A Former Lenox Days Inn Is Now a Modern Lodge-Like Hotel

Photo by Sophie Fabbri

Set in the rolling Berkshire Hills of the westernmost part of Massachusetts, Life House, Berkshires occupies a former Days Inn constructed in the 1970s that I remember passing by on the way into Pittsfield, the town where my grandparents lived.

Boutique hotel brand Life House—which also has locations in Nantucket, Little Havana, Woodstock, and Palm Springs, among others—purchased the down-on-its-luck Lenox motel and embarked upon a roughly $10 million renovation to give it new life. The newly opened 64-room hotel has a modern lodge-like vibe and a palette that emulates the mossy greens, rust hues, and woodsy tones of the mountainous setting.

You’ll find a few nods to the site’s original vintage character, and all of them are as elevated as the artfully elegant custom Murano glass chandeliers in the lobby. Sophisticated yet relaxed, the aesthetic—conceived by Life House’s in-house design team—is seen through the lens of a writer who seeks out the Berkshires as a serene, stimulating environment conducive to creativity. The narrative is based on truth—Edith Wharton’s impressive summer retreat, the Mount, is down the road; Nathaniel Hawthorne is known to have penned The House of the Seven Gables while living in a nearby cottage; and Herman Melville was a Pittsfield native.

The Library Lounge—replete with tomes by these acclaimed novelists and others—is awash in warmth with enveloping wood-paneled walls and dusty-green velvet upholstery, while the Club Room features a marble bar and cozy banquette seating and opens to a private guest-only courtyard garden furnished with loungers and fire pits. Guest rooms unfold along open-air corridors, which nod to the original motel design while connecting with the environment.

First published in the print edition of Boston Home’s Spring 2023 issue.