My wife and I stayed for a romantic Christmas dinn...

My wife and I stayed for a romantic Christmas dinner and overnight stay. We have stayed and dined at The Inn numerous times over the years and have been mainly pleased even when the staff seems disjointed. This particular visit was one to remember but not in a good way. We arrived early afternoon, enjoyed tea, then proceeded to our room to relax, get in a quick power nap, and get ready for dinner. On our way up to the room we passed a couple walking a dog outside. There was nothing unusual about the dog, just a small dog on a normal leash. In our room we could hear people coming and going. 15 minutes later we heard nothing but dog barking from a room across the hall. This lasted continuously for 2 hours until we left our room for dinner. While being seated I mentioned the dog barking to the person at the front desk, who replied I will take care of it. I caught up to my wife and the hostess at our table and received the next disappointment. In the main dining room this particular seating area has 2 tables pushed together with no space in-between. There was a couple already seated and enjoying their meal and we were being seated next to them. This was awkward at best for us and them. The seating area was perfect for a group of 4 but not 2 sets of strangers. Sitting down I had to watch my elbow given we were that close to the other couple. Conversation was none between my wife and I as we were so close to the other couple. Even they slowed up talking. The server with bread kept skipping our table because she saw the butter/bread on their table and thought we were all together. We didn't get bread until out meal was being served and it was pointed out to her she missed out table. Our waiter tried to make small talk with us only to make a comment that we were dressed like Northern Virginians. I wasn't sure how to take that and my wife looked at him funny as he realized what he had said. The other couple smiled at the comment. I'm sure he meant well. The meal was OK with the first soup being kind of bland/so-so. Eventually the other couple left and we had a nice conversation with Neil. Neil mentioned they had talked to the dog owners who said it was a service dog and they said there would be no more barking. Never heard of a service dog constantly barking for hours when left alone. When you receive your desert order they also bring a very thin chocolate and nut "cracker" with dried fruit that they break up for you. In our case our waiter brought the desert, we finished most of it when another waiter showed up with the chocolate and nut cracker. He started to sit it down on our table, then seemed startled when he realized we were basically finished with our desert and proceeded to pull it back off the table and turned to talk to our waiter who was standing at another table. After a few sentences with our waiter he turned around and put the chocolate and nut cracker back on our table. Upon returning to our room at 8, we heard people coming and going again. The next thing we know the dog is barking its head off again. This lasted until after 10 when we heard people entering their room.

We have been seated at various tables in the main room and the porch area over the years. When we have been seated next to others the tables are separated by 10-12". This is close but you have a feeling of some privacy. Our seating this time had 0 separation, absolutely no privacy. At the price of the meal with tip and a night's stay, the visit was a huge disappointment. The seating was the worse part of the visit and this is squarely on The Inn. It was bad enough to have someone circumventing hotel rules claiming a service dog but there is no excuse for the seating. If they couldn't seat us at that time they could have suggested other times or say they were booked for the day. It will definitely be a while before we even consider returning. There are other places in VA with just as good food.