Review of Bird-in-Hand Family Inn 3*

BUFFET RESTAURANT REVIEW FOR HEALTHY MEALS I recommend their breakfast buffet (across the drive from the rooms), included with your room price. I like to eat healthy, but all-you-can-eat is a particular challenge, as the temptation is to overeat. I found the following healthy items: 1) Scrambled eggs which I mixed with the Amish (sweetened) stewed tomatoes. They don't have egg whites without the yolk, but the latest nutrition advice is to eat the yolks anyway. 2) Yogurt, to which I added strawberry or apple toppings (provided for the waffles, toast, French toast, raisin toast, etc. ). The yogurt is in a vat, and the flavor wasn't written on the sign, but it was white, so I figured it was either plain or vanilla. It was vanilla. 3) Fresh fruit, including (pineapple, cantaloupe, and honeydew) wedges, pear halves, and whole apples and bananas. 4) They also had cold cereal, oatmeal, and cream of wheat, but I avoid carbs from grains, and want something fancier on vacation anyway. 5) One disappointment was no lean meat. I ate the sausage links, which were rather fatty. I obviously avoided the bacon. If you are trying to eat healthy, or are a vegetarian, the only options I see for protein are the scrambled eggs or yogurt. If you are a vegetarian who doesn't eat milk or dairy, there don't seem to be any good options. I didn't see any nuts or beans. 6) They were excellent at keeping the buffet stocked, I never saw any empty vats. There were always clean dishes ready, too, and they weren't dripping wet, either. And they even seemed to prevent cross contamination from one vat to the next somehow. (They must fish out anything that falls in. ) 7) The vats weren't covered, which isn't very sanitary, but at least there weren't any flies in there, and hopefully the vats were changed often enough to limit bacterial growth. 8) The waitress who brought our drinks (provided free with the buffet) had a good sense of humor and kept us laughing. Drinks include orange juice, pineapple juice, tomato juice, coffee and tea (and I assume milk). As for the hotel, it has an indoor pool, indoor sauna, outdoor pool, pool table, and ping-pong. We also had the "Eagle Room" reserved for a family reunion. It had plenty of dishes in the kitchen, a full-sized refrigerator/freezer, sink, microwave oven and coffee maker, but no stove or oven. The main room had a thermostat which actually worked, so we could keep the temperature comfortable. Noise was a bit of a problem, though, either our noise going out into the hall and the guest rooms right there, or their noise coming in. So, we had to keep the doors closed, which lock automatically, so newcomers had to knock and we had to get up to let people in. They took out the garbage every day but we still had one seriously annoying fly. The hot water in the rooms was a bit erratic, changing temperature when toilets were flushed, etc. This is a sign of low water pressure and/or too small diameter pipes. They don't seem to lock the exterior doors at night, which is convenient, but might also be a security concern. The office closes at 10 PM, and they do lock that door. (They have a phone there for late arrivals to call to get somebody up so they can check in. )