The Homestead,
Virginia:
America’s Grand Resort.
“Every Christmas until we were teenagers, our family drove four hours from Washington DC into the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and checked into The Homestead. We dressed up for dinner every night. The meals were four courses — crab meat to start, the whole production. There was music. We stayed up late playing cards with school friends whose families came every year too. We charged everything to the room. We skied during the day and took the sauna and came back for dinner. That was Christmas. That was The Homestead. It was established in 1766. It felt like it.”
In this guide
01 — Why The Homestead
America’s oldest resort.
Still doing what it’s always done.
The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia has been welcoming guests since 1766 — making it the oldest resort in the United States. Twenty-three of America’s presidents have stayed here. The natural hot springs that drew the first visitors in the 18th century still flow beneath the property. The tower that defines the resort’s skyline has been a landmark in the Allegheny Mountains for over a century.
For generations of Washington DC families, The Homestead has been the grand resort within reach — four hours west on I-66 and then into the mountains, the landscape changing from suburban sprawl to the quiet valleys of Bath County, Virginia. It’s been a Christmas tradition, a honeymoon destination, a place where families marked milestones and returned every year until returning itself became the tradition.
We came every Christmas until we were teenagers — five children dressed for dinner every night, four-course meals with crab meat to start, music in the dining room, school friends whose families made the same trip every year. We skied during the day and charged everything to the room and stayed up late playing cards. That’s The Homestead. It’s been doing this since before the country existed and it’s still doing it now.
“The Homestead has hosted 23 American presidents and generations of the same families. Some places earn their legend. This one built America around itself and kept going.”
After a landmark renovation
Omni Hotels invested hundreds of millions of dollars in a major renovation of The Homestead — restoring its historic grandeur while adding modern amenities. The lobby is stunning, the theater has been completely remodeled, and the rooms are first-rate. The property has emerged from renovation as beautiful as it’s ever been. The operational execution gets mixed reviews — we address this honestly in the practical tips section. Book with eyes open and the experience rewards you.
02 — Getting there
The drive is part of the experience.
The Homestead sits in Hot Springs, Virginia — Bath County, in the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia. It’s about 210 miles from Washington DC, a four-hour drive that takes you west on I-66, south on I-81, and then into the mountain valleys on smaller roads that feel increasingly remote as you approach. The landscape transition — from the congested DC suburbs to the quiet Allegheny valleys — is part of the decompression. By the time you arrive you’ve already started to unwind.
From Washington DC
About 4 hours via I-66 West to I-81 South. The Homestead’s website has detailed directions — follow them, not just GPS, as the final approach through Bath County involves smaller roads. Beautiful drive through the Shenandoah Valley.
From Richmond, VA
About 3 hours via I-64 West. A scenic mountain drive through the Virginia highlands. Stop in Lexington for lunch — a charming historic town about an hour from The Homestead.
Roanoke Airport (ROA)
The closest major airport — about 75 miles and 90 minutes from The Homestead. Good option for visitors flying in from farther away. Rent a car at the airport.
You need a car
Hot Springs, Virginia is genuinely rural. Once you’re at The Homestead the resort is self-contained, but the drive requires a car. The resort can arrange transportation from Roanoke Airport for an additional fee — confirm when booking.
03 — When to go
Christmas is the one we know.
Christmas & New Year’s
The Homestead at its most legendary.
The lobby decorated in full Christmas regalia, the dining room at its most formal, carolers, special programming for families. This is the tradition that generations of DC families have kept for decades. Book a year in advance — the best rooms and holiday packages sell out early.
Winter (skiing)
The original winter resort experience.
Skiing and snowboarding on the resort’s mountain, ice skating on the outdoor rink, the hot springs pool, fireside evenings in the grand rooms. The Homestead in winter snow is a classic American resort image come to life.
Summer
The underrated season.
Hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, the outdoor pools, golf on two championship courses, fly fishing, falconry. The mountain setting is beautiful in summer and the resort runs extensive family programming. Less crowded than Christmas, more relaxed.
Fall
Foliage and golf.
The Allegheny Mountains in October turn exceptional colors. The Cascades golf course — consistently rated among Virginia’s best — is at its most beautiful. Fewer crowds than summer or Christmas. The sweet spot for serious golfers.
04 — The dining
The way it’s always been done here.
The dining at The Homestead is part of the experience in a way that’s different from most resorts — it’s not just where you eat, it’s part of the ritual. The Main Dining Room requires resort attire in the evenings. There is music. The meals are multi-course. This is how The Homestead has operated for over a century and it’s one of the things that makes it feel genuinely different from contemporary resort dining.
