THE GREENBRIER


When we visited Jared at Washington & Lee for the first time, with it only being an hour away (and actually on the way home or on the way to visit) we set our sights on visiting The Greenbrier. 


When we headed to Virginia for Jared's Graduation and still had not visited, we decided we'd stay for a couple of nights since we didn't know when we'd be back to the area.  Although, now that we've stayed at The Greenbrier... we'd like to go back sooner rather than later. 

300 W Main Street
White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986
(844) 837-2466


The Greenbrier, known as America's Resort, is located among the mountains of West Virginia.  The world-class resort is a National Historic Landmark that has been welcoming guests since 1778.  It has obviously changed and has seen several updates since the beginning, but the southern charm of the entire place has stayed entirely true to its core to this very day. 


The Greenbrier has something for everyone.  Whether you are taking the family for a relaxing vacation, heading there for a golf trip or simply want to enjoy a few nights away.  This is the perfect place!  It is truly a one of a kind 11,000 acre playground full of luxury and adventure.


We headed to The Greenbrier after Jared's graduation and a little time in Lexington.  We arrived at the resort just around 8 o'clock where we were greeted with glasses of champagne and shown to our room.  You notice from the second you arrive that everything is going to be first class.  


From the moment you enter the property and drive to the front doors, you are filled with wonder.  Your expectations continue to grow as you enter the resort and experience the lobby.  

 

Every single detail at The Greenbrier is taken into careful consideration for the guests.  This place truly is what dreams are made of!  We already can't wait to go back.

  
There's a handful of things people know The Greenbrier for.  Whether it's golf, tennis or all of the bright bold colors and patterns... everyone's got their reason for knowing and loving it.  The interior design of the resort is something that truly makes it special and certainly unlike other places. 

The lavish decor at The Greenbrier comes from the world-famous interior designer, Dorthy Draper.  Dorthy was a pioneer in interior design and dominated the field from 1925 to 1960.  She was hired to renovate the resort after it was used as a hospital during World War II.  Lots of money went into the renovation (especially for that period in time), but it continues to be worth the investment.  


Draper left her mark on the resort with bold personality and used bright colors with larger than life patterns.  You see her mark every where you look at the resort.  We couldn't get enough of it.  Every wall paper and carpet pattern was full of fun and life.  In fact, there is even a restaurant that pays tribute to her.  Draper's offers casual dining where you can order lunch, dinner or ice cream.  


After settling in and changing, we headed for the Casino Club which opened at The Greenbrier in 2010.  The casino is only open to resort guests and is completely smoke free.  The best!  The entire resort is pure class, including the casino.  If you're headed there after 7:00 PM (which we were), men are required to wear jackets.  If you're a guy, you'll want to pack a couple jackets to be safe.


Another unique experience at the casino is their complimentary champagne toast at 10:00 PM nightly.  We weren't sure what to expect with this, but our expectations were again exceeded by The Greenbrier.  Not only do trays of champagne swarm the entire casino when the clock strikes 10, but there is also elegant entertainment to make the moment even more special.


We yawned and held out for the champagne toast, but once it was over we were ready to head to our room and get to bed.  It had been a long, emotional day at graduation and we wanted to get plenty of rest to make the most of our day ahead.  How sweet is this little sign that greeted us on our floor? #muchappreciated


We woke up bright and early to grab coffee (a must with us!) and a delicious pumpkin muffin from The Greenbrier Gourmet.  This was our first taste of Greenbrier food, and after demolishing our muffin... we were pretty excited for all of the great food we knew we'd have ahead that day.  


We decided to take our coffee and walk around outside to see the grounds and take things in.  If you've never stayed at The Greenbrier before, we would definitely recommend doing this.  We love the simple things, but this ended up being one of the favorite parts of our stay.


We loved walking around!  It allowed us to get a lay of the land as well as check out the golf and tennis clubs, the outdoor pool and the springs.  Dave's not a big golfer, which I'm thankful for!  But, if you are this is the place for you.  The course is stunning and they've got all the amenities. 


