Downtown Blue Ridge Vacations from $248

Cleaners and the staff were great love everything about the hotel

The property is beautiful and has a lot of untapped potential. However, the website is very deceiving. There are 3 lakes with fishing, paddle boarding, canoeing, and kayaking available. There is archery and shooting for an extra cost. However, horseback riding and ATV's are no longer available (apparently for years), although the website still mentions both. The restaurant was closed as there is no chef at this time and staff had no idea when it would reopen. The only place to eat was the little store with coffee, snacks, and a few refrigerated sandwiches, but no breakfast or dinners as per the website. There is also a limited pool-side menu. We had to drive to Serenby to eat, which was quite an inconvenience. Staff were super friendly and did everything possible to make our stay enjoyable. As a make up for not having a restaurant, we were given a complementary golf cart for a day. The room and bathroom were very spacious and clean, but we did not get any room service during our stay. The buildings could really use some paint as the lakeside side of the cottages/hotel has peeling paint and the screened-in porches have lots of broken parts. Overall, we enjoyed the outdoors with hiking and lake activities. However, you can't call something a RESORT without having full service, all the resort amenities, and a restaurant. Also, the website needs to be updated to reflect the current state of the property. Not exactly the pampered weekend we were expecting.

The value for the money of this place was excellent. You have to pay a small fee for access to the Big Canoe amenities, but it was well worth it. Be aware, this is a cabin-like place in the woods. There are spiders, and lots of them. One or two may even get into your cabin or spin a web on your car. Just remember that you are in their home and you'll be okay. Wifi is spotty at best.