Tidewater Inn
101 E. Dover St.
Easton, Md.
410-822-1300,
tidewaterinn.com

At christmastime, I’m a holly-and-ivy kind of gal. I want a live Christmas tree (leave the aluminum to Reynolds Wrap, if you don’t mind), white lights, and snow. While the folks at the historic Tidewater Inn in Easton can’t control the December weather, they do create a traditional holiday atmosphere with all of the trimmings—and then some. So before my own holiday preparations threatened to dominate the season, my husband and I booked an overnight at the Tidewater Inn to treat ourselves to a small-town Christmas—without the baking and shopping.

Although the hotel has changed hands several times in the last few years, its old-fashioned charm remains, and seems even more pronounced at the holidays. The lampposts along the hotel’s brick drive wear gold ribbons, fresh ropes of evergreens drape over signs for the inn’s Restaurant Local, and gracious liveried bellmen offer warm greetings as we enter the slate-floored hotel lobby. Here, too, it looks like December with long stems of red amaryllis and paper- whites growing in tall hurricane glasses atop the lobby fireplace mantel. And at the foot of the stairs, a Christmas tree (albeit artificial due to the fire code) is decorated solely in white doves.

With its overstuffed couches and flickering fire, the inn feels homey, that is, if home had a Wedgewood blue ballroom, a business center, and a broadly curving staircase that makes any woman stepping down it feel like Scarlett O’Hara.

The Rooms
The most welcome renovations at the inn have been in the rooms. While its eighty-four rooms and suites are still cozy, everything from the paint to the carpet to the bathrooms has been updated. Most rooms are a gentle peach, but my suite’s bedroom has a more eye-popping color: robin’s egg blue. The sitting area is comparably tame, with taffeta Shantung drapes, striped in bronze, teal, and gold, contemporary chairs and sofa, and leafy green botanical prints on the walls. Along one wall, a wardrobe hides a flat-screen TV.

The bathrooms also reflect the same balance of traditional and modern, and are much improved since previous visits. Shiny white subway tile has replaced the old, gray-and-white tile in each of our suite’s bathrooms, and shower heads have been updated. While the hotel decided to save the original pedestal sinks, they now have new chrome fixtures from Restoration Hardware, making the small spaces far more pleasant.

Special Touches
White terrycloth robes, fragrant infuser sticks, and fresh flowers are sweet details, but the lobby fireplace (kept lit in cold weather months) is the inn’s most inviting feature. The Tidewater also has a pet-friendly policy and while in the lobby, I see a couple arriving with a pair of silky Irish setters. (Note to self: Next time bring the cat.) Later in the evening, one of the pet owners asks the front desk clerk if she might keep the setters’ dog food in the office fridge, a request with which the clerk readily complies. Now that’s service.

What’s For Breakfast
The Tidewater offers a continental spread in the Rose Room, just off of the lobby. (Weekend guests may also choose to treat themselves to brunch at Restaurant Local.) We pour coffee and orange juice and take our almond croissants, sweet rolls, and fruit to the lobby couch and relax with a morning newspaper in front of the fireplace.

Diversions
Seeing downtown Easton decorated for the holidays is always a treat, but seeing it from the back of a horse-drawn wagon is aces. During December, Joe and Norman, two 1,800-pound Suffolk Punch horses from Wayne and Phyllis Conner’s Bridgeville, Delaware, Circle C Outfit, provide this service to guests for free. Clip-clopping through town delighted children of all ages (including me). Those with a passion for sing-a-longs are urged to check the caroling schedule at Easton’s Avalon Theatre, where warblers can count down the twelve days of Christmas in verse.

Romance Factor
Where there’s mistletoe there’s romance, yes?

What It’s Going to Cost
Rooms, $125-$155; suites, $175-
$250 (rates may increase for holiday weekends) nCL

Mary K. Zajac writes from Baltimore.