I stumbled across The Duke Mansion’s luxury package online, and the deal looked so good I actually called them to confirm there wasn’t a mistake.
The Duke Mansion’s luxury package costs $100 in addition to the cost of the room and it includes:
- A bottle of local wine or house Champagne
- Chocolate covered strawberries freshly made on the day of your arrival or cheese and fruit plate
- $50 food voucher at a local neighborhood restaurants
- Voucher for two complimentary beverages at the Duke Mansion bar
- Duke Mansion slippers
- In-room gourmet breakfast
While the Duke Mansion isn’t technically all-inclusive, this package covers basically everything you’d want during a one-night stay. I live just a few miles away in South End, but was looking for a staycation option that felt totally different that the bustling rail trail and omnipresent line at Jeni’s I’m used to.
I booked a third-floor room with a double bed for about $150. With the $100 luxury package and taxes, the total for the stay was $263.52.
The Rooms: The Duke Mansion is a historic bed-and-breakfast with 20 guest rooms and 4.5 acres of gardens. It’s also a non-profit and revenue is used to preserve the historic estate. Check in begins at 3 p.m. on the day of your arrival — get there early so you can explore the grounds before it gets too dark. If you want to have breakfast in bed the next day, let them know when you check in and they’ll have you fill out a menu with your requests.
The rooms are gorgeous and each one is unique — some even come with a private screened-in sleeping porch. A third-floor double is the most basic option, but it still didn’t disappoint. Our cheese plate and champagne (chilled on ice) was waiting for us in the room when we arrived.
Remember, the Duke Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places, so expect everything to have some antique charm and some rooms have tubs, while others have standing showers (there’s still WiFi and TVs, so you’re not going back too far in time).
Also, the in-house toiletries at The Duke Mansion smell amazing, and the bag of potpourri from the mansion’s gardens was a nice touch. I shamelessly took it home with me.
Gardens: After you’ve settled in, head back to the lobby for your free drinks and enjoy them while you stroll around the gardens. They’ll give you maps that double as fans to help you navigate and stay cool.
Food: The Duke Mansion doesn’t offer a dinner service, but the luxury package includes a $50 voucher at your choice of two local restaurants within walking distance, RuRu’s and Stagioni. We chose RuRu’s, which is a quick walk from the mansion. Service was super fast and $50 goes a long way there; we ordered the Three Amigos appetizer, three tacos, a rice bowl, a frozen margarita and churros. The bill was barely over $50.
Breakfast in bed: In the morning, breakfast is served in the dining room until 10 a.m. or they’ll bring it to you at the time you specified when you checked in. We ordered the oatmeal brulee and eggs benedict — I was really impressed by the Duke’s breakfast, especially since it doesn’t have an established restaurant.
Checkout isn’t until noon, so savor your staycation. We handed in our room key at 11:55 a.m.
Agenda related story: Duke Mansion extending Cocktails in the Courtyard experience into August — here’s how it works