We dressed for dinner every night as children. Crab meat to start. Four courses. Music. The whole production. Coming from DC where the occasion was Christmas, the formality of the dining room felt appropriate in a way that added to the specialness of being there. That tradition is still intact.
The Main Dining Room
The grande dame of The Homestead’s dining — an enormous, beautifully restored room with live music in the evenings, multi-course menus, and the resort attire requirement that has been in place for decades. Sunday brunch is legendary — an elaborate spread that has been a Homestead tradition for generations. This is the dining experience The Homestead is known for and the one worth planning your evening around.
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Jefferson’s Restaurant
The fine dining option — named for Thomas Jefferson, who visited the hot springs. Contemporary American cuisine in an elegant setting. The most formal dinner option beyond the Main Dining Room. Book in advance — Jefferson’s fills quickly especially during holiday periods and peak summer weeks.
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Woody’s Bar & Grill
The casual option — the place to go after skiing, with the kids when the Main Dining Room feels like too much, or for a relaxed lunch between activities. Burgers, sandwiches, pub fare. A necessary counterpoint to the formality of the main dining experience. Note: Woody’s and Jefferson’s have occasionally been closed simultaneously during busy periods — call ahead to confirm availability.
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The Taproom
The bar and lounge — craft cocktails, local Virginia wines and spirits, light bites. The gathering place before and after dinner, where the hotel’s social life happens. The Allegheny Mountains are visible through the windows and the fireplace makes it the right place to be on a winter evening.
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The room charge — still very much a thing
Every guest has a room account at The Homestead and can charge dining, spa services, activities, and incidentals to the room throughout the stay — settling at checkout. This has been the Homestead way for over a century. It is as satisfying as it sounds, especially for families. Just know what you’re charging and what it’s adding up to. The final bill at a multi-day Homestead stay can be genuinely surprising if you haven’t been tracking it.
05 — Things to do
Most people do three.
The Homestead offers over 40 activities — an inventory that can feel overwhelming until you understand that most guests spend their time doing the same few things and discovering they were enough. Ski in the morning. Spa in the afternoon. Dress for dinner. Repeat. The resort’s activity list is there for people who want more but the core Homestead experience doesn’t require more.
Skiing and snowboarding
The Homestead’s ski area is modest by western standards — this is Virginia, not Colorado — but it’s genuinely fun and the combination of skiing by day and the grand resort by night is the classic Homestead winter experience. Lessons available for beginners. The ski area is right at the resort, no shuttle required. For DC families making their first ski trip, The Homestead is a more manageable and more elegant introduction than a crowded western resort.
The Warm Springs Pools
About a mile from the main resort, the historic Warm Springs Pools are naturally fed thermal baths dating to 1761 — the first spa structure in America. Separate men’s and women’s octagonal bathhouses sit over the natural springs, the water maintained at a constant 98 degrees. A 50-minute soak is allowed per session. This is the reason the resort exists — the hot springs that drew the first visitors in 1761 are still flowing, still warm, still extraordinary. Go early in your stay, not as an afterthought.
Golf on the Cascades
The Cascades golf course at The Homestead is a William Flynn design from 1923 — consistently rated among the best courses in Virginia. Tight mountain fairways, challenging elevation changes, mountain views on every hole. The Old Course dates to 1892 and is the second oldest course in continuous operation in America. For golfers, The Homestead is a pilgrimage destination.
The Cascades Gorge hike
A guided hike through the Cascades Gorge — one of the most dramatic natural features in the Virginia highlands. Waterfalls, hemlock forest, the gorge walls rising above you. The resort’s naturalist guides know the history and ecology of the area deeply. Consistently praised in reviews as one of the best Homestead experiences. Book in advance — spots fill quickly.
Falconry
The Homestead offers falconry experiences — working with trained birds of prey with expert handlers. One of those rare activities that sounds gimmicky and turns out to be genuinely memorable. Guests consistently rate it among the most unique things they’ve ever done at a resort. Not cheap, but the kind of experience that becomes the thing you talk about for years.
The Omni Homestead Spa
A full service spa with treatments informed by the resort’s thermal spring heritage — mountain stone massages, Virginia clay treatments, hydrotherapy pools. The spa complex is extensive and beautifully done. Book treatments before you arrive — the most popular appointment times fill early, especially during holiday periods and peak summer weeks.
06 — The spa & hot springs
has existed since 1761.