Besides The Greenbrier Classic for golf, the resort also hosts a tennis classic as well.  Since there wasn't anything scheduled while we were there, we had the opportunity to check out the stadium which opened in 2015.  It was so fun to see it and imagine all 2,500 seats filled. 


There is plenty to see around the grounds, but even just the scenery that surrounds it all is beautiful to see.  Whoever calls this place home and uses it as their country club, you are a lucky one!


We only had a couple of things on our agenda for the day at an exact time.  The first was the Bunker Tour and the second was our dinner reservations.  Our tour was scheduled for 9:30 AM and we still had some time after our outdoor walk so we continued walking around inside to explore the resort.  You could walk around this place forever and see something new each time.


We came across The Writing Room while exploring, which is something Jess wanted to see since we made our reservations to stay.  The Victorian Writing Room at The Greenbrier pays tribute to a bygone era.  The room's purpose is to give guests the opportunity to write a hand-written note to friends and family back home.  This sweet spot gave Jess all the feels... and yes, she wrote our dog.


Although labeled a millennial, the power of a hand-written note is not lost on Jess.  Whether it be a thank you, just checking in or even a bit of encouragement, Jess loves receiving a hand-written note.  Even more than that, she loves writing them.  This room was made for Jessica Kirk.  Don't worry... she had plenty of stamps on hand to send her letters from the original mail boxes in the resort.


Up next was THE thing Dave was most looking forward to: The Bunker Tour.  Here's the thing... although Dave was most excited about this, Jess hasn't stopped talking about it since.  If you're staying at The Greenbrier, or even passing through the area do yourself a favor and book this tour!


The declassified Bunker at The Greenbrier is a must-see experience!  The tour is 90 minutes, absolutely fascinating and gives you so much detail not only about the time period, but about the resort as well.  The Bunker, carved deep into the mountainside beneath a wing of the resort was an emergency Cold War fallout shelter.  Electronics are not allowed, so we don't have any photos inside.


It was once a top-secret U.S. government relocation facility for Congress, but is now open to anyone interested in reliving a legendary piece of The Greenbrier and the United States history.  The tour is extremely in-depth and gives you the opportunity to experience something that is truly special.  

Tours are $39 per adult and in our opinion, worth every penny.  If you plan to do this, make reservations... and we highly recommend you plan to do it!  It's so cool.  Jess is still talking about it!


After the tour we were ready for some pool time.  The day was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was perfection.  We got to the pool, grabbed some chairs and then had lunch at Tree Tops Cafe.  


The restaurant is poolside, but you can also eat at your chairs.  We had just gotten to the pool and were hungry so we opted for sitting at the tables before getting comfy in our lounge chairs.  


We spent the entire afternoon at the outdoor pool, which is an infinity pool that has a stunning background.  The pool is large and was very accommodating to everyone.  The pool was pretty busy, but it was fun seeing all of the families (especially all of the little kids) running around.  


The pool was great for families because it had an area for smaller kids still working on their swimming skills, but was wide open and altogether so you could easily keep an eye on everyone and be together.  The setup was great for families, and also couples like us.  Everyone was loving it!


We learn more and more that there's something nice about sippin' a summer drink by the pool.  Dave is an "outside" person, not an "outdoors" person and a drink in hand at the pool is his jam.


It's funny how fast an afternoon at the pool can go when all you have to do is sit, relax and enjoy.  We packed up with enough time to head back to our room to shower and get ready for some more lounging around the resort.  Our dinner reservations weren't until 8:30 PM that night, so we had big plans of catching the afternoon tea and hitting up some happy hours beforehand.


On the way back to our room, we made a pit stop at the croquet lawn.  Dave's dad loves croquet so although we didn't do any real playing, it was a good photo opt for us to stop and send some his way.


