I find it amazing that a management team that seems to have a great reputation in running other establishments keeps stumbling here so consistently. It's a shame because they have a great location, a solid building to start with, and as has been mentioned, almost a monopoly on what they offer (perhaps that is the problem)
In my experience, it might help to seperate the dining portion from the lodging.
Last February, my wife and I stayed there for a weekend to attend an event for a friend in the area. Our place is closed in winter so we needed somewhere to stay. The room was very nice, the lodging staff very responsive, and the rate was reasonable. We would stay there again.
We didn't have any meals there, primarily because of what we had heard here. But we did have an appetizer at the bar after we arrived. It was a nacho, cheese, plate with other fixings, and it was delicious. The portion was very generous too. The experience though was dulled by the waitstaff who exhibited behaviors similar to what others have mentioned here.
We waited quite some time before someone asked what we wanted to drink. This was particularly irksome as we were sitting at the bar and there were 3 employees behind the bar! But they were too busy socializing to interrupt and serve us. Once one of them came over, the attitude was clearly one of us being a bother rather than paying customers.
The kicker was when another customer entered the bar. A nice older couple had been drinking at the bar before we arrived, and left about 30 mins after we sat down. They returned shortly thereafter and the woman was clearly upset. Apparently she had misplaced a new, fairly expensive pair of glasses and was hoping she had left them at the bar.
She had to ask twice before the triplets behind the bar interrupted their converstation long enough to say "no", and return to their conversation.
The woman was very nice, but clearly upset, and she started looking around the bar, under stools, etc. The other patrons all felt sorry for her and were similarly amazed at how indifferent and unhelpful the staff was being. Most started pitching in to help, looking around, asking what they looked like, etc.
The glasses were not found, and the couple left to retrace their steps to other Wolfeboro establishments, where they were hopefully received better. But the incident certainly left a sour taste for those still at the bar. It was even mentioned to the ones behind the bar. They didn't seem to care.
All it would have taken is a little bit of effort. "Sorry about your glasses", "Can I take your name in case they show up?", etc, to completely change the whole scenario.
It's called Customer Service. Apparently the staff at the Inn still need more classes.
They must have this poster hanging in the office
http://www.despair.com/cudi.html