The Homestead exists because of hot springs. George Washington visited in 1761. Thomas Jefferson came repeatedly. The thermal springs of Bath County, Virginia drew visitors before the United States existed and they’re still flowing — still warm, still mineral-rich, still the foundation of everything the resort has built around them for 260 years.
The Warm Springs Pools — a mile from the main resort, open to guests — are the original spa experience. Octagonal wooden bathhouses built in the 1830s sit over the natural springs. The water is 98 degrees. You soak for 50 minutes and you come out feeling genuinely different. This is not a spa amenity. This is the reason people came to Bath County for two and a half centuries before anyone built a dining room or a golf course or a ski area.
The Omni Homestead Spa — in the main resort building — is the contemporary version. Full treatment menu, hydrotherapy pools, the thermal heritage applied to modern spa technique. Both experiences are worth having. Start with the Warm Springs Pools on arrival day and let the rest of the trip follow from there.
07 — Christmas at The Homestead
everything else.
Christmas at The Homestead is a specific and irreplaceable experience — one that DC families have been having for generations and that the resort has been hosting since before most American Christmas traditions existed. The lobby decorated fully. The dining room at its most formal. Carol singers. Special programming for children. Multi-course dinners every evening. The kind of holiday that requires dressing up and rewards the effort.
We came every year until we were about 15 — five children in dress clothes at the dinner table, school friends whose families made the same trip, cards after dinner, skiing in the morning. It was Christmas the way Christmas is supposed to feel when you’re a child — full of ritual and formality and the specific pleasure of being somewhere that takes the occasion seriously.
“Dressing up for dinner every night. Crab meat to start. Four courses, music, the whole production. Skiing during the day and the sauna in the afternoon. Charging everything to the room. That was Christmas. That was The Homestead.”
Booking Christmas at The Homestead
The best rooms and holiday packages for Christmas Week at The Homestead book out a year in advance. If Christmas at The Homestead is on your family’s list, start planning in January for the following December. The resort releases holiday packages that include dining, activities, and special programming — these fill faster than room-only bookings. Call directly: 1-800-838-1766.
08 — Practical tips
you check in.
The Homestead is magnificent and it earns its legend. It also has operational inconsistencies that have been documented in recent reviews — restaurants occasionally closed during peak periods, service gaps that are surprising at the price point. We share this not to discourage but to help you plan around it. The property itself is extraordinary. Go in knowing what to confirm in advance and the experience delivers.
Call ahead on dining
Confirm which restaurants will be open during your stay before you arrive. Jefferson’s and Woody’s have been closed simultaneously during some peak periods — a significant problem at a remote resort. Know your dining options before you’re hungry in the mountains with limited alternatives.
Book spa and activities in advance
The Warm Springs Pools, the Cascades Gorge hike, falconry, and popular spa treatments book out — especially during Christmas Week and summer. Reserve before you arrive, not after you check in.
Resort attire for dinner
The Main Dining Room requires resort attire in the evenings — jackets for men, equivalent dress for women and children. This is not suggested. Pack accordingly. The formality is part of what makes The Homestead different from every other resort within four hours of DC.
Track your room charges
The room charge system is one of the great pleasures of The Homestead and one of the great surprises at checkout. Keep track of what you’re charging — spa services, activities, dining, incidentals add up quickly at resort prices over several days.
The waterpark caveat
The indoor waterpark is the signature family attraction and has been known to close without notice during peak periods. If the waterpark is central to your family’s trip — confirm its operational status before booking and reconfirm before arriving.
Bring the family
The Homestead rewards multi-generational family trips more than almost any resort in the mid-Atlantic. The combination of activities for children, the spa and golf for adults, the formal dining that brings everyone together, and the grand setting that makes everyone feel like they’re somewhere special — this is a family resort in the truest sense.
Some places hold the memory of every version of you.
The Homestead has been doing this since 1766. Twenty-three presidents. Generations of the same families coming back every Christmas, every anniversary, every milestone that needed a setting worthy of it. The hot springs that drew George Washington still flow beneath the property. The dining room still requires dressing up. The four-course dinners still begin with something elegant and end with something worth lingering over.
We came as children and dressed for dinner and charged everything to the room and skied and took the sauna and played cards until late with friends whose families made the same trip every year. That was Christmas. That was The Homestead. It still is.
Some places earn their legend by being extraordinary once. The Homestead earned it by being there every year, for every family, for 260 years. That’s a different kind of achievement and a different kind of reason to go.