Next on our agenda was afternoon tea!  We're telling ya, this place is what all of the sweetest dreams are made of.  Afternoon tea is a tradition that Greenbeier guests have been enjoying since the 1930s.  They served finger pastries and cookies to go along with your hot (or iced) tea.  Afternoon tea is served from 4:15 PM until 5:00 PM daily and is complimentary for resort guests.


Tea is served in the grand upper lobby.  All of the details were precious.  To our surprise, afternoon tea wasn't just the tea.  There were dancers providing entertainment in addition to a gentleman playing live piano on one of the more than twenty baby grand pianos at the resort.  It was all so sweet!  We could certainly get into the routine of afternoon tea around our house.


Since we were only staying for one full day, we wanted to experience and squeeze in as much as we could... which we tend to do when we travel.  With that, we headed to the Lobby Bar which is located just beside the upper lobby.  The area has a classic, yet casual feel as people walk through the open lounge area to access other areas of the resort.  


From our research, we ordered The Greenbrier Bloody Mary.  We both really love a good bloody mary, but these definitely weren't our favorite.  Although, having one was part of the experience and not enjoying them definitely saved us from having another!  The bar is also home to the original Gone With the Wind movie chandelier... one of the fun facts we learned on the Bunker Tour.


Next, we hit up happy hour at JJ's Sports Lounge which is from 5 to 6 PM daily.  JJ's is a true "sports lounge" and features all kinds of ballpark style food.  There are plenty of TVs around where you would be able to catch anything specific and sports related that you wanted during your stay. 


We also fit in a little time at the arcade which is located in the bowling ally which is just around the corner from the indoor pool.  Yes, there is a unique indoor pool in addition to the outdoor one. 


We each played our favorite childhood games at the arcade and discovered we are both surprisingly still pretty decent... and we don't get much practice.  Who knew arcade games were our thing?


Then we had a friendly little guitar hero challenge.  Any guesses on who won? #girlpower


After all of the fun and games and afternoon adventures, it was time to head back to the room to get a little fancier for dinner.  On the way, we stopped by The Candy Maker to grab some of their world-famous handmade truffles.  If you're ever there, this little counter needs to be a stop.


It was absolutely delicious and if we're being completely honest here, that wasn't our first stop at The Candy Maker.  Their chocolate is so, so good... and it pairs perfectly with a glass of prosecco!


This is such a fun stop, especially if you are traveling with kids.  It's the perfect little way to grab something sweet without having to go overboard.  We were surprised with how reasonable it was.  Plus, they're happy to pack your selections in a cute little box to take back to your room.


We were ready for dinner after pre-gamming with dessert.  HA!  There are several places that serve dinner at The Greenbrier, but we had selected Prime 44 West.  This restaurant honors NBA legend and West Virginia native Jerry West, and is known as the "nicer" restaurant.  

 
With a couple of weeks to spare, we made a reservation for two and 8:30 PM was the best available time.  If this is someplace you're wanting to eat at The Greenbrier, we would highly recommend making reservations.  You'll want to keep in mind it is suggested that gentlemen wear jackets.
  

Dave had already studied the menu and we were excited for this dinner.  We'll give you the run down of what we had, because it was all SO good.  Keep in mind, we split everything.  We like to do that when we travel so we can try more.  They actually split everything for us when we mentioned we were going to share, not just the steak.  It was a special touch that made us appreciate it even more.

Here is our line up from dinner at Prime 44 West...


Starter - Maryland Style Crab Cakes
These were not split because of the remoulade sauce, but there were two so we each enjoyed one which was perfect.  Jess has claimed them being the very best crab cake she's ever had.  Disclaimer: she's never been to Maryland, but still they were THAT good.


Soup - Traditional French Onion
Yes, they even split the soup for us.  This was five star service.  We both love french onion soup and love trying it different places and no where else has ever actually brought us two smaller individual bowls.  It caught us off guard so much that we confirmed with our server that it was actually split... mostly because we didn't want to end up with two full steaks.  


