Moondance Inn Bed & Breakfast

Excellent historical accommodations. Loved the breakfast, Made me feel like I was a kid again. Thanks for having us. The red Wing area was full of activities. We enjoyed the pottery house, and the local restaurants. The red wing shoe shop is a must see.

Seeking a weekend of Peace and Quiet and got more than I expected. What a relaxing and perfect place to vege, which is what I wanted to do. Sleep, read, hot tub, enjoy the living area while reading and enjoying soft music to soothe. The breakfast was better than anticipated. Quality and Quantity of egg dishes, sweet potato browns, turkey sausages, fruit cup, waffles with blue berry compote, ham and spinach omelets, nice tasty coffee cake to savor with the pressed coffee to die for ! The Hostess was friendly and conversant but not over-present. All facilities were clean and in working order. Beautiful interior and wood work to marvel at. Lots of "history" too with this home.

My partner and I had booked a weekend here for our anniversary, but I got COVID two days before our planned visit. I was aware of the policy and called ahead to let them know about our situation. The innkeeper was extremely rude on the phone, insinuating that she didn’t believe that I was sick. She said “we’ll try to rebook it” but then I never heard a single update after then. Both my partner and I called again to get the status and see if there was anything we could do, left two voicemails and the innkeeper never got back to us. You would think after living through a pandemic the last 3 years that people would be more sympathetic to illness in general. Innkeeper was rude and I highly recommend not interacting with her. Hope she enjoys the 500 dollars she kept from us anyway!

Red Wing is a lovely river town, yet knowing the trains are active, and loud (!) during the night, we wanted to be a few blocks away. Moondance Inn is perfect walking distance to restaurants, shops, Sheldon Theatre, and in a historic part of Red Wing with many beautiful homes to see as you walk the area. We chose the Garden Suite as it appeared the most quiet, and loved the room. The queen sized bed is comfortable with pillow choices (our comedian at the Sheldon made a joke about beds with nine pillows, and yep, there are nine!!). There is a massive tub in its own space as you enter the room, yet the bedroom is separated by a door making it less awkward. Windows on three sides make this a beautiful space although there is no direct access to the gardens and two windows overlook the back entry and parking. Be aware the stairs to this room are narrow and steep and you need to take shoes off at the door to protect the historic wooden floors. When we arrived, there was a note welcoming us and telling us where to find our room. We explored the downstairs living room area filled with many choices of sitting spaces, and incredible walnut wood trim. I was delighted to see the heavy red drapes shown on the website are gone, exposing the woodwork and letting in light to the rooms. Our favorite space was the massive porch! Delightful outdoor space, again with a variety of seating allowing for a more private experience if you wish. There was a 5:00 p.m. social hour with choices of wine or sparkling cider and delightful cheese and snacks. This was our opportunity to meet the owners, and several other guests. A Keurig is available for early risers, which is much appreciated. Breakfast was available between 8:00 and 9:30 allowing my husband to sleep in. We started with fresh fruit, a chocolate and fruit pasty and then quiche, bacon, sausage, fried potatoes and a waffle!! Enough food to keep us full for most of the day.

We have stayed at several B & B's, and would not recommend this place to a friend unless REALLY want to be in the area. Very basic, nothing over the top. No one was there to greet us or check us in. We arrived to find a note stuck to a table with our name telling us the key was in the room. Another person arrived at the same time looking lost like us and I showed her where the notes were. There was also a strange couple there, who wasn't staying there, just walking around the house checking it out and asked if we like the place. I said we had just arrived. They were just curious what it looked like inside...weird. So got to our room upstairs, called the number on the note as wasn't sure if we should call to let them know we arrived. She seemed upset I had called, but said it was "fine" and only need to call if there is a problem. In the bathroom, little bugs were zipping around the outside of the tub. They vanished into the wall under the sink...YUCK! We didn't put anything on the floor in fear something would make a home in it. One of the hand towels in the bathroom looked like it was a used towel, not washed, so set that one aside. Basic old towels for showering, feels like used about 20,000 times (need new ones). When returning downstairs, we saw a sign about no shoes, which no one apparently knew about as we came in the backdoor. We did remove them and put our slippers on since killed a creepy bug running around the living room, but should have a sign at BOTH entry doors about no shoes. I found the Keurig coffee maker, the cups where face down underneath, so made a cup of coffee, only to see there was lipstick on the cup. So I went to pour it into another cup, that cup had stains on the inside, but 3rd coffee cup FINALLY seemed clean. No curtains in the room above the bed, so bright light woke us in the morning early. Breakfast is "between" 8am to 9am, so went down at 8am since already awake. Cobwebs over knicknacks by our table. Food was okay, egg bake seemed over done, and possibly warmed up from the prior day as it was a little rubbery. No hosts/owners were they. They had hired help serving breakfast and cleaning. I asked if she knew anything about the history of the house and she said nope, she just worked there. So, very BASIC B & B, NOT worth the price.

My partner and I have made it an anniversary tradition of leaving the city for the quiet, aged bed & breakfasts owned often by communicative socialites with a genuine care for the history of their establishment, and a respect for their clientele. Moondance follows standards of customer satisfaction more in line with a third-party airline, or perhaps a festering county DMV. When my partner came down with covid, we had to cancel our plans to stay. We made our cancellation with regrettably short notice, and were told that the only means of recouping any of the payment (demanded in full at the time of booking) would be granted as a voucher to a future stay, and only in the condition that the room is booked by another pair of guests for the weekend, but that a $25 cancellation fee would be charged regardless. "Thanks for not getting us sick, give us more money please, we know times are hard." My partner and I called during the days before and shortly after our intended stay to try and work something out, and haven't ever gotten through to someone on the line. We haven't received any responses to our voicemails. I had to check their website for information on whether or not the room was rebooked. The only time we spoke to anyone was when we made our cancellation. Booking a stay and cancelling is more expensive than simply staying. I should have known, and I would have known and read about the policies had I not been such a fool. After all, it is surely more work for the staff, more preparation for the hosts if we don't show up and dine and messy up the place. It's honestly a great business model, and one that I may have invented myself had I come from a family of tapeworms or mosquitos. It's a pretentious and insulting assumption that, after hearing about this policy, we'd consider a voucher to be worth any more to us than the guarantee of never having to hear about Moondance again.

This was a beautiful place to stay. A nice ornate house. Things to be aware of when you go. Very steep stairs, if you are older or handicapped that would be an issue. If you go in the summer, air conditioning was very minimal. The bedrooms were cooler than the rest of the house, but not much. They did have an old fashioned fan in the room. Breakfast was alright. It was a quiche served with jelly on toast and potatoes and sausage links. Nothing spectacular.