A Hamilton weekend on the US side of Lake Erie: the QEW, the Peace Bridge and I-90 to Madison, Ohio, with eight adults-only rooms, estate wine and breakfast.
Vincent William is an adults-only inn with eight rooms above our restaurant and wine bar, in a stone and slate mansion that opened to guests in 2024, with Lake Erie beyond the north windows. Estate Cabernet Franc is grown, pressed and poured on the property; the 2022 vintage received Double Gold at the 2025 Ohio Wine Competition. Read our story.
Worth the drive
Why stay with us
Hamilton has Niagara wine country a short drive down the QEW, so a winery alone is not a reason to cross the border. What Vincent William offers is the whole stay under one roof. The eight adults-only rooms are upstairs from a restaurant open Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, where Executive Chef Jeff Gable cooks American food with Italian and Irish family roots and buys from West Orchards in Perry, Bonner Farms in Garrettsville and Rainbow Farms in Madison. The wine bar pours estate and local wines, cocktails and Irish whiskeys, and walk-ins are welcome. Riesling and Rosé are made from Lake Erie fruit; Chardonnay and Pinot Noir come from the Grand River Valley.
On the estate
What’s waiting when you arrive
Your room, dinner and the wine bar share one estate on Lake Erie.
Stay
Eight rooms, adults only
Every room has a private bath and one king or queen bed. Choose a private rooftop patio, an in-room Jacuzzi or a room with a separate living area. Standard breakfast is cooked to order and included each morning.
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Menu
A table at the inn
Chef Jeff Gable’s kitchen buys in season from West Orchards, Bonner Farms and Rainbow Farms. Join us Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner; the wine bar serves the full kitchen menu, wine and cocktails.
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The estate
Lake Erie, right outside
Walk the estate’s private shoreline or spend an afternoon above the lake. The pool and shared outdoor hot tub are for registered guests, May to November 1, weather permitting. Ask about arranging a massage when you book.
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The inn
Find the room you want to come back to
A private patio, an in-room Jacuzzi, a separate living room or a queen bed by the water. Compare the room details, then check current rates and availability.
A stay worth planning around
Leave Hamilton by 11:30 a.m. to make the 4 p.m. check-in with time for the crossing. Two nights suit the distance; three let you give one day to the inn and one to wineries such as Debonne or Ferrante. Arrive Wednesday through Saturday, because the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday.
A New York winery on I-90
An hour past Buffalo, Johnson Estate Winery sits on Route 20 in Westfield, New York, off I-90. The family has owned it since 1961, and it calls itself New York’s oldest continuously operating estate winery. The tasting room is open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from March through October, with shorter weekday hours in winter. It is on the Lake Erie shore that continues west to Madison. The rest of the drive through Pennsylvania and Ohio has no tolls.
A Friday arrival after the Peace Bridge
Leave Hamilton late in the morning, cross into Buffalo and reach Madison for check-in at 4 p.m. There is no elevator, so plan to carry bags upstairs. The pool, kept at 80 degrees, and the hot tub are open to inn guests from May until November 1 if the weather is good, and an hour there fits before dinner. Your table, the cocktails and the Irish whiskeys at the wine bar are all billed apart from the room.
The Hubbard House and Ashtabula’s bridges
Eat breakfast at 8:30; the kitchen cooks it to order from the standard menu, and coffee and juice are included. Then drive east to the Smolen-Gulf Bridge on State Road, 613 feet over the Ashtabula River and the longest covered bridge in the United States. Have lunch on Bridge Street in Ashtabula Harbor, beside the 1925 lift bridge. Then visit the Hubbard House Underground Railroad Museum on Walnut Boulevard; it keeps limited seasonal hours, so check before you go. From the Hubbard warehouse on the river, boats carried people across the lake to Canada. Drive back west to Madison in time for a 7 p.m. table.
Suite 205 for evenings on the patio
Suite 205 comes with a king bed and its own rooftop patio facing Lake Erie. It has a private bath like every room at the inn. It is upstairs with no lift, so pack one smaller bag for the climb. Check-out is 11 a.m., and a summer booking needs two nights.
See Suite 205 and the full list of places near the inn, including the Hubbard House, and reserve a table for the evening you cross from Hamilton.
The drive
Getting here
QEW east to Fort Erie and the Peace Bridge, or Highway 405 to the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, then I-190 and I-90 west to exit 212 in Madison: 218 miles (about 350 km) via the Peace Bridge. Neither bridge charges a toll into the US, and the Thruway section of I-90 past Buffalo is billed electronically.
Set your destination to 1300 Belleair Avenue, Madison, Ohio. Check current navigation before leaving and allow for traffic and stops. Once here, your room, the restaurant and the wine bar are on the same property.
Good to know
Common questions
Should we cross at the Peace Bridge or the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge?
The Peace Bridge lands in Buffalo on I-190, a few miles from I-90, which makes it the shorter line to Ohio. The Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, reached by Highway 405, adds the length of I-190 through Niagara Falls, New York, including the cashless-tolled Grand Island bridges. Neither bridge tolls US-bound traffic; both collect on the way back into Canada.
What is the Underground Railroad history near Madison, Ohio?
Ashtabula, about 20 miles east of the inn, was one of the last stops before Canada. William and Catharine Hubbard built their house on Walnut Boulevard in the 1840s, and people escaping slavery walked from it to the Hubbard warehouse on the Ashtabula River, where boat captains took them across Lake Erie to Canada. The house is now a museum.
How far is Madison, Ohio from Hamilton, and is there a time change?
It is 218 miles, about 350 km, and roughly three and a half hours of driving before any border wait. Hamilton and Madison are both on Eastern Time, so the clock does not change. Speed limits and fuel prices on the US side are posted in miles and US dollars.
Vincent William
1300 Belleair Ave.
Madison, OH 44057
(440) 428-1300
Opening Hours
Wednesday
12 to 9 pm
Thursday
12 to 9 pm
Friday
12 to 9 pm
Saturday
12 to 9 pm
Sunday
11 to 8 pm · Brunch to 2