My spouse and I visited
Nemacolin Woodlands for a 3-day weekend in mid-August 2018. We booked our stay
online, and we were able to take advantage of a promotion with American Express
where we paid for 2 nights and got the third complimentary. After booking, we
received email confirmation, as well as communication from the concierge
regarding dining, spa, and activity reservations. Over the weeks prior to our
stay, we emailed back and forth many times with helpful concierge Scott Nagy
until we had our itinerary planned just right.
The name “Nemacolin” refers to
a Delaware Indian chief who created a trail through the Laurel Highland Mountains
between Brownsville, PA and Cumberland, MD. Colonel George Washington and General Edward
Braddock later expanded the trail during
the French and Indian War (1754 – 1763). Much later, the trail became the
National Road, the first government-built nationally improved highway in the
US, which is now known as Route 40. The Nemacolin Woodlands resort began in the
late 1960s as a private game hunting reserve for a wealthy Pittsburgh
Industrialist; he built a 10-room Tudor lodge to house his guests (which later
grew to The Lodge portion of today’s current resort). In subsequent years, the
owners added a tennis court, golf course, airstrip, lakes, trout stream,
conference center, swimming pools, restaurants, and private homes. In the late
1980s,
Joseph A. Hardy, III, founder of the 84 Lumber Company, bought the Nemacolin
property at auction so that his daughter would have a place to fish. Now, years
later, Nemacolin is a 2,000 acre world-class resort, with multiple lodging options,
many restaurants, and myriad leisure activities and rated Four to Five Diamonds
by AAA and Four-Stars by Forbes (formerly Mobil).
We arrived late on a Friday
afternoon; when we checked in, we received a handwritten note that invited us
to a meet-and-greet cocktail party an hour later. Although we usually avoid
that type of semi-forced social interaction, we decided to go, and we loved
listening to the pianist (who played Broadway show tunes) and speaking with the
other guests and administrative staff, some of whom we continued to encounter
at venues around the property during the rest of our trip, so we felt like we
had made some nice acquaintances.
We were assigned to room 1221
in the Chateau Lafayette, a building designed to look like the Ritz Hotel in
Paris. We felt silly when we got into the elevator, then had to get back out
and return to the front desk; because the elevator only went to five floors, we
couldn’t figure out which button to press (in actuality, all we needed to do
was drop the initial 1 to find that our room was on the second floor). And what
a room it was! Enormous and cavernous would be a bit of an understatement!
Although not a suite, it certainly had the square footage to be one. The main
sleeping/living area contained a hall table, full-size sofa, king-size bed with
a nightstand on each side, two comfortable stuffed chairs (one with an ottoman)
and a small table between, a large desk and chair, and an armoire that held the
woefully undersized (for the room) television. (It was a really small TV in a
really large room.) Two sets of French doors led from the room onto one of the
building’s three balconies, each large enough to accommodate outdoor furniture
(such as a table and chairs, and/or some sun loungers), but which were
unfortunately devoid of anywhere to sit. Still, it was lovely to be able to
step out and admire the view. (Most Chateau rooms have only a Juliet balcony.) A
bar nook (with a mini-refrigerator and coffee maker and an array of snacks and
drinks for sale), a vanity counter (without a chair, though), and a large
closet (not walk-in, but still quite big) led to the luxurious bathroom. The
expansive bathroom had a dual-sink vanity, toilet in its own alcove (but not in
its own water closet), stand-up shower, and huge raised soaking bathtub.
Overall, we were quite pleased with our accommodations in the Chateau. (Guests
at Nemacolin can also stay in The Lodge [the original part of the resort that
has a Tudor hunting lodge look] or at Falling Rock [Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired
accommodations positioned near the resort’s golf courses].)
We ate at many of the resort’s
restaurants, including Rockwell’s, Lautrec, and Aqueous (dinner), and The
Tavern and CaddyShack (lunch). (See our separate reviews.) We also visited the
Paradise Pool Bar, Lautrec Bar, Aqueous Bar, and Orville’s (drinks). We participated
in several of the seemingly hundreds of activities available on the property:
the Jeep off-road driving, shooting, nursery (zoo) tour, safari tour, and
miniature golf. There were many other activities that we didn’t have time for,
including wine tasting, rock climbing, zip lining, bicycling, swimming, golfing,
bowling, and outdoor movies. We toured the upscale spa and fitness center and
we saw the two outdoor pools (one quiet/adults only and the other
active/children permitted). We also visited the shell collection and the art
collection, as well as walked through some of the gardens; we didn’t have time
to view the car collection/toy store, but we did browse through some of the
excellent shops.
We enjoyed our weekend at
Nemacolin Woodlands, and we would love to return someday if our wallet allows!
