 |
Visitors to the Inn also can ride horseback on estate trails, bicycle, fly fish, shoot skeet, canoe on the French Broad River, hike, take carriage rides and many other outdoor activities. |
By Jack Kneece
(July 2008) When you drive up the long curving road to The Inn on Biltmore Estate just outside Asheville, North Carolina and the majestic 213-room chateau-style hotel comes into view, you half expect Julie Andrews to skip around the corner and sing "The Sound of Music."
Built at a cost of $32 million in a style reminiscent of the Biltmore House itself, it is near the center of the 8000-acre estate. It also brings to mind the great British estates such as Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born.
The rolling mountainous terrain around the AAA-rated Found Diamond inn, which opened in 2001, looks very much like the Bavaria. Both the winery and The Inn on Biltmore Estate are part of the successful effort by A. V. Cecil, whose grandfather, George Vanderbilt, constructed the estate's huge home, the largest private residence in the United States, to make the estate self-sufficient.
Tourism, the winery, the Inn, restaurants, shops and other enterprises have succeeded in making the fabulous place self-sufficient. Many similar estates in Europe, deep in the red, have studied Cecil's successful efforts with the view toward turning a profit.
 When you arrive, a cadre of doormen and valets greet you with big smiles and take your luggage and park your car as if you are the most special guest they have ever had. The same is true at check-in, as you enter the sumptuous and large lobby, furnished in old-style but comfortable furniture. A fire crackles in a huge stone fireplace. You have a view of the mountains straight ahead as you walk in. There is a large terrace for better views where you can deeply inhale the clean mountain air—almost as intoxicating as the fine white wine bottled on the estate.
A recent visitor had a huge suite on the fifth floor —one of nine suites--- overlooking the spectacular mountains. Part of the suite was semi-octagonal. It was filled with old paintings and prints, over-stuffed furniture, including two love seats, three sideboards, many quaint lamps and a very nice patterned carpet. Two bookcases held about fifty books. A recessed, tray ceiling added to its spaciousness. A Bose radio sat atop one sideboard. A large dining room table under a chandelier could seat eight.
It had a half-bath near one of two entrances, and a full bath off the very large bedroom. Although exact measurements were not available, this suite had to be at least 2,000 square feet. You feel as if you could roller skate in the place. A knock at the door echoed through it as in a canyon.
 One room had a sink and coffee maker and was like a small kitchen sans appliances. Gang-wired switches conveniently turned on many of the eight living room lamps at once. There were two large television sets —one in the bedroom--- hidden in armoires. A very large and expensive-looking walnut desk had leather inlays with gold trim and a high-speed computer connection.
The custom-built king-sized bed was so vast it looked as if you could land a small aircraft on it. It also is very high off the floor. It was so big that a patron could put his suitcase and extra clothes on one side and still sleep unencumbered. Even Wilt Chamberlain would rattle around on this bed.
The spa-style bathtub was long enough for a six-footer to stretch out while jets of water soothed his or her body. Nearby was a large separate shower. The bath was floored with handsome beige marble tiles. Toiletries included generously sized Dorothy Prentice shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, a sewing kit, hair dryer, shower cap, aroma-therapy herbs, tissue dispenser, clear and fragrant soaps and the hot water was instant and fast flowing.
 Two deep-pile white Robes sporting the Vanderbilt family crest in blue script were in a closet with wooden hangars, slippers, luggage racks, an iron and ironing board.
A recent visitor, relaxing in the Vanderbilt robe like Caligula, nibbled on an elaborate basket of munchables, including delicious seedless red grapes from the estate, five cheeses, a bag of mixed nuts, four kinds of chocolates, four kinds of crackers, a small jar of honey, blackberries, strawberries and a bottle of sparkling wine and two other bottles of estate wine, a Chardonnay and a fruity but dry red called Syrah, all from the estate's vineyard. The Inn also furnished its own Biltmore bottled water and ice delivered to your room.
There were several places to eat, outside of an elaborate room-service menu, including a restaurant of high quality in the Inn known simply as "The Dining Room." You could also eat at a nearby restaurant called the Bistro or another called Deerpark.
The menu at The Dining Room would compare to any luxury restaurant, but bring money: seven of the eight entrees on a recent night were $30 or more. This writer had a crab soup starter the equal of any in Charleston, S.C. and "pan-roasted Breast of Duck & Leg Torchon, candied bacon polenta, lacinator kale, pomegranate barbeque sauce. Price was $44, not including tip and coffee. Service was friendly and prompt and waitresses were very knowledgeable about the nuances of the offerings. A large glass of the house red, with a faint plum taste, washed it all down. Other entrees included Osso Bucco, $30; breast of pheasant, $30; Steelhead salmon, $34; sea bass, $$35; filet mignon, $44, and venison, $38.
 A couple near my table ordered a variation of surf and turf: steak and scallops, which they pronounced as "fantastic." The wines were pricey but the house red was not only reasonable, but delicious.
One enjoyable side trip is a visit to the winery, where they show how they make wine, and at the end of the tour, visitors line up at several large bars and order tastes of wine— about one finger—from the long list. If you like, you can try all of them, but after five or six most palates are sated. Separate glasses are available for each tasting. A wine shop on the way out offers all of the wines for sale and many people were observed buying several bottles. One distinguished looking, gray-haired man bought several cases, which were taken to his new Mercedes on a hand truck. The winery is visited more than any in Napa, employees said. It produces 75,000 bottles of wine annually.
Unlike many hotels, the Inn still offers smoking rooms and they also allow smokers to indulge on the back terrace or out in front of the Inn.
The side trip most visitors take, of course, is a tour of the Biltmore Estate, completed in 1895. The estate grounds were once 125,000 acres but the family later sold most of it to the federal government for the Pisgah National Forest. The floor-space of the estate itself is not measured in feet but is four acres, or 175,000 square feet under one roof. Its furnishing include a dizzying array of priceless Gilded Age furnishings, a 10,000-book library and paintings by such masters as Renoir. It is a national landmark and is the most visited home in the nation— more so than Mt. Vernon.
 Visitors to the Inn also can ride horseback on estate trails, bicycle, fly fish, shoot skeet, canoe on the French Broad River, hike, take carriage rides and many other outdoor activities. Prices range from $189 to over $500 per night, according to the size and luxury of accommodations chosen and season.
Of all the many facts recently garnered by this visitor, my favorite was this: when George Vanderbilt began amassing land for the estate, spending millions, everyone sold to him without too much haggling until he found one tiny lot with a shack on it valued at $200 total. The old mountaineer stubbornly refused to sell until Vanderbilt finally had to pay him $75,000, not a bad price in 1895.
For more information, call 800-858-4130 or contact biltmore.com. (Updated July 2008)
Images provided by Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
|