From the Land - Prime New York Strip (14 oz)
We ordered the steak medium rare and it was perfect.  We also ordered béarnaise sauce to go with it and our server brought their steak sauce as well.  We aren't usually big about putting stuff on our steak, but at quality restaurants it is always fun to try their sauces because they're so good.


Side - Lobster Mashed Potatoes
We were looking forward to it all, but this was the one thing Dave was especially pumped for.  It was featured on Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and man, can we see why!  This was the perfect mix of mashed potato with large chunks of delicious lobster.  We had a hard time finishing all of it, but we didn't let a piece of the lobster go to waste.  This was not split, but was huge.

 
Dessert - Chocolate Soufflé
Although there were a few things we really wanted to try, we barely had room for dessert and thought this would be the lightest.  It was absolutely scrumptious.  Or in Dave's words, it was like eating chocolate air... because who wouldn't want chocolate air?  To accompany, we each enjoyed a shot of espresso.  Not only did it pair beautifully, but we were needing a little extra energy to kick in.


There were so many things that looked wonderful on the menu, but we certainly didn't have room for it all.  A few other things we were really interested in, but talked ourselves out of was Karen's Caesar (prepared tableside), Lobster and Shrimp Bisque and Bananas Foster (tableside flambé).

Once we finished dinner, we headed back to the casino for a little more fun before calling it a night.  Unfortunately on this night, with our late dinner reservation we missed the champagne toast.   


However, we enjoyed 42 Below which is the dance floor located 42 feet below the front entrance of The Greenbrier in the casino.  How cool, right?  Every Friday and Saturday they have a live DJ from 10 PM to 2 AM.  And, we ran into the family of one of Jess's old friends.  They are the sweetest!  

  
We laughed together and danced the night away... and continued to admire all of the wall paper.  It was the perfect way to end our last night at The Greenbrier.  How did our time there go by so fast?


The next morning we were up bright and early.  Initially we had discussed enjoying breakfast at the Main Dining Room.  The room is stunning and they serve both breakfast and dinner.

  We were both still full from our late dinner and knew we wouldn't get much out of a breakfast buffet.  Instead, we grabbed coffee in the upper lobby which is served from 6:00 to 9:00 AM daily and picked up a few little snacks to take back to Dave's dad as a thank you for keeping Hopsen.

 
We soaked in all kinds of fun activities during our stay, but there was still a long list of things we didn't get to.  Each night, they place the schedule of activities for the following day in your room so you can see what all opportunities there are.  We felt like we did A LOT, but there was still so much more.  If you're staying at The Greenbrier, definitely check out the schedule of activities daily.


After grabbing coffee, getting our car from valet and filling the gas tank we were on the road heading home.  We had seven hours of drive time ahead and ended up mostly heading straight home (minus a quick stop in Louisville for Chipotle).

It was sad to say goodbye to The Greenbrier knowing that our paths might not cross again for some time.  We loved every second of our time there and could picture it being the perfect little getaway for so many occasions.  Until next time, Greenbrier... we will be back.
Make reservations as early as possible if there's something specific that you want to do.  The Greenbrier is a popular place and things fill up quickly. 

Do your research!  There is so much to do and we believe it's best to have some sort of a plan (at least if there's specific things you want to do) to ensure that you don't miss out on anything. 

Check out the activities calendar daily.  Some things are pretty standard daily, but there are other unique experiences that often pop up on the schedule so just make sure to look!

Pay the additional fee for valet parking instead of self parking for free.  This allowed us to be care free from the moment we pulled up, and it's really how you should enjoy your time there.

Don't forget the complimentary experiences that are included with your stay like morning coffee, afternoon tea and the evening champagne toast.

Don't forget to check on the two nightly showings at the theatre.  This would be perfect for littles, especially if you were spending more than a couple of days.  They even have fresh popcorn!

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