OVERVIEW of The Greenbrier
Built on 6500 beautiful acres, The Greenbrier is a magnificent resort located in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. The resort got its start in the late 1700 s when word spread of the restorative powers of the mineral springs. The first buildings were erected in the early 1800 s and the legendary hotel Old White was opened in 1858. During the Civil War both sides occupied the hotel as a hospital. In 1910 the C&O Railroad purchased the property and began the expansion which included many of the buildings that stand today. The army commandeered the property in 1942 and purchased it from the railroad for use as a military hospital.
After the war C&O bought the Greenbrier back and began the painstaking process of refurbishing the resort. Justice Family Group purchased the property in 2009 and added a casino, new restaurants and attracted a PGA tour and FedEx Cup event, the Greenbrier Classic. Today the resort covers some 11,000 acres.
Dorothy Draper, a noted New York interior designer was hired in 1946 to redecorate and refurbish the resort. Her bold style, using a white background with huge splashes of bright reds, greens, pinks and blues is preserved today by Carleton Varney, the President of the Dorothy Draper Company and the resort s designer. The public rooms are dramatic with bold color schemes, museum quality antique furnishings and huge open spaces. The high ceilings, heavy curtains, elaborate chandeliers and fireplaces are reminiscent of the grand mansions in Newport, Rhode Island.
This is old world luxury at its finest, harkening back to a day when great service was the norm. There’s something elegant and sophisticated about gentlemen and ladies dressing for dinner.
THE ROOMS at The Greenbrier
The resort has 710 rooms, including 33 suites and 96 guest and estate homes. Guests can choose from Signature Resort Rooms, Cottages, 4-7 bedroom homes and the Windsor Club. Rooms are individually decorated in the Dorothy Draper style and the Superior and Deluxe categories are in the 400 sq ft + range. Click here for lodging options.
DINING at The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier Chef ’s Garden is located on 43 acres and everything is naturally grown with no pesticides. The Garden raises nearly all of the produce for The Greenbrier Restaurant Collection including 23 varieties of fruits and vegetables.
There are multiple dining options throughout the resort from fine dining to casual to grab ‘n go. The five primary restaurants serving dinner are the formal Main Dining Room, Prime 44 West steakhouse, In-Fusion, The Forum and the more casual Sam Snead’s at the Golf Club. The wine list is the same throughout the resort.
The Main Dining Room is the most elegant and formal of the resort’s restaurants. Dining in this cavernous space is what it must be like at a state dinner in the White House. Huge chandeliers hang from the high ceiling and towering pillars are scattered throughout the room. Illuminated oil paintings and huge mirrors hang on the walls and soft piano and violin music is provided by live performers. Captains are in tuxedos, waiters in white jackets with black epaulets and ties and servers in black dresses with white lace collars.
Tables are set with heavy china, monogrammed silverware, a vase of red roses and a candle with a shade. Dark period furniture is used throughout the dining room. Live music every evening. Dress is jacket and tie for the gentlemen, dress or suit for women.
Prime 44 West. Prime 44 West is a classic masculine steakhouse decorated in dark and natural woods and burgundy walls with leather and suede fabrics. The result is both elegant and intimate. The menu features prime, dry aged angus beef as you might expect, but with some interesting twists. Fresh Dover Sole is flown in daily and served tableside with lemon and brown butter. Oysters are served with a proscuitto, garlic herb butter and trout roe . Great sides include: grilled corn, lobster whipped potatoes and shoestring onion rings with creole mayo. Try the chocolate souffle with mint ice cream for dessert. Jackets recommended.
In-Fusion is the resort’s Asian themed restaurant offering a variety of small plates from various parts of China, Japan, Korea and Thailand designed to allow the entire table a sampling of Pacific Rim cuisines.Features a unique Sushi Bar and signature dishes such as Soy Roasted Sea Bass, General Tso’s Chicken and more.
The Forum is an Italian restaurant serving Neopolitan pizzas, pastas, frsh fish and traditional dishes from throughout Italy in a festive Roan atmosphere.
Sam Snead’s at the Golf Club is the most casual of the dining rooms and the one with the best view, overlooking the golf course. It is a clubby room with an open kitchen, oak furniture and moldings, beamed ceilings, dark green carpeting and yellow walls adorned with Sam Snead memorabilia.
The menu is limited, but very good, featuring items like Atlantic Salmon, Chilean Sea Bass, Grilled Lamb Chops and prime steaks.
See the full list of dining options.
SERVICE at The Greenbrier
One of the most remarkable things about the Greenbrier is its very noticeable high level of service. The staff is very well trained and seems to very much enjoy what they are doing. Management must treat them well too. Of 1800 employees, 250 have been there over 30 years. That is an astounding testament to how well this resort is run and managed. Everyone says hello as you pass and I mean everyone from the gardener to the golf caddies to the management of the hotel. The staff is constantly cleaning, trimming and polishing to keep everything in perfect condition. The attention to detail is amazing; we saw one employee who did nothing by touch up nicks in the wood on the elevators
RATES at The Greenbrier
From $609 Peak Season Weekend
WHAT OTHERS SAY About The Greenbrier
Travel + Leisure’s “T+L 500: The World’s Best Hotels”
“Yes, indeed “you can buy happiness by the day” at this bit of “almost-heaven,” a “one-of-a-kind historic resort” whose “dizzying” Dorothy Draper decor “provides a riot of color” and chintz everywhere; a recent multi-million-dollar renovation has spruced it all up, and added a new restaurant, Hemisphere, with globally inspired cuisine, but the staffers are still just as “friendly” as ever “because they want to, not just because they’re supposed to”; from golfing to spa-going to “falconry, horseback riding, tennis” and a “stunning” infinity pool, active types find it “hard to leave,” the “only drawback is the distance” (about 80 miles from Roanoke, VA).” ZAGAT
PROMOTIONS at The Greenbrier
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