The Weekend at Biltmore Estates, Asheville, NC

We arrived at the Inn at Biltmore Estates mid-afternoon on Friday, September 30th. We had decided to book the romantic getaway, and was that terrific. There were lots of goodies included in that package--tickets to tour the Biltmore "castle", a beautiful room, breakfast and dinner each day, and a bottle of Biltmore Estates Champagne.



With each evening's bed turn down we received a box of two Biltmore Estate Milk Chocolate. It is not quite as tasty to me as the dark chocolate, but it was a fine touch. The first evening we had dinner in the Bistro at the Winery. The other two evenings we dined in the dining room at the Inn. The food was gourmet all the way at both places.



(You can barely see the champagne in this photo. It's on the desk to the right in the photo.) We decided to open the bottle and take it to the lobby/library area where there was a pianist playing. We didn't finish it all that evening and left it in the bucket where we found it upon our arrival. When we came back to the room the next evening the bottle was still there and the staff had added ice to the bucket to keep it cool. It had lost some of its effervescence, but was still very drinkable.

Now to go back to the first day. After we got settled in our room, there was still time to take formal tea in the Library. The pianist was playing then too. The tea was an extra cost experience that was well worth the price. We got to select the tea we wanted. Jamine is very nice. Then there were all sorts of delicious goodies to include scones, muffins, assorted chocolates and other sweet things. What we didn't finish we took with us and ate them later. Steve, the waiter, also brought out some extra chocolate rum truffles to take with us. He indicated that what isn't consumed is tossed if the staff doesn't finish it. He admitted to gaining a pound or two in the name of conservation and wasting not.

On Saturday we took the tour of the "castle". It is a manificent building. We decided to rent the audio devices to take the self guided tour. The tour was very well planned, and the audio descriptions told us everything we might have wanted to know about the Vanderbilts and how the lived. They led the way in paying decent wages to the help. They managed to fulfill their desire to have the estate become self-supporting. Mrs. Vanderbilt was instrumental in bringing 4-H to the area. There is an active chapter there to this day. They had a small display there on Saturday. We got a chance to talk with the folks at that booth.

We also took time to tour the walled garden. Even though the flowering season was rapidly coming to a close, the garden was quite beautiful. There was a green house which had some very lovely tropical plants. They even have a seedling room where they start their own annuals.

We had such a great time and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a special place to celebrate anything special.

Serve well!