend 3 nights in the area visiting Smith and Mount Holyoke. We want to spend 3 days there getting a feel of the towns too. It will be during our child’s April Passover vacation. The colleges are in session though. Should we stay in Northampton? Or closer to MHO ? Anyone have a vacation rental they would recommend? We need it to sleep four people. Thanks
We stayed in Belchertown. The Airbnb we stayed at was a carriage house near an apple orchard and we were able to walk the trails by their fields. We drove/hiked Mt Tom and had a wonderful breakfast at the Roadhouse Cafe. The whole experience was lovely. Enjoy your trip!
We stayed in Northampton on one visit and Amherst on the second. Both were fun towns. There are a few airbnbs in downtown Northampton that would be great for your stay. We stayed at a B and B in Amherst. Northampton is bigger with more shops and restaurants. It’s a bit further from Mt Holyoke but a short drive nonetheless.
We spent a night at the Willits-Hallowell Conference Center & Hotel, on the Mt. Holyoke campus, and then moved to the Hotel Northampton to visit Smith. We were warned that the Hotel Northampton could be pricey, but we were there at a low-demand time so it was actually pretty reasonable.
We stayed at Hotel Northampton as well. Its a bit Laura Ashley but we liked it and great location for exploring the town.
I recommend staying at Willits-Hallowell for a visit to Mount Holyoke. Use it as a place to launch your walk around the beautiful campus and soak in the atmosphere. Alums typically stay there for meetings so you should get some good vibes in the dining room and the bar.
We stay at the Hampton Inn Hadley-Amherst, which is about half way in between the two campuses. It’s a lot cheaper than Hotel Northampton and less specific than the on-campus hotel at Moho.
Check on the admissions web site for each school, they sometimes offer a discount code for local lodging. Although we never looked at Smith or MHC, at other schools the discount was considerable.
D. Hotel in Hadley is south of Smith and west of MHC. With the money you save by not staying in the Hotel Northampton, eat breakfast at Jakes (in NoHo) and dinner at the Wiggins Tavern or at one of the two restaurants at the Delaney House next door to the hotel (as your feet will be tired by that point).
When visiting Smith, suggest metered parking on King Street near Jakes for breakfast, then move your car to either the metered parking on Elm Street or the visitor parking in the Smith parking garage.