Where the hotel actually sits
The Best Western Plus Waterbury Stowe stands at 45 Blush Hill Road, on a low rise directly above Interstate 89's Exit 10 in Waterbury — not in Stowe, despite the name. That distinction matters. Stowe village sits about 10 miles north, a 15-minute run up Route 100 and Mountain Road; Stowe Mountain Resort's Spruce Peak base is closer to 18 miles and 25 to 30 minutes in winter traffic. In the other directions you are 10 minutes from the state capital at Montpelier and roughly 30 minutes from Burlington. Ben & Jerry's factory is barely a mile north on Route 100. Few Vermont hotels touch this many places this fast.
The location is the whole argument for this hotel, and it cuts both ways. You will not walk out of your room onto a chairlift, and you will not stroll to dinner along a village green — for either of those, pay more and stay on Mountain Road in Stowe. What you get instead is the interstate on your doorstep, so a week here can fan out to Stowe one day, the Mad River Valley the next, and Montpelier or Burlington after that, without ever fighting the notorious Route 100 backup that clogs lower Mountain Road on powder Saturdays and peak foliage weekends.
What a night here costs
Midweek rates start around $158 for a two-person room, which undercuts almost everything with a Stowe address — the Green Mountain Inn in the village runs about $187, and the newer Fairfield Inn & Suites up Route 100 sits near $235. For that money you get a solid three-star with a 4.5 review score across more than 1,180 stays, a genuinely high mark for a chain property. The building is a straightforward interior-corridor hotel, not a character inn, so book it for value and location rather than romance or a fireplace.
The amenities are the reliable Best Western Plus set: a heated indoor pool and hot tub, a free hot breakfast with the usual waffles and eggs, free parking, a fitness room, and pet-friendly rooms for a fee. Rates do not stay at $158 all year. Expect them to climb 40 to 80 percent for the three October foliage weekends and for ski holidays — Christmas week, Martin Luther King weekend and President's week — when every bed within 20 miles of Stowe is spoken for. Book those windows two to four months ahead; midweek in May or early December, you can often walk in.
The Route 100 food-and-factory strip on your doorstep
Waterbury has quietly become the best eating-and-drinking base in central Vermont, and most of it is within five minutes of Blush Hill. Ben & Jerry's runs factory tours a mile north on Route 100 for about $6, ending at the flavor graveyard and a scoop shop. Three miles on, Cold Hollow Cider Mill presses cider year-round and sells the cider doughnuts people drive from Boston for. The Alchemist's Waterbury cannery pours and sells Heady Topper, the double IPA that put Vermont beer on the map, when stock and hours allow.
For a sit-down dinner, drop into Waterbury village a mile and a half from the hotel. Prohibition Pig is the anchor — a barbecue joint and brewery on South Main Street with brisket, house sausages and its own beers; expect a wait on weekends. The Reservoir and Blackback Pub cover the burger-and-many-taps end. This clustering is the quiet advantage of staying here over Stowe: you sleep cheaper, and the region's most interesting food is a short flat drive away rather than up the crowded mountain road.
Where a day trip from the door takes you
Point the car north and you are in Stowe in 15 minutes, where Mountain Road climbs seven miles from the village toward Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest summit at 4,395 feet. In summer and early fall, continue over Smugglers' Notch — a hairpin pass through boulders that closes to through traffic once snow arrives, usually by late October. Southbound on Route 100, the Mad River Valley and the Sugarbush and Mad River Glen ski areas are about 30 minutes, past Waitsfield's covered bridge and a run of farm stands worth stopping at.
East on I-89, Montpelier is 10 minutes — the smallest state capital in the country, with a gold-domed statehouse you can walk into for free and a tight main street of independent cafes. West on the same interstate, Burlington and the Lake Champlain waterfront are about half an hour, with the Church Street Marketplace and the ECHO science center. For hikers, the Camel's Hump trailheads off the Duxbury side are 20 to 30 minutes out — a demanding but non-technical climb to a bare 4,083-foot summit.
Who should book Blush Hill — and who shouldn't
Book this hotel if you are touring central Vermont by car and want one affordable, well-reviewed base with fast reach in every direction — leaf-peepers doing the Route 100 corridor, families splitting days between Ben & Jerry's and a Stowe hike, and anyone visiting Montpelier or arriving by Amtrak at Waterbury's Vermonter stop a mile away. At $158 with a pool and free breakfast, it is one of the better value-per-dollar rooms in the county for that kind of trip.
Skip it if your trip is really about the mountain. A dedicated ski group that wants to click out of boots and be on a lift belongs at the Lodge at Spruce Peak or a mid-Mountain-Road hotel like Topnotch, even at double the rate, because the daily drive and Route 100 traffic will eat the savings in wasted time. Couples after a fireplace, a village-green stroll and an eight-course dinner should also pay up for a Stowe or Waterbury Center inn — this is a comfortable, practical highway hotel, and it is honest about being exactly that.
Good to know
Is the Best Western Plus Waterbury Stowe actually in Stowe?+
No. It sits at 45 Blush Hill Road in Waterbury, just off Interstate 89's Exit 10, about 10 miles and 15 minutes south of Stowe village. The 'Stowe' in the name reflects the region it serves, not its address. Stowe Mountain Resort is closer to 18 miles and a 25-to-30-minute drive.
How much does a room cost, and when is it cheapest?+
Midweek rates start near $158 for two people, among the lowest of any well-reviewed hotel within 20 miles of Stowe. Prices jump 40 to 80 percent during October foliage weekends and ski holidays like Christmas and President's week. For the lowest rates, come midweek in May, early June or early December and book a few weeks ahead.
Is it a good base for skiing Stowe?+
It works for budget skiers who don't mind a 25-to-30-minute drive to Spruce Peak, and its $158 rate can be half what slopeside rooms cost. But you'll fight Route 100 traffic on powder Saturdays, and there is no ski shuttle from here. For a pure ski trip, a Mountain Road hotel saves enough time to justify the premium.
What's within walking or short driving distance?+
Ben & Jerry's factory is a mile north on Route 100, Cold Hollow Cider Mill about three, and the Alchemist brewery nearby. Waterbury village, a mile and a half away, has Prohibition Pig barbecue and several pubs, plus the Amtrak Vermonter stop. Montpelier is 10 minutes east and Burlington about 30 west.