Fixed Up & Fabulous
January—that time of year when it’s tempting to hop a plane for an escape. One look at the variety of winter experiences at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, though, and you’ll want to save the airfare in favor of making memories any number of ways: ice-skating, snowboarding, skiing, tubing, mini-snowmobiling for kids, swimming outdoors in a steamy pool, horseback riding, taking a carriage trip, playing billiards in the game room or settling in for movie night in its century-old theater. There’s also a luxurious spa and two championship golf courses. The Old Course is open year-round, weather permitting.
Set in the Allegheny Mountains on 2,300 acres in southwestern Virginia, the resort celebrated the completion of a massive $150 million propertywide renovation—including all 483 guest rooms and suites, plus restaurants and public spaces—with a grand reopening in October. Each wing features a distinct color palette (pink, blue, lavender or green) that flows from the hallway corridors into the rooms in the form of bed skirts and draperies.
Dining options include Martha’s Market, the property’s casual grab-and-go coffee shop cafe; the Presidential Lounge, a new speakeasy-style bar; Jefferson’s Restaurant and Taproom, the latter for regional brews and sports watching and the adjacent restaurant for quieter dining; and the elegant American Audubon Dining Room, the place for a breakfast buffet, fine dining dinner, or formal afternoon tea.
The iconic Warm Springs Pools, located a few miles from the resort, are an integral part of Virginia history and were the first step in the renovation. Reopened in December 2022, these 19th-century bathhouses are fed by four naturally warm springs rich in mineral content. They’ve been sought by travelers for centuries, including such U.S. presidents as Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The supposed therapeutic benefits of soaking in these springs range from soothing your skin to boosting your blood circulation and relieving pain. Unaffected by seasonal changes, the waters remain around 98.6 degrees all year and flow at the astounding rate of 1,700,000 gallons per day. When snow enters from an open circle in the pool’s doomed roof, a soak here becomes positively magical.
Rates begin at $339 plus a nightly resort charge of $49 per room. Warm Springs Pools rate is $30 for a 50-minute soak. Reservations are required.
7696 Sam Snead Highway, Hot Springs, Virginia, 800-838-1766, omnihotels.com/hotels/homestead-virginia
Snow Business
Opened in February 2023 on the grounds of River Riders Family Adventure Resort in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, Snow Riders snow tubing park is three football fields long, making it the mid-Atlantic’s longest tubing slope. With up to 12 lanes, durable new tubes, and music and hot chocolate at the ready, the park is a fun slide for all.
Thursday nights are theme nights, with special music and lighting throughout the season. The Snow Riders calendar updates weekly with events and offerings centered on school vacation dates. Alstadts Ale House is scheduled to reopen this season; the full-service restaurant features burgers, salads, pub fare and a bar menu that includes its own house ale. For a quick bite, a taco truck and beverage truck serve up snacks and hot chocolate.
Rates range from $39-$50 per pass for 90 minutes of snow tubing. Save money and go midweek. Snow Riders also offers a 10% discount to first responders, military, clergy, educators and college students. Weather permitting, the season begins in January. Check the website for the latest rates and hours.
408 Alstadts Hill Road, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, 304-535-2665, snowriders.com
Smiling Through
The Wilbur Mansion boutique hotel opened in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in December 2022 with a unique beacon for the town. Inspired by co-owner Lynn Noble’s passion for “the power of a smile” (she gave a TEDx talk titled the same), Lynn and her husband, John, had a 12-foot metal smiley face sculpture created and installed on the mansion’s grounds to greet locals and travelers entering the city. The Gothic Revival-style mansion was built in the 1860s and was home to Lehigh Valley Railroad President E.P. Wilbur and his family. Many original architectural features remain today in the woodwork, tile and stained glass. Each of the hotel’s nine guest rooms has its own unique features, from 1800s bathroom tile work to marble fireplaces, soaking tubs, a rainfall shower and views of Bethlehem’s SteelStacks and the Lehigh River. All include luxury cotton bedding, a TV, Keurig coffee maker, desk and sustainably sourced toiletries.
The Wilbur’s restaurant—open Wednesday through Sunday nights, and for Sunday brunch—features a seasonally inspired menu along with handcrafted cocktails. Don’t miss the mushroom risotto with Parmesan and fresh black Perigord truffle, a local favorite. As the Nobles oversaw the construction of the mansion’s adjacent event space on the site of an old Masonic temple, they learned from the local Audubon Society that the building’s chimney was an important nesting spot for swifts, a species of migratory birds. They revised construction plans to save the chimney, and the swifts have continued to return, typically arriving in April to perform their swirling formations before diving into the chimney.
Given the Wilbur’s popularity as a wedding and event destination in warmer seasons, the winter months are ideal for a cozy weekend escape. Rates begin at $221.
201 Cherokee St., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 610-419-1101, wilburmansion.com
This story appears in the January/February issue of Bethesda Magazine.
