One of the best vacations we have had in a long time
Today is our last day at Nemacolin. We started our day with a short property tour which was led by Communications Manager at Nemacolin, Donna Herto (shoutout to Donna for such an amazing tour). We started off the tour at one of Nemacolin’s most sought after experience, the Woodlands Spa and Salon. The spa is walking distance from The Chateau, and as soon as you enter you feel such a calming, Zen energy wrap around you. Nemacolin’s spa has such a diverse array of treatments and will cater to anything you might need. In fact, guests can customize the treatments they want and the spa professionals will create a customized spa experience based on the selection you choose from. Other notable features of the spa is that there is a four lane indoor heated lap pool along with a whirlpool too. And as far as treatments go, Nemacolin takes the cake for what they offer. One of the most impressive things they offer is the Five Elements Journey where guests embrace the five earth elements – wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, which leaves your body relaxed and at peace. Nemacolin has also partnered with Biologique Recherche to create a personalized and all-natural skincare routine for guests and is especially popular during the winter when your skin can get more dry. There is also a steam and sauna room for guests to enjoy after getting a treatment. And after you finish your treatment, guests can have access to the relaxation lounge where they can sip on champagne and eat some light snacks or lunch. And next to the spa is a beautiful and quite large fitness center where any guest can go to and work out in.
We continued the tour via car and saw a variety of different activities and offerings Nemacolin has. There is a Zen garden available, an 18 hole mini golf course which is free to all overnight guests, an antique car showcase (some of which are on sale too), tennis, shuffleboard, and paddle boarding on the lake during the summer. And while you stay at Nemacolin, the wildlife exhibit is something that you must see. Nemacolin took in many of the animals in the wildlife exhibit after a nearby zoo closed down. That is why Nemacolin has some of the most exotic animals you will ever see. There are lions, tigers, bears, and wolves too. And one of our favorite parts of the exhibit is a place called Billy goat mountain which is exactly what it sounds like.
The next leg of the tour was at Reflections, Nemacolin’s contemporary art museum. Nemacolin has over 1000 pieces of art of which 95% is on display. And at Reflections, you can see some hand picked art pieces that Mr. Hardy selected to be shown. The space also has a bit of an echo, purposefully done so guests can hear themselves and reflect on the words that they say. The gorgeous exhibit features some of the most beautiful and thought provoking pieces we have seen. And then hearing about the meaning each piece had to Mr. Hardy made for an even more enjoyable experience. We even found out that Mr. Hardy still selects the pieces that are added to Reflections to this day and that Nemacolin has plans to continuously expand this space to account for the new pieces being installed.
Next stop was the Nemacolin golf academy. It’s here that guests can play golf, both indoors and outdoors. And what’s even better is that the golf academy is for both pros at the game and for newcomers. What was especially interesting about the golf academy are some of the amenities offered to guests who play golf. There are indoor golf simulators for off season as well as a swing balance station that tracks your golf stance and how you shift your weight while swinging. There is even a putting room in the back that mirrors the landscape you might be in when out in the field.
Our last stop was at Falling Rock. Influenced by the renowned architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Falling Rock is one of the most luxurious spaces we have ever been in. With only 42 rooms in the resort, each room has a personalized butler service available to take care of all your needs. Additionally, there is a pillow menu and a bath menu available so guests can experience the best baths and sleep of their life. On top of that, there is an infinity pool that overlooks the 18th hole of the golf course. We ended the tour here and stopped by the Falling Rock restaurant, Aqueous, for breakfast.
Aqueous is the restaurant every guest has to dine in. Aqueous is famously a Forbes Four-Star and AAA Four-Diamond restaurant, where they create a fresh and exciting menu that changes frequently. For breakfast, we stuck with our savory and sweet mentality. We tried the apple and oat pancakes as well as the stuffed avocado which was stuffed with crispy pork belly, local goat cheese, greens, a sunny-side-up egg, and topped with a chipotle aioli. The pancakes were magical. There were five pancakes stacked on top of each other, each one bigger than the next. Served with some fresh maple syrup, these pancakes were fluffy and packed a punch of caramelized apple flavor. The oats added a nice change in texture and soaked up a bunch of the syrup’s flavor making this a sweet tooth’s dream breakfast.
The stuffed avocado was beautifully plated and we felt guilty even touching it. The egg was cooked perfectly and it was great to have the runny yolk pour over the dish. The avocado was creamy and perfectly ripe and married perfectly with the goat cheese. And the addition of pork belly made for a nice variety of texture as well as added both a sweetness and umami flavor to the dish. And with that, it was our last meal at Nemacolin for this trip.
Our lasting impression of Nemacolin was that although it being a short trip, we got to try out experiences we wouldn’t have dreamed of doing otherwise. The resort itself was beautiful and was one of the best resorts we have ever been to. The staff was so attentive and every single one of our needs were taken care of. The variety of experiences you can choose from at Nemacolin is unmatched. Nemacolin is a place that spoils you in the best way possible. After experiencing Nemacolin, we can definitively say that we have experienced what a vacation can truly be and we can’t possibly look at another hotel the same way again.
