The Greenbrier

We had a lovely 2 night stay recently at the Greenbrier. The food and service was excellent, and we were charmed -- as always -- by the whimsical interiors. This is a one of a kind American resort. I love it. The champagne at check in was delightful! I have traveled to five star resorts all over the world but the Greenbrier has always held a special place in my heart. That being said, the Justice family needs to do more to keep this grand dame of a hotel up to snuff. It is unclear where historic preservation fee is going, so that makes it frustrating to see on bill. I hope improvements to facilities are made.

It's fine. Southern stuffy. Decor is (intentionally) 1930s (?)- super floral, bright. My mother in law loved it 50 years ago; I find it a bit much. Our room is very large and comfortable, and our windows look out on... the flat roof. Staff is very friendly. Self parking can be quite a hike from the entrance. Food and activities are all very pricey, and we didn't find the food to be particularly good at the 3 places we tried. Not mad that we came here for 2 nights, but wouldn't come back.

Spent 3 nights and it was the biggest waste of money in my life! Facility is falling apart, obviously the ownership doesn't care about current state, but lives on the laurels from 50 years ago, when was probably the last time it was renovated. No customer service from any staff members, astronomical prices and dilapidated facility. I should have stayed at Motel 6 for same experience and saved myself $3000! You have been warned......

TLDR the resort was saved from foreclosure and the food experience is a reflection of the cost cuts made to save the resort. None of the food seems freshly made and was salty from preservatives but at the price of an elite dining experience. I’m writing this as I’m leaving a weekend work trip. This is my third time at the Greenbrier and I’ve always come for a work conference. I’ve never had time to enjoy the amenities so I’m basing this review off of rooms and food. I didn’t grow up going to fancy hotels and resorts so coming here always felt like a luxury. This year I was highly disappointed in the food. The first night in the main dining room my entree was mostly good. The appetizer seemed over cooked. My partner said he didn’t like either of his dishes and we chalked it up to poor choices. But that didn’t really explain dry chicken at an elite resort. The breakfast buffet was expansive but somehow seemed lackluster. Everything was so salty and high in sodium that I could barely enjoy breakfast. This trend continued at The Forum (Italian) for lunch. That night we had dinner at In-Fusion, the Asian fusion restaurant. I hadn’t eaten there before and never will again. We had 830 reservations and didn’t get our appetizers until 930. The sushi didn’t look freshly made. The lumpia were soggy packets of grease. I had the duck bao which may have been the best thing all weekend. By 10 we didn’t have our dinners and after a long day my partner went up to the room to go to bed. When our meal came I had his boxed but I barely even ate 5 bites of mine. It was salty, lacked flavor, and was overcooked. The final straw for us was Drapers at lunch the next day. We had salads and the chicken breast clearly came from a mass produced vender and was infused with salt. I had a roasted vegetable salad and the veggies (like Brussels) were practically raw but scorched. I had a bisque that was thickened with an agent, and that’s all you could taste. Soup, 2 salads, Diet Coke and a hot tea came to $99. That night we went into town for dinner and had the best food we had all weekend Other reviews mentioned the staff. All of the long-time staff were so kind and helpful. All of the dining staff seems to be seasonal foreign workers. I suspect this is to cut down on labor costs significantly by using a staffing agency and not employees. This is would be fine but staff weren’t well trained. There were meal mix-ups at every meal with people being served the wrong dish, including people being served something they were allergic to. Staff didn’t even notice the repeated mix ups so we exchanged plates with the people next to us. I frankly wouldn’t expect that at a local diner let alone an expensive resort. I was charged for things I didn’t order. They were very clearly overwhelmed. Now the sexism. I was here for my work conference. I’ve worked really hard on my career. The room was under my name. I paid. Somehow my partners name got added to the reservation and everywhere we went we were referred to as his party, even after we corrected them. I was fuming and many of my colleagues agreed it was inappropriate. We came with an electric vehicle because they have on site Blink chargers.(Google Maps says there’s a Tesla charger but there is not). I hadn’t heard of the brand before but the chargers had major issues with no staff that were able to help us. No instructions on how to operate or pay. They’re L2 chargers, not super chargers. And they’re not provided as a courtesy— almost any other public L2 charger is free like in grocery store parking lots. At one point there were 3 different EV drivers troubleshooting the chargers and Blink website/customer service. The hotel said if I wanted to use the chargers in the garage I could but there was an $85 valet cost plus the charge cost and it would come to $125. They did offer to waive the garage fee if we couldn’t get the chargers to work. Now the rooms. I won’t comment on the decor because that’s their thing. But our shower head didn’t work properly and the temperature dial kept falling off. I guess the plus side of low occupancy was that the halls were quieter than usual. It’s clear that to save the resort from foreclosure in 2024 they cut the operational costs and service but are still charging resort prices. I think we paid $550/night. The quality of food was awful — which seems to be mass produced and not prepared freshly in the kitchens. I didn’t even eat half my meals. Employees are replaced with seasonal and temp workers that aren’t trained. The tenured staff is still wonderful but strained.

This is the singular most disappointing place I have ever stayed by choice. The property is very worn out. It is dirty. Service: outside of the bellman, service is indifferent, distant and uninterested. The room was very dated. Clean is a subjective word. Will you get sick? No. Did you feel good about walking barefoot, No. Outstanding service can elevate a poor facility. That is not the case here. Food: We were there during the slow part of the slow season. I was hoping to at least have a decent meal. That didn’t happen. I was trying to find a reasonable comparison from previous travel. The buffet food on the last day of a Carnival Cruise is light years better. You will enjoy the food more at a Golden Coral. Pricing: This is more than The Wynn, Bellagio, The Ritz at Occonee etc. The pricing structure with add ons make the folks in Las Vegas look like rookies. Everything has several resort taxes. The historic preservation fund fee is laughable. The property is so run down it brings a tear to your eye. Bottom line, don’t waste your money. A staycation downtown at home with a meal at a nice restaurant would have been more memorable and considerably less money.