Hip Hotel - Resorting - Porches Inn

Travel America, March-April, 2004

The Porches Inn at MASS MoCA, in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts, is one of 39 hotels profiled in Hip Hotels USA, the latest volume by travel writer and photographer Herbert Ympa. To mark the occasion, Porches is offering a two-night "Hip Hotel Package" through May 20. The package (priced at $239 Sunday through Thursday and $329 on weekends) includes accommodations in a queen-bedded room, continental breakfast each morning, a copy of Hip Hotels USA, and a souvenir edition of the factory worker lunchbox used to deliver room service breakfast.

Porches, which opened in 2001, is located in North Adams across from MASS MoCA, the country's largest museum of contemporary art. It consists of seven Victorian-era buildings that originally housed the area's mill workers. Porches' guest rooms and public spaces employ a clever synthesis of retro and contemporary design. The inn's 50 rooms and suites are fully wired, offering high-speed DSL internet access, dual phone lines, and complimentary DVDs. The property includes a year-round outdoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and fitness room.

Contact: Porches Inn at MASS MoCA, 231 River St., North Adams, MA 01247; (413) 664-0400; www.porches.com.