A 5-Star Vacation to Barnsley Gardens
The resort is gated and when you drive up a staff member comes out and asks your name. if you have a reservation, etc, and then points you in the direction of the main building. There is a nice over hang to park under while you go inside and take care of things. As soon as you park you are greet by a door man who comes and opens your car door and greets you by name. He escorts you to the doors of the main building and opens them as well. He must be good at his job!
The staff though out the resort is as nice as can be. They just make you want tip them as much as you can. They also pride themselves on greeting you by name and it shows. It makes for a very personal experience. During check in for the hotel the receptionist gave me a map to the property and suggested activities that I may like to do with my dog. She then called for the door man to show us to our room. The door man kindly grabbed our luggage from the car and carried it to the room.
All of the rooms are in cute little cottages. They are the size of a full house but divided into two sections for separate couples. I think they may have a few cottages that are full sized for large groups. The rooms are covered in dark hardwood floor and decorated for a warm cottage field. Deep greens and reds make for a relaxing night next to the large fireplace. The beds are four post beds that are pure heaven to sleep on. It almost makes that 11:00 checkout time hard to make. You’re sure to love the bathroom. It houses a large stand up shower with room for two and a large cast iron tube for soaking. Each cottage also comes with a private porch with a table and two rocking chairs for relaxing in.
We were in our room for about an hour or so when another staff member came to our room. She of course greeted us by name and asked about our dog. She then gave us a nice little bag full of surprises for our dog. The bag came with a note and some toys for the dog. The staff was excellent with our dog. One day we left the dog on the porch and decided to lounge by the pool. It started to get hot so we asked one of the staff if the could go let the dog into the room for us and they did it without question.
One thing I liked about the rooms was the way there movie selections were setup. Not only did they have your normal pay per view movies but they had a function that allowed you to view movies that were still in the theater. I think it was about 12.00 for those movies but that is still cheaper than the price of two movie tickets at todays prices. They also had a Nintendo game cube built into the TV. You could pay 7.00 for a hour of play. The basic channels were limited satellite channels along with the music channels.
There is a mini-fridge in the room with water. Not sure if its free. Didn’t want to find out. There is a little bar area with sick right above the mini fridge. Next to the sink you will find a coffee maker and loads of coffee and hot chocolate. There is also a small desk set behind the sofa. Here you can use the phone or plug into the two line data port phones. I’m pretty sure Internet access is extra on a day to day basis.
The grounds are set up like a little village. Its very cute, full of pebble roads and beautiful landscaping. Green grass and flowers are very where you look. There is a large chapel in the middle for holding weddings. There is also a large building near the cottages for holding events and meetings. If you are into golf you can try famous course on the property. If golf isn’t your thing don’t worry there is plenty to see and do. You can go for a swim in the pool, work out, go to the spa, hike some trails, rent a bike, go horse back riding, or visit the barnsley garden manor.
Weddings at Barnsley are always eccentric. It’s hard to have a bad wedding in such a beautiful setting. The resort is setup for both indoor and outdoor weddings. If you feel like having your wedding outside you can have it at the Barnsley Garden Manor. The manor is actually the ruins of a manor built during the civil war. The brick ruins are crawling with ivy and the open roof and windows let in a strange array of soft light that seem to make the place look magical. In front of the manor is a circular garden with a large fountain in the middle. Perfect for all kinds of photo ops. In the back of the manor there is an open lawn for setting and guest. You can also stroll down a path to take you down to the lake for more wonderful photo ops. The manor is setup to be able to handle 150 guests. If you have a larger wedding you can have your guest seated on the open lawn right beside the manor. The lawn is setup for 500 guests. There are several fine restaurants on the property that can take care of catering your event.
Cant have your wedding inside? No big deal. The town hall in the middle of the cottage village is just as beautiful. You can exchange vows on a 16th century alter! The back of the town hall has large windows that open out to a vast array of roses that is sure to make any picture beautiful.
The resort has some of the best food I have had in a long time. The grounds hold two 5 star restaurants and a German beer garden. At the beer garden you can drink imported German beers, have some pretzels, and even some fire roasted bratwurst. One of the restaurants is steakhouse grille type sit down while the other is a mix of southern style foods.
The rice house, the southern style cuisine restaurant is delicious. Again