The Omni Homestead Resort

We have been to the Homestead 5 times in the past 7 years. The last couple of visits were disappointing: closed restaurants, cancelled activities, water park out of order, minimal staffing. This visit, however, showcased The Homestead in its glory. Everything was executed perfectly. Our family of 9 occupied 3 adjacent rooms over the July 4 holiday weekend, all of which were nicely remodeled and comfortable. From check-in to check-out, everything was flawless. The place was packed with happy families. The water park is the Homestead’s crown jewel, and our grandchildren spent 3 joyous days there. The food and beverage offerings at the water park are reasonably priced and delicious. The water park staff were all pleasant and efficient, even though the place was a madhouse of activity. The restaurant situation was excellent. We had dinner at Woody’s and Jefferson’s; excellent food and excellent service. We attended the July 4 barbecue on the lawn, which was TONS of fun, followed by the traditional “Big Band” concert and the AMAZING fireworks display. I forgot to mention 2 other activities: •the ladies in our group loved the spa •our grandkids had a great time riding the horses at the stable. One more thing: don’t miss the breakfast buffet; it is awesome! By check-out time, we were all exhausted (in a good way)! We all had a wonderful time! The Homestead showed us a great time! We will be back FOR SURE!!

Great facility. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Fantastic spa and off site activities. The food was excellent

Celebrating America's 250 in the oldest resort in America. A beautiful hotel fill with charm and history. An amazing staff of people, very friendly and passionate about the homestead. Lots of great activities to do for any family family. Traveling with 3 kids, first time they dropped the iPads and enjoyed the pools, the lawn, hiking and crazy enough started playing chess at the many tables. An amazing family vacation.

Do not be fooled by the Omni Homestead's glossy marketing. This place charged us nearly $1,500 a night (after the fees and taxes they pile on top of the $1,200 room rate) and delivered an experience I'd be embarrassed to charge $150 for. The lowlight: a heat wave hit, and our room's air conditioning couldn't get below 76 degrees for TWO NIGHTS. Then the unit started leaking water all over the floor. When I reported it, do you know what the front desk offered? Four drink vouchers. Drink vouchers. For a broken AC. In a heat wave. At a "luxury" resort. After pushing, they waived the $49/night resort fee — a whopping $150 on a multi-thousand-dollar stay. Their "fix" on the final night got the room cooler, but the unit was STILL leaking, and their solution was (seriously) to put a towel on the floor. A towel. The towel was sopping wet by the next morning. Imagine the mold issues that could result. Oh, but don't worry: At checkout they tossed another $200 at us like that settles it. It doesn't come close. Then there's the food. For the prices this resort charges, you'd expect world-class dining. What you get instead borders on inedible. Woody's was incredibly disappointing — a total letdown from start to finish. The Audubon Dining Room, supposedly a signature experience, was somehow just as bad. Meal after meal, we paid eye-watering prices for food we could barely bring ourselves to eat. The ONE exception was Jefferson's Restaurant, the only place on the entire property that delivered anything resembling a fine dining experience. One decent restaurant does not redeem a resort where everything else coming out of a kitchen was borderline inedible at luxury prices. We stayed during the week leading up to the 4th of July — one of the busiest stretches of the year, entirely predictable, marked on every calendar in America — and the resort was completely unprepared. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST HISTORIC RESORTS IN AMERICA, UTTERLY UNREADY FOR FOURTH OF JULY CROWDS. Understaffed, overwhelmed, and disorganized at every turn. If you can't handle a holiday week you've had 365 days to plan for, while charging peak holiday prices for the privilege, what exactly are guests paying for? Speaking of paying: The Homestead nickels-and-dimes you for every single activity on property, on top of a resort fee that apparently covers nothing. And then they can't even bill you correctly. We were OVERCHARGED for several activities during our stay. So not only is everything absurdly expensive, you have to audit your own bill line by line to catch the errors, because apparently nobody at this resort will do it for you. Check your folio carefully if you make the mistake of staying here. And the rest of the property matches. The Homestead is proudly celebrating its 260th anniversary this year, and trust me, guests will feel every single one of those 260 years. The entire resort is falling apart: most of the worn, tired, run-down buildings have clearly seen minimal meaningful investment in years, wearing two and a half centuries in the least charming way possible. The service matches the decor: indifferent, slow, and completely unbothered that guests are paying top-tier prices for bottom-tier care. This wasn't a vacation. It was a financial assault carried out by a resort coasting on a reputation it stopped earning decades ago. Save your money — literally thousands of dollars of it — and go anywhere else.

Lovely hotel with great service. Be mindful that not all the rooms are good as we were subject to a very loud hotel blower outside the room which was incessant. Had a lovely view of the back roof. And we were staying on their most expensive golf package. Very kid friendly and lots of families, so if you are looking for a quiet romantic hotel, this is not the place. They charge $85 per day for the adult pool! The golf was fabulous, especially the Cascades. The old course was very nice, however it catered more to casual golfers playing music and juniors. The restaurants were very good, pricey as you would expect for a nice resort, and the service was very good. We went to the hot springs bath and while it was as advertised, probably wouldn’t do it again. The pools were nice but kind of dated and in disrepair (peeling paint). The staff and waiters were first rate. Overall it was a nice 4 days but having spent time at many high end resorts, this one didn't quite stack up.