Blackberry Farm

“From the moment my party arrived, everything felt thoughtful and intentional. The wining & dining alone was worth the trip. We were served multi-course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each one being fresh, seasonal, and beautifully executed. Professional, warm service blanketed the entire property making us fee like home, specifically from the various grounds staff + James, Kyra, & Timothy at The Barn. One of the highlights was the farm and cellar tour guided by Steven. Simply fantastic! Seeing the aging bottles in the cellar, meeting and petting Tom the turkey, seeing the sheep that provide dairy for the property, and even the truffle-hunting dogs made the whole experience feel incredibly connected to the land, the people, & mission behind it all. (A thank you to John the Farmer as well) Our cottage was impeccably cared for all day long, with cleaning, turn-downs, and snacks constantly restocked. Every detail felt anticipated before we even had to ask. The tranquility of the mountains is something special. Waking up to deer roaming in the mornings and spotting owls perched throughout the day was a change I needed from the chaos of south Florida. I am already dreaming (& actively planning) about going back in the summer to see the property fully lush and green, and to experience the seasonal menus at their peak.”

“My husband and I just celebrated our wedding anniversary here and I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. The location is spectacular, the service is oustanding and the food is incredible. The environment is elevated, but very comfortable and warm. Our room was cozy and beautifully decorated. The Farmstead tour, and our guide, Dakota, was awesome - very informative and fun. This was a splurge stay for us, but we left feeling it was all worth it and I hope we'll be back to enjoy it in the future.”

“I truly wanted to love Blackberry Farm, but unfortunately we didn’t even make it past the booking stage. When inquiring about accommodations for our family, we were told our three-year-old would be sleeping on a twin rollaway bed — described in a way that sounded much more like a cot. At this price point, that simply didn’t sit right with us. At home, she sleeps in a beautiful queen-size bed, and there is no scenario where we would pay luxury rates only to have a member of our family sleeping on what felt like a temporary add-on solution. For a property positioned as ultra-luxury, the sleeping arrangements for young children felt like an afterthought. I also noticed another reviewer mention the same rollaway bed setup, which gave me pause. After reading additional discussions on platforms like Reddit, where some guests have shared concerns about service declining and the food not justifying the price point, it ultimately felt like we may have dodged a bullet. Because of this, we chose not to move forward with the reservation. I can’t speak to the food, service, atmosphere, or overall experience, as we never stayed at the resort. This review is solely based on our booking experience and the accommodations offered to our family.”

“For the past 30 years of our life, we've had multiple friends who have come here and raved about how great it was, especially for food and wine and truthfully, we had tried on more than one occasion to come to one of their wine and food weekends. We have friends who in fact were friends with with the owners and have been multiple times. But as life goes on, we were busy with other things. And we're never able to get here. And when I initially tried to get a reservation, it wasn't that easy but suffice it to say, we got a reservation. And we were exceedingly excited and expecting nothing but the best in the world. Sadly, as stated, we were disappointed There's no question that the accommodations and the grounds are spectacular. Our room was clean and comfortable with elegant appointments. Housekeeping exceeded our expectations and met our every need and responded positively to all requests. We had literally next to our door drinks, ice cream snacks, coffee that we could immediately help ourselves. We had a shared living room that was comfortable quiet with a wood fireplace. Accommodations were no question 5 star. Where the problem lay was with the service with the exception of housekeeping. The check-in process was chaotic. One example was we arrived and drove our car following the signs to the check-in registration place and one of the staff was standing there. And when I put the window down, she said, why are you here? And I told her, because we have a reservation and we followed the signs to come here. I was shocked as to her attitude questioning why I was there, was I just some stranger who drove off the road to come in? But what bothered us the most was the attitude of the check in staff. They were very sure to remind us that there was a service charge attached to everything at the facility , including the room charge. So when the room charge is 4 figures and you add the 20% service charge it significantly increases the price, but the problem was the check-in person was only interested in letting us know about how much money they were going to charge us as opposed to taking care of us and interestingly, they charged the entire amount of our stay, including the activities we signed up for such as a massage right then. Again billed charged and collected immediately on check-in. We were assigned a Bell person who was physically unable to help us get to our room and carry our luggage, my wife felt sorry for them and helped carry our heavy luggage to the room. Checkout was no better. We actually had to request checkout more than once, which to me is unacceptable with the price you pay here. All your meals are included, but there's only 2 restaurants. And actually, the more upscale restaurant called the Barn is only for dinner and in our case only once during our stay which ended up being fine because it really wasn't that great. And if you read other critical reviews, most of them say that they preferred the main restaurant Dogwood. And like the main restaurant, the Dogwood, the service in our opinion was severely lacking. The staff and the service staff were unprofessional untrained, extremely young and more interested in chatting and small talk than in actually providing service to the customers. For the second time in our life, we actually had to ask the manager to ask our servers to stop talking small talk every ten minutes they walked by our table. There were a couple of older service members who were interested in providing professional service, but they were far few and in between and invisible most of the time. The food was average. They did have some innovative dishes and it was obvious that the chefs were experimenting, but in many cases, things just didn't workout overall. While we were traveling, we found other similar high-end resorts and places to stay that were in fact better than BlackBerry Farms with exceptional service. Interestingly, the same type of accommodation that exceeded our expectations were in the Old Edward Inn in Highlands, whose rooms were far superior to BlackBerry Farm. Just one example, the marble floors in the bathroom were heated. That didn't happen at BlackBerry Farm. In conclusion, we felt that the price was excessively high for what you did not receive. For years, I have been under an operating philosophy that when I pay for service, especially at the upper cost of service, I expect to receive that service without question. And when I don't receive it, I feel I have been ripped off. In fact, the other places we stayed on the trip of similar nature, all Relais & Chateax properties, were 20% the cost of BlackBerry Farm. My wife( who read this evaluation) and I can honestly say that Blackberry Farm failed to meet our expectations but had no problem charging us an outrageous fee to stay there. As we were driving away, my wife agreed with me that we were glad to leave. We had actually thought we might stay longer if it met our expectations and because it didn't, we just kept moving on and went somewhere else. We were glad to leave which says a lot and is sad.”

