Beautiful grounds and thoroughly updated. Classy, tastefully decorated rooms and common areas. Much attention to quality and local flavor. Family oriented independent hotels are often scary but this place is solid business caliber underneath with hundreds of little upgrades from the ample gathering areas to the lodge resort style furniture to the basketball hoop by the pool. The gift shop is full of unique, fun and stylish stuff that people would actually want to buy. Gracious staff too. Great location for a family reunion, family or just a simple escape. Hiking grounds are gorgeous as is nearby Madison. Don't be put off by the smokestacks on the river; you forget about them after 5 minutes.
I can't say enough about this place. I'm thoroughly impressed that a state run hotel could be this nice, far better than most commercial hotels for the price.