Come inland, upstate or climb off that yacht.

Join us for the final weekend of the 142^nd meet at Saratoga Race Course, America’s oldest racecourse.  We offer refuge from the storm and a weekend to remember. The Woodward, The Hopeful and The Spinaway are the featured races.  Place your bets and cheer on your favorites before this racing season is put in the history books. Take home a souvenir long sleeve tee shirt,  the final NYRA giveaway, with your Sunday admission to the track.

Final stretch activities on Saturday and Sunday, include music festivals and street entertainment, just off our front porch and up and down Broadway.  Sam the Bugler will soon sound his final call to the Post…listen closely he’s calling you.

The restaurants, the shops and the charm that is Saratoga are beckoning… now and into the fall season.   Saratoga Arms is the hotel that offers a four-star experience with a welcome home atmosphere.  We have a room just for you.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a wonderful article in their US and International Travel section titled “Weekend in Saratoga, N.Y.”  They recommend various eating establishments, places to visit and hotels in Saratoga Springs NY, with Saratoga Arms being amongst them. You may visit the link and read the entire article.

Weekend in Saratoga, N.Y.  | ajc.com

The first telephone call is made to Pamela Whitney now living in the DC area.  Pamela is the decorator who worked with Kathleen on all the rooms in the addition. (www.pamelawhitneydesigns.com)   She designed all the furniture and had it made in a factory in Mexico.  Television armoires that also serve as dressers, desks that double as nightstands and headboards high enough on the wall that you can lean against them to read without being bothered by mouldings.  Pamela has an instant and excellent understanding of what is needed.  Kathleen has a formula for fabric in a room.  One hundred yards of the principal fabric for quilt, drapes, shower curtain and pillow shams: thirty yards of a stripe or nubby solid for dust ruffle, pillows and trim; and ten yards of an upholstery fabric for easy chair and cushion on the straight chair.  Off the two ladies go to Springfield, Massachusetts, to a shop that bills itself as the largest fabric store in America.

Stay tuned for the next installment of “A Room Redo”…

White paint on woodwork around windows in Room 201 is peeling in large patches.  Why, the wall  feels a little damp.  The best roofer in America (Sam Design) looks it over.  We will need a carpentry crew, metal bender, and of course, his team.  And he knows a place in Granville, up on the Vermont border,  that will be able to duplicate the purple gray fish scale slates that we will need to replace across the front of the building.  All the workmen used Room 201 as a staging area.  When the outside is fixed, and all the contractors have gone home, we look at the room. Peeling paint on the woodwork, dated colors, a quilt that no longer fits the new thicker mattress, a stain on the rug.  It’s time for a complete redo. 

Stay tuned for the next installment of “A Room Redo”…

I wrote a few months back about a little horse that ran in Saratoga last summer. The horse’s name is Dublin and he won that race. I also speculated that he would run in the Kentucky Derby, which is being held tomorrow. Dublin is certainly running tomorrow, one in a big field of 20. Well I just checked the current odds and it seems like Dublin will need a bit of the “Luck of the Irish” because he is currently 20-1. Current favorite…Lookin at Lucky. Seems as though there might be a lot of “lucky” running around Churchill Downs tomorrow.

The New York Times, Joe Drape, has confirmed that super filly and Preakness winner, Rachel Alexandra, will race against the boys again the the Woodward Stakes here in Saratoga on Saturday, September 5th.  Saratoga Arms does have limited availability left for that weekend (Labor Day) and would welcome anyone who would like to continue to watch history.  Run like a girl Rachel!!!

 Opening Day and the excitement throughout the city of Saratoga Springs is palpable.  Up and down the crowded sidewalks visitors mingle with townsfolk, darting in and out of shops and restaurants, chatting on the benches, admiring the artistic horse sculptures, and the lush hanging baskets.  Flags are waving proclaiming the arrival of the 141st meet at Saratoga Race Course.  The Daily Racing Form is the preferred reading choice.  The town is hopping and we are ready.

The Smith family and the staff of Saratoga Arms are welcoming back old friends who return year after year to their favorite Saratoga Springs Hotel.  We are confident that first time guests will fast become part of the Saratoga Arms growing circle of regulars.

The Saratoga Arms dining room this morning was abuzz with racing talk and old friends catching up on the events of last year that passed so quickly.  Noel continuus to delight diners with his usual scrumptious breakfasts and Kathleen shares Saratoga news and offers up tips for an enjoyable stay.

