The Homestead Resort, Virginia
America’s oldest resort. Twenty-two presidents. Three and a half hours from DC.
In this guide
01 — Why The Homestead
Two hundred and fifty years of the same promise.
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.
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. Golf, falconry, fly fishing, skiing, formal dining, the spa, the mineral baths. 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.
“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.”
02 — Getting there
Three and a half hours from DC through the best of Virginia.
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. The most direct route from central Virginia.
From Charlotte
~225 miles, about 3.5 hours north via I-77 and US-220. Good option for a long weekend from the Carolinas.
You need a car
Hot Springs has no commercial air service. Roanoke Regional Airport (ROA) is about 1.5 hours away — a viable option with a rental car from the airport.
03 — Where to stay
The main hotel or the cottage properties.
The Homestead’s main hotel has over 400 rooms and suites in the Georgian Colonial building — ranging from standard rooms to the Tower Suites with panoramic mountain views. The resort also has cottage-style properties on the grounds for families who want more space and privacy.
04 — Golf
Three courses. The Cascades is one of America’s best mountain courses.
The Homestead has three golf 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, with elevation changes, mountain views, and course routing through the Allegheny terrain that makes it genuinely challenging and genuinely beautiful.
Golf booking
Tee times on the Cascades book out weeks in advance during peak golf season (May through October). Book when you book your room. Fall foliage golf on the Cascades, in mid-October, is one of the great East Coast golf experiences.
05 — Spa & hot springs
The mineral waters that started everything.
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, with the Jefferson Pools (the original bathing pools, now owned by The Homestead) available for a historically significant and genuinely pleasant soak.
Jefferson Pools
Thomas Jefferson bathed here in 1818 while seeking relief for rheumatism. 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 available within four hours of Washington DC.
06 — Things to do
More than any mountain resort its size.
Falconry
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. Book in advance.
Skiing (winter)
The Homestead Ski Area is Virginia’s only ski resort — not a destination ski mountain, but a perfectly adequate family skiing experience, making The Homestead one of the only East Coast resorts that legitimately operates all four seasons.
Fly fishing the Cascades Stream
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.
Horseback riding
Trail rides through the Allegheny terrain surrounding the resort — mountain views, woodland trails, the resort stables that have been part of the Homestead experience for over a century.
Explore Bath County
The surrounding county — one of the least densely populated in Virginia — has hiking, waterfalls, the Warm Springs pools (similar mineral waters, more rustic), and the kind of mountain scenery that most Virginians east of the Blue Ridge don’t know exists.
07 — Dining
The Main Dining Room. The traditions that hold.
The Main Dining Room
The formal dining experience — jackets requested for men, the full resort atmosphere. The Sunday brunch buffet in the Main Dining Room is a Homestead institution that generations of families have made a tradition.
Sam Snead’s Tavern
Named for the legendary golfer who called The Homestead home. More casual than the Main Dining Room — burgers, classic American fare, golf memorabilia, the right choice for lunch after a round.
The Grille
The resort’s more contemporary restaurant option — modern American menu in a less formal setting. Good for families with children who aren’t ready for the full Main Dining Room experience.
Dress for dinner
The Homestead maintains a genuine dress code for evening dining. Resort casual to semi-formal in public areas. This is part of the experience, not an inconvenience — pack accordingly.
08 — Practical tips
What to know before you go.
Resort fees apply
The Homestead charges resort fees that cover some activities. Read what’s included before you arrive to budget correctly.
Holiday weekends book fast
Thanksgiving at The Homestead is a specific tradition for many DC and Virginia families. Book months in advance for holiday weekends.
Fall is the best season
Mid-October foliage on the Cascades golf course and throughout Bath County is one of the best East Coast fall experiences. Book golf and rooms well in advance for peak foliage weeks.
Combine with Lexington VA
Lexington Virginia is about 45 minutes northeast — VMI, Washington and Lee, the Natural Bridge. Makes an excellent addition to a Homestead weekend.
Two hundred and fifty years. Still worth the drive.
The Homestead earns its continuity. Not every institution survives because it deserves to — but this one has stayed what it was, adjusted what needed adjusting, and kept the things that made it worth coming to in the first place. 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.