Dropping $100 for dinner for 2 is not too bad in Boston, but after hearing rave reviews about the 1785 Inn Restaurant in North Conway my wife and I tried it. I would have been better off at Burger King and spent the other $90 at the outlets! Bad Service, Small Portions, and soot from the fire made our evening "poor at best". We also stayed at the Inn and left after only one night (the stains on the ceiling were enough to drive me away).

The 1785 Inn is not set up for small children and all the rooms are not fully decorated and do not have air conditioning. When I booked the room I told the staff I had a wife and 13 month old child and would need a crib for the child. I was told they had a crib in the room....not what they had was a single bed....thankfully we took our pack and play. We asked to be moved and the staff relocated us to a brilliant room, still no crib but the room was recently redecorated. If staying in the 1785 Inn I suggest you make sure your room has air conditioning and if possible your own bathroom. If you book a room do not book rooms 1 or 2 as you will be sharing a bathroom with your neighbor and the bathroom is absolutely hideous. The bathroom tile is loose and there is mold throughout the bathroom and the paint is peeling off the wall. The breakfast in the morning is excellent and the entire staff is personal, courteous and friendly. The 1785 Inn is old and needs a facelift, especially in the bathrooms. The showers blew hot and cold water and there did not seem to be anything that could be done to regulate the water temperature. I would stay at the 1785 Inn again but I would ensure I had my own room, bathroom and air conditioning.

We stayed at the 1785 Inn for two nights in March of 2005.
Cons: We booked a "large private room with a view." The room did have the view, but not much else. It was certainly not large. The bed was so hard, we dreaded going to sleep the second night. The carpeting was worn, the wallpaper and window paint was peeling off in certain places; there were a couple of spider webs.
Previous reviewers were right - the water pressure was bad, and the shower curtain had a weird smell. When I tried to adjust water temperature, the water heater made very loud noise. The hallways of the inn are very "tired" looking, with large cracks in certain walls.
There was no blowdrier in the bathroom (but we received it after asking the innkeepers). Also, because there was no phone in the room, and the inn is fairly large, anytime we needed something, we had to go all the way down to the restaurant and try to locate the innkeepers there.
Another thing we did not like was that they added a $4 automatic "gratuity" to the breakfast bill. Isn't gratuity a voluntary thing by its very nature? Apparently not at the 1785 Inn. The breakfast was fine.

Pros: The lock on our room (Room 17) was fine, and it was nice to have individual heat control. The inn offers a winter "stay and ski" special, providing all guests with free cross-country passes. We used these for one day. We liked the restaurant, which is very famous in the area. Our server (and somewhat of a maitre'd), Al, was extremely friendly. We got a table we requested. The food was good and the dessert was very good. It is not cheap, however.
The living room with a fireplace was good too. We watched a movie there after dining at the inn's restaurant.

Overall, I agree with other reviewers - eat here, but stay somewhere else. We would not stay there again.

We recently stayed at this hotel, and for $200/night (with a 2 night minimum!) it was absolutely NOT worth the money.

The room was in ill repair, the door barely locked and the shower is pitiful! The water was either scalding hot or freezing cold and it barely came out of the shower head.

The room was noisy and had little charm. This area has many other hotels, so your money is better spent elsewhere.

We heard these complaints from another couple while chatting with them in the bar. So it wasn't just our room.

This hotel has clearly not been maintained over the years, and the owners really need to put some money into it if they expect to remain competitive in the North Conway area.

We would absolutely not stay there again if it was free.