The Inn on Biltmore Estate, Ashville

Location

Located 15-minutes outside of Ashville, North Carolina’s bohemian jewel sited on a plateau surrounded by the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains, The Inn is set on acres of formal and informal gardens. Walk through the fragrant beauty of the Italian Garden to the trees of America’s first managed forest, designed by the 19th century’s foremost landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. Amble through Biltmore’s 8,000-acre estate on hiking trails and stop off at the excellent vineyard for a tasting session.

Accommodation

Designed with the same commitment to detail and hospitality of the original chateau, Guest Rooms feature king sized beds, hanging drapes and cushions embroidered with the Vanderbilt ‘V’. In Balcony Rooms, plush furniture looks out over the undulating curves of the Biltmore estate while Terrace Rooms open up onto the Inn’s gardens. Suites are particularly decadent with panoramic windows offering sweeping views.

Dining

The Inn’s Dining Room – its signature restaurant – serves a menu basted on seasonal estate-raised vegetables, meats, seafood and handcrafted pasta. Excellent service, Vanderbilt china and crystal, and white linen tablecloths only add to the dress-code atmosphere. For dinner, you might enjoy a lobster and corn chowder to start followed by mustard grilled pork tenderloin – from the estate’s farm – for main. For more casual dining, the Library Lounge serves dishes based on the same farm-to-mouth premise.

Facilities

Visit the chateau where original art by Pierre-August Renoir and John Singer Sargent line the walls, rubbing shoulders with 16th century tapestries. Of course, what self-respecting Gilded Age chateau could be without a 70-foot high banquet hall, indoor pool, library and bowling alley? Back at the inn, there’s a day spa, heated outdoor pool and fitness centre and, within the sprawling estate, there’s everything from carriage and horseback rides, hiking, mountain biking and Segway tours to fly-fishing and clay shooting.