The Greenbrier is so steeped in antebellum charm and attractive amenities, it’s no wonder vacationers head here for more than just the golf.
The winding drive from the front gates to the massive Georgian hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, is like a trip back in time — past rows of neat, white guest cottages and impeccably manicured lawns shaded by centuries-old oaks. There’s even a domed springhouse from the 1830s, a monument to the purportedly therapeutic sulfur waters that began attracting well-heeled vacationers to the resort grounds more than 200 years ago.
But the rich and famous have also been teeing up at this AAA Five-Diamond resort ever since the first of its three 18-hole courses opened in 1914. Fortunately, diversions are so abundant here, golf widows may well forget they’re about to be abandoned. And by the time they do remember, they probably won’t care.
Indeed, there’s plenty to do without ever leaving the hotel, which is an attraction worthy of the free interior tours conducted four times a week. I spent a couple of hours just checking out the public rooms, many of which have retained the decor bestowed upon them by legendary interior designer Dorothy Draper during the late 1940s. My favorites: the pink-and-red Cameo Ballroom, where the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson once danced; and the terra cotta-colored North Parlor, where a full-length portrait of another former guest, Princess Grace of Monaco, hangs.
The ground level boasts a full-service spa and salon, an opulent indoor pool fit for a king, and an arcade of shops where I found everything from high-end cookware and Ralph Lauren Polo sportswear, to chocolates produced in an on-site confectionery. A stroll of the grounds reveals an artists’ colony in a row of former guest cottages, a child’s playhouse that’s actually a tiny dollhouse-miniatures shop, and a museum in a two-story “cottage” where Presidents Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan once summered.
I was content to spend my days in classic golf-widow style: lolling by the outdoor pool, admiring the Appalachian Mountain views from a rocking chair while sipping Earl Grey at the daily high tea and sampling gourmet cuisine served in the main dining room. But the resort offers a full slate of diverse pursuits — croquet, falconry, horseback riding, kayaking and off-road driving, to name just a few — for guests who want to get up and move.
And then, of course there is golf — the activity many consider The Greenbrier’s marquee activity. The course options consist of the original Old White, which director of sports and recreation Robert Harris describes as an old-style course that “lays with the land”; the Meadows Course, a panoramic parkland counterpart with holes laid out through trees and open spaces and atop knolls; and the Greenbrier Course, another heavily wooded challenge with huge oaks lining the fairways and greens guarded by deep bunkers. Amenities include a golf academy that offers instruction at every level, practice range with realistic target greens and large chipping/putting area, and well-appointed clubhouse with restaurant and sports bar.