The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Tourist season is just around the corner, which means the Touchet Valley will be filling up with visi­tors taking in special events, the many historic sites on offer, or just visiting local friends and relatives. A host of small boutique hotels in our area offer those visitors a wide variety of lodging experiences.

Dayton's best-known boutique hotel, the historic Weinhard on Main Street, recently added two dates in May for a weekend special that has drawn guests from throughout the region - a Murder Mystery package complete with room nights, a reception, a life version of the game Clue, and a Sunday awards breakfast.

It's the kind of intrigue and suspense you won't find on a typical night at any of the 16 other smaller lodging establishments in the Touchet Valley. None of them go through quite such an effort to underscore their unique and charming at­tributes.

But they all have them, from the mountain ski cabin to the downtown B&B, the Waitsburg-Dayton area of­fers a range of prices and options for visitors who seek hospitality in communities that have been known for their small-town friendliness for a century and a half.

Dayton has 10 lodging options for guests, while Waitsburg boasts seven.

"We're unique," Wein­hard co- owner Gary McLeod said about the 15- room Victorian getaway that cocoons its travelers in historic charm and modern comforts ranging from luxu­ry sheets and artisan soaps to chocolates and world-class wines. Nightly room rates start at $125.

"We travel ourselves and stay at small hotels to get ideas," said McLeod, who has owned Weinhard with his wife Shelly since 2008. "We try to offer the kind of luxury we appreciate."

Just a block from Main on Clay Street, Purple House B&B owner D. Christine Williscroft does the same in a smaller, quieter setting.

"It's very private," she said about her fully restored Italianate home built in 1882, where room rates range from $95 to $135 a night and include a full, sit- down hot breakfast. "People appreciate that."

Aside from the budget Blue Mountain Motel on Highway 12, Dayton also has the more serene and charming Dayton Cottage Rental on Dayton Avenue that sleeps four; the Blue­wood View Suite, for up to six; Hollyhock Heaven, for four; the late-Victorian Spring Street Cottage; the Second Street Cottage, with one bedroom; the elegant Mill House Lodging, with one bedroom; and the more remote and cozy Homestead Springs Cabin, with two bedrooms.

In Waitsburg, lodging establishments blend in naturally with the small town's leafy streetscape. Waitsburg Cottages, owned by wine critic Paul Gregutt and his wife, filmmaker Kar­en Stanton Gregutt, offers three wine country getaway homes for rent, including Three Maples, the Teahouse and the new Dogwood Cot­tage.

At the Dogwood, Stanton Gregutt has gone overboard to cater to those four-legged friends who accompany one out of every four travelers these days. Right across from Preston Park, the little home that sleeps four is complete with an entire util­ity room dedicated to the washing, drying, feeding, grooming, leashing or ken­neling of canines.

Waitsburg also offers the two-bedroom Hiromi's House, the Pamela Jane's Vacation Rental studio, the three-suite Nothing New Lodging on Main Street and the six-bedroom Sev­en Porches Guest House, which offers nightly single rooms, week-long or week­end whole-house rentals. It's across the street from the historic Bruce Mansion.

Travelers should note that many smaller family-owned lodging places require a two- night minimum. For more details on lodging and for website links to local B&Bs, visit www.historicdayton.com or http://www.cityofwaits­burg.com.