It’s a celebratory year for Lake Forest’s Deer Path Inn, in more ways than one.
As the English Tudor-style hotel commemorates its 95th anniversary, Travel & Leisure Magazine readers voted the Deer Path Inn once again as the top resort hotel in the Midwest. Moreover, the Inn also finished sixth on Travel and Leisure’s lists of Best Resorts in the continental United States and 66th all over the world.
“It is really rewarding the team’s effort is driving people to vote at such a good level,” General Manager James Barnett said.
Opened in 1929, the Inn features 57 rooms with an English theme for guests along with private banquet spaces and three separate restaurants. The exterior has remained mainly the same but there was an extensive remodel of the interior in 2015.
Mayor Stanford “Randy” Tack praised the hotel for its longevity and its presence in the city.
“The Deer Path Inn is a Lake Forest icon,” Tack said. “It’s been here for 95 years and was recently remodeled. It’s a center of the community and it is unique.”
Located on Illinois Road, the Inn is a popular destination for individual meals or guests seeking a “staycation” or on business trips, according to Barnett. He notes the hotel continues to be frequently sold out.
Barnett, who at one point picked up a loose candy wrapper off the hotel room floor, believes the hotel remains popular due to personal touches such as providing books to guests or even knowing the name of the guest’s dog.
“We are a smaller inn which allows us to reach individuals,” he said.
The Travel & Leisure accolades arrive in the same summer as the Inn is hosting a series of events honoring its 95th anniversary this summer with English garden parties around well-known British events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament or this upcoming weekend with a salute to London’s Notting Hill Carnival.
Barnett added planning has already started for the Inn’s 100th anniversary in 2029.
For Barnett, who was named the GM last December following previous stops in Australia, London and Chicago, the Inn is a new stop in his hospitality career.
“For me it is important that the property can have its own personality and not just be a complete corporate structure,” he said. “I enjoy making decisions around that and having a small amount of flexibility to do what you need to do to make guests happy.”
Overseeing a staff of approximately 150 people, Barnett is looking ahead to keep the Inn moving along into the future.
“Your business is based on such high levels of touches and service that you have to play a long game,” he said.
He speaks of the challenge ahead is to keep returning guests comfortable and happy but also updating the Inn in ways to keep it relevant and enticing for new guests.
To accomplish that, Barnett believes will be enhancements such as additional use of modern technology for reservations such as online reservations for dining rooms and enlargements to the food and beverage concepts.
These changes are part of a goal to keep the Inn a favored destination for travelers or people enjoying an event.
“I really enjoy the capability of having a property where you are in control of the guest’s experience right from the beginning to the end,” Barnett said. “You have the ability to provide a great experience and you have to make sure that happens.”