The Best Resorts & Spas

Woodstock Inn & Resort (Woodstock, Vermont; tel. 800/448-7900 or 802/457-1100): The 140-room inn was built in the 1960s with a strong Colonial Revival accent. Right on the green in picturesque Woodstock, the inn offers easy access to the village, along with plenty of activities, including golf on a course designed by Robert Trent Jones, indoor and outdoor pools, hiking, and skiing (downhill and cross-country) in winter.

Basin Harbor Club (Vergennes, Vermont; tel. 800/622-4000 or 802/475-2311): This classic lakeside resort on 700 acres was founded in 1886 and is still run by the same family. Fittingly, the resort's icon is an Adirondack chair, dozens of which are arrayed for enjoying views across the lake to New York. Most guests occupy cottages, which are more elemental than swank.