America’s oldest resort. Twenty-two presidents. Three and a half hours from DC.
We went to The Homestead for Christmas as a family — multiple years, the kind of tradition that becomes its own world once it takes hold. There were other families there too, which was part of it. We stayed up late into the night playing cards, drinking, laughing, pulling pranks on each other. During the day there was the pool, the Hot Springs mineral baths — I think that’s where I had my first massage — and bowling in the downstairs alley. In the evenings we dressed up for formal dinners that started with shrimp cocktail and ended with dancing. Live music. Real dancing. The Homestead does Christmas the way Christmas used to be done — unhurried, dressed up, with the full weight of a place that has been doing this since 1766.
The first guests came to Hot Springs, Virginia in 1766 — drawn by the same mineral springs that still feed the spa today. Thomas Jefferson soaked in these waters. Twenty-two presidents have stayed at the resort that grew up around them. The current Georgian Colonial main building dates to 1902, a red-brick tower rising from the Allegheny Mountains that is visible from the access road long before you reach it, looking exactly as a grand American resort should look.
Is The Homestead Worth It in 2026?
The honest answer from someone whose DC family has been making this drive for generations.
The Cascades Golf Course
Designed by William Flynn in 1923 — consistently ranked among the best mountain golf courses in the US. Fall foliage golf on the Cascades in mid-October is one of the great East Coast golf experiences. Book when you book the room.
Search Hotels → Search on ExpediaJefferson Pools
Thomas Jefferson bathed here in 1818. The original octagonal bathhouses still stand and are still in use — men’s and women’s sides, mineral water, historic atmosphere. One of the more unusual experiences within four hours of DC.
Search Hotels → Search on ExpediaFalconry
The Homestead has operated a falconry program for years — one of the more unusual and more memorable resort activities available anywhere in Virginia. Guided sessions with trained falcons on the resort grounds.
Search RentalsLexington VA — 45 Min
VMI, Washington & Lee, Natural Bridge, one of the best-preserved downtowns in the South. A Homestead weekend + a Lexington afternoon is one of the best two-day Virginia mountain combinations available.
Lexington GuideWhy The Homestead
The Homestead is the closest thing the United States has to the great European spa resorts — a destination built around mineral water, mountain air, and the specific pleasures of a resort that takes its own traditions seriously. Not trying to be something contemporary. Not trying to be Amangiri. Being precisely and confidently The Homestead, which it has been doing since before the country was a country.
Golf, falconry, fly fishing, skiing, formal dining, the spa, the mineral baths. The Homestead doesn’t need to tell you it’s historic. You feel it the moment you pull up the drive and see that tower. This is what American luxury looked like before anyone called it that.
Getting There
- From Washington DC: ~220 miles, 3.5–4 hours via I-66 West to US-250 West through Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. The approach through the Allegheny highlands on the last stretch is beautiful.
- From Richmond: ~165 miles, 2.5–3 hours via I-64 West.
- From Charlotte: ~225 miles, about 3.5 hours north via I-77 and US-220.
Where to Stay
The Homestead’s main hotel has over 400 rooms and suites in the Georgian Colonial building — ranging from standard rooms to Tower Suites with panoramic mountain views. The resort also has cottage-style properties for families who want more space. The surrounding Bath County has vacation rental inventory for those who want a mountain house experience adjacent to the resort.
Search The Homestead and Hot Springs Virginia
The Homestead Resort rooms and suites, plus surrounding Bath County mountain cabins and houses. Book months out for fall foliage season and holiday weekends.
Golf
Three courses — the Homestead Course (1892, one of the oldest continuously played courses in the country), the Lower Cascades, and the Cascades, designed by William Flynn in 1923. The Cascades is consistently ranked among the best mountain golf courses in the United States. Tee times book out weeks in advance during peak season. Fall foliage golf on the Cascades, in mid-October, is one of the great East Coast golf experiences.
The Spa & Hot Springs
The natural hot springs at Bath County are the reason The Homestead exists — guests have been coming to soak in these calcium sulfate mineral waters since 1766. The current spa is a full-service facility built around the historic pools. The Jefferson Pools (Thomas Jefferson bathed here in 1818) are available for a historically significant and genuinely pleasant soak — the original octagonal bathhouses still stand and are still in use.
Things to Do
Falconry
One of the more unusual and more memorable resort activities in Virginia. Guided sessions with trained falcons on the resort grounds. Book in advance.
Fly Fishing
Catch-and-release trout fishing on the resort’s private streams. Guide service available. The Allegheny mountain streams feeding Bath County are legitimately good trout water.
Skiing (Winter)
The Homestead Ski Area is Virginia’s only ski resort — a family skiing experience that makes The Homestead one of the only East Coast resorts that legitimately operates all four seasons.
Dining
The Main Dining Room is the formal experience — jackets requested for men. The Sunday brunch buffet is a Homestead institution that generations of families have made a tradition. Sam Snead’s Tavern is the more casual option. Dress code applies for evening dining in public areas — pack accordingly.
Quick Reference: The Homestead Virginia
| Category | The Answer |
|---|---|
| Distance from DC | ~220 miles, 3.5–4 hours via I-66 West |
| Founded | 1766 — mineral springs drew the first guests |
| Presidents who stayed | 22 — from John Adams to recent administrations |
| Best golf | The Cascades — book when you book the room |
| Historic soak | Jefferson Pools — Thomas Jefferson bathed here in 1818 |
| Most unusual activity | Falconry — book in advance |
| Best season | Fall — foliage on the Cascades in mid-October |
| Pair with | Lexington VA — 45 minutes east, VMI and Natural Bridge |
Two hundred and fifty years. Still worth the drive. The mineral waters, the mountain air, the golf, the falcons, the Sunday brunch, the tower you see before you arrive that tells you exactly where you are.