Come join us…the Racing Meet only lasts until Labor Day.  The talk in the racing community is that the quality of horses and the racing will be the best ever.  Don’t miss the fun. 

Saratoga Arms, located in downtown Saratoga Springs, NY, was recently honored by admittance into Select Registry, Distinguished Inns of North America, the premier innkeeping association in the United States and Canada. Out of the thousands of inns in North America, only an elite few will be invited to join Select Registry this year. Saratoga Arms joins more than 400 other exceptional properties that are already members of the Association.

Saratoga Arms, one of Saratoga Springs luxury hotels, exemplifies the high quality and service championed by this Association,” says Select Registry Executive Director Keith Kehlbeck. “Select Registry assures the traveler that each of its inns is regularly inspected-anonymously and with an overnight inspection that measures the quality of hospitality, as well as the physical plant. Our members share a high standard of excellence, and each of our country inns, luxury B & B’s, and unique small hotels has its own distinctive character.”

Founded in 1972 as the Independent Innkeepers’ Association by Norman Simpson, “the Father of Country Inn travel in America,” Select Registry is an offshoot of Simpson’s popular and pioneering book, Country Inns and Back Roads.  The name and logo of the organization were changed several years ago to reflect the group’s approach to marketing its selective and distinguished member properties.  Originally established in the Berkshire area of New England, the nonprofit organization is now headquartered in historic Marshall, Michigan. Member inns must meet the rigorous standards of a Quality Assurance program, and represent the most prestigious establishments of their type.

As a marketing association, Select Registry partners with other brands and organizations-such as BMW, Karen Brown’s Guides, DiRoNA, UK Tour Operator Select Vacations, PhoCusWright, Ontario’s Finest Inns and the American Heart Association to name a few-to promote its members to target audiences.  Its celebrated guidebook-now in its 20th Edition-is distributed each year to nearly 400,000 guests throughout North America.  The organization also maintains a critically-acclaimed website, supervises gift certificate and loyalty programs, and organizes promotions for its members, including last year’s inaugural “Inn-credible Breakfast Cook-off,” a breakfast recipe culinary competition that produced nearly 30 million media impressions.

Saratoga Arms is an award winning 1870 Second Empire brick concierge hotel under the personal supervision of the proprietors, Kathleen and Noel Smith and their daughter Amy Smith. This Saratoga Springs, NY inn is located in the downtown district within walking distance to restaurants, museums, shopping, and colleges. Saratoga Arms features beautifully appointed rooms, some with fireplaces and double whirlpool tubs. Guests of the inn may take advantage of on-site massage and facial services, and an exercise room. Saratoga Arms also offers a state of the art executive conference room and specializes in Small Meetings in Grand Style.

The calendar affirms what our minds and hearts have been longing for… Spring has arrived in Saratoga Springs!   The waist high snow banks are melting, giving way to brown grass and winter debris.  It’s not yet green, but it is a welcome sight to see landscaping crews raking and cleaning up. Soon the crocus, daffodils and tulips will line the sidewalks and the trees will begin to shade the boulevard.

Saratoga Arms is getting a little spring spruce-up. A few rooms in “the old” section are getting a make-over…new room arrangements, a few coats of paint and beautiful new décor.  The halls in the “new section” will be lined with historic photos of old Saratoga from the Bolster Collection of the Historical Society.

Kathleen is enjoying her waning days in Florida, returning home in mid-April. Noel is still in charge of the kitchen churning out those mouthwatering  omelets for the hearty wintertime guests.

Amy and Kathleen will be attending the Innkeeping Conference presented by PAII (Professional Association of Innkeepers International) in Atlanta at the end of the month. It is a time of socialization, exchange of ideas and learning. They always return with some fresh thoughts and renewed enthusiasm.

With the worst of this very long winter behind us and the arrival of the vernal equinox, we welcome the busy sidewalks filled with visitors to Saratoga Springs.

Will you be one of them?

Wesley Armstrong, the best plumber in American and the second most important man in my life, was in the hotel last week getting the air conditioning operational.  Wesley told Noel and me the story of one of his many brothers doing two tours in Viet Nam almost forty years ago.  Warren had been wounded twice, and his family always felt grateful he came home in good health. 

Recently, a Vet from Kansas made a trip to Viet Nam.  While there, he visited a junk shop that offered a large tray of American soldiers’ dog tags for sale.   The fellow from Kansas purchased the whole tray and brought them back to a Boy Scout troop he was involved with back home.

Warren has just received his dog tags along with a detailed letter explaining the project from the young men of the Boy Scout troop.

I hope they all earned a merit badge.