vineyard

BRISTOL, Va. — Not every idyllic getaway requires passports, airline tickets or crossing time zones.

Located amid the rolling hills of the Virginia highlands, a brand new destination resort offers the tranquility of the mountains while wrapping guests in the lap of luxury.

Just a few miles removed from the hustle and bustle of Exit 7 off Interstate 81, the Inn at Nicewonder Farms is now open and ready to transport visitors to a world of stately ambience, rustic elegance, fine wines and the promise of new adventures.

Built over the past two years and now welcoming guests from down the road or around the globe, this 28-room, four-story boutique inn offers breathtaking views of the mountains, fresh air and a chance to reconnect with nature.

“It’s very touching. As we see people come through here, people are just so proud to have this destination resort right in their area that’s so beautiful. They really celebrate it. They’re so touched to have this special place here,” General Manager Mara Bouvier said.

The Inn at Nicewonder Farms is the latest addition to the Nicewonder family’s contributions to central Appalachia. A high-end resort with an array of amenities and much more to come, joins The Virginian golf and lifestyle community, Nicewonder Vineyards and its award-winning array of wines produced from grapes grown on the property.

Step inside and be greeted by a muted palette of off-white, grays and tans contrasted with an open staircase of dark metal, stained hardwood floors and warm fireplaces.

Hanging prominently over one fireplace is a whimsical painting called “The Distraction.” It portrays a black swan straddling an orange electric cord — think high wire act — with a picturesque valley in the background and the cord appears ready to come apart. The swan is eying a just-landed bee while balancing a vase filled with flowers on its head. Look closely at that vase because the artist thoughtfully included images of the inn and vineyard in the one-of-a-kind painting.

While the artwork is chuckle-worthy, likely most who see it can identify with navigating stressors while the inn and its amenities ready to provide relief.

“We do consider ourselves direct competition for products like Primland [Meadows of Dan, Virginia] and Blackberry Farm [Walland, Tennessee]. We will have very similar activity profiles,” Bouvier said. “Primland has hunting and ATVs. We won’t have anything ‘noisy’ but we will have mindfulness activities as well as outdoor hiking, biking, farm activities, vineyard tours, pond fishing and paddle boards.”

Rooms are available now, most guest activities are expected to get underway this spring and a swimming pool offering cabanas and poolside dining is scheduled to open in May. A full service spa is also expected to open later this year.

“We will offer a robust amount of things for people to do while they’re here. The spa will open in the fourth quarter of this year and all of our guests have access to The Virginian golf course. We will have, within the next year to 18 months a full destination resort. That is the intention,” Bouvier said.

Activities range from yoga, tai-chi and meditation to hatchet throwing and archery.

“Starting soon we will offer yoga mindfulness every weekend, walking, tai-chi, meditation. There will be farm activities every Saturday afternoon, vineyard activities every Saturday morning and target sports — archery and hatchet throwing — over the course of weekends,” she said. “Those are wildly popular. And we have a disc golf course and pond fishing.

“We will have children and family activities from July until Labor Day including geocaching for kids,” Bouvier said.

At the center of any stay is the room and the Inn at Nicewonder Farms offers a range of accommodation options from 400 up to 900 square feet, including king and queen bed suites, with separate seating space — and queen rooms, all overlooking the vineyard and some with outdoor balconies. There are rooms with double queen beds and ADA compliant rooms. All rooms come with a 55-inch smart TV, a rainfall shower, free Wi-Fi, a steamer and a coffee maker.

On the top floor guests can rent the luxury suite complete with a king-size bed, spacious seating area for five or more, bathtub and walk-in rainfall shower plus large screen TVs.

Rooms range from around $550 to $1,500.

Wines from Nicewonder Vineyards and other items are stocked in the refrigerators of every room.

If a bit more privacy is on the agenda, guests can opt to stay in one of nine yurts. Just up the hill from the inn’s front door is a hillside filled with nine rustic-looking, circular wooden cabins, but they’re no ordinary cabins.

Aptly named “Hickory,” “Ash,” “Persimmon,” “Oak,” “Cedar” and “Birch,” the yurts feature the same luxurious interior amenities as rooms at the inn. Yurts also come with king, queen or double queen bed options and ADA compliant. The yurts opened last fall.

“The yurts were far more popular than we expected. We thought of them as a rougher kind of experience, calling it a yurt, but what we found is they’re kind of like a treehouse,” Bouvier said. “They’re special and unique; you have your own private porches. People think it will be more rugged, then they’re pleasantly surprised. Some guests like it better, being away from everything.

“They turned out more elegant and more upscale than we expected. The reason is, when you open a hotel, you always do a showroom where you spec all of your interior design and they [builders, designers] used the yurts for the showrooms for the owner to work through what look he wanted and how he wanted things to feel and be. They’re pretty much the same as our rooms in the inn — in terms of interior décor — which elevated the quality and the feel of the product.”

Assistant Manager Jamie Treto was also surprised by the yurts.

“I thought of the yurts more of a glamping, but they are really upscale. A lot of people think they’re a basic little cabin, but they’re pretty nice and unique. I have never seen anything like them before,” he said.

The Inn at Nicewonder Farms is complemented by Hickory, a unique ground-floor dining space designed and managed by award-winning Chef Travis Milton.

In addition to terrific views of the pond and vineyard through a bank of windows, downstairs visitors can also enjoy ample bar space and a large meeting room capable of holding about 300 people for parties, events, meetings or corporate functions.

Not far from the Inn is Taste, Milton’s former foodie haven in the midst of the 10-acre vineyard, which will now be repurposed.

“We are going to make that a full-on tasting area for the winery so it will be a winery centric area. It will have a tasting room, offer to-go picnics, we’ll add some indoor-outdoor furniture and the menu will be more like a bistro, and there will be some retail in there,” Bouvier said.

It may also become the hub for guest activities including disc golf or archery, she said.