“My wife and I went here for our 37th anniversary.||Check in was amazing. Customer service from the start. We were taken to our room via golf cart and our luggage soon followed.||We stayed in the Holly Glade cottages. Very nice room and clean. I would estimate about 800 sq ft. Bedroom and living room together with a real wood burning fireplace. They stock firewood right on your porch and prep the fire everyday during housekeeping. They probably don’t do that during the warmer months. Very large bathroom with walk-in shower, jacuzzi tub, and double sinks. Nice walk in closet. Nice coffee/wet bar with fridge. The bed was very comfortable. The accommodations were very nice. The nice thing is that every room has its own golf cart. Very convenient to get around the property.||The property is beautiful. Maintained very well. The golf cart was awesome to get around the property. The Main house which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner is great. The all-inclusive is a nice touch. The Main house is a casual environment, but the food is amazing. Very intimate environment.|The Barn is the fine dining restaurant. Amazing! The Barn is a great dining experience. Very cozy and inviting. ||The Wellhouse Spa is incredible. We went two days and both were amazing. I have had many massages at places like Ritzs Carlton and Four Seasons and both days at the spa at Blackberry Farm ranked in the top 5 that I have ever had. Absolutely amazing.||We also did the wine tasting and whiskey tasting. Both recommended however the whiskey tasting is very expensive.||To wrap up, the customer service at Blackberry Farm is incredible. It is Four Seasons quality. Everyone was friendly and very helpful. We are already planning our next trip there because it was that good.”

“The most unique experience in a spectacularly beautiful part of the country. This is a highly personalized experience where every detail has been thoughtfully considered.||The food is truly five-star. If you're not someone who really appreciates exceptional food, I'm not sure you'll fully appreciate the value of what you're paying for. My only suggestion would be to include a house wine with lunch and dinner as part of the stay. It would feel like a natural addition at this level of hospitality.||Having a golf cart at our disposal was essential. It was hot, and being able to explore so much of the property was the primary reason to visit. The grounds are a slice of heaven, with beautiful little spots to sit, relax, or discover around every corner. We saw so many animals including a bear, a great blue heron, a hawk, sheep, puppies, countless small woodland creatures. ||They had two of the sweetest little gift shops to walk into with the most gorgeous, high end knick-knacks, serving pieces, and jarred delicacies you could imagine.||The service and amenities were exceptional. This was hospitality at its finest—attentive and expert without ever feeling fawning or intrusive. We also loved being able to enjoy the spa without having to book a treatment. The space is stunning, and soaking in the hot tub with drinks during a brief rainstorm was one of the highlights of our stay.||The activities were the highlight of our trip. We went horseback riding, joined a foraging hike, and took a guided tour of the property. Each was a private tour, thoughtfully designed and offered a truly one-of-a-kind experience.”

“My wife and I went for our 10th anniversary - couldn't have asked for a better experience. We had heard lots of good things going in but the food and relaxing atmosphere exceeded our expectations. The service all around was excellent. The farm is really fun and is just beautiful in general. Highly recommend a farmstead tour, flyfishing, and biking experience. Best massage I've ever had - and the wine service is incredible. Next time we want to try the mountain as well!”

“Kids absolutely loved it. Great food and plenty of outdoor activities….we even had a day of snow! After the “service charges” the final bill was actually offensive. We travel first class all over the world and this was the most outrageously priced location that we have ever experienced. Could have paid one of the kids tuition for a year with the bill. |Won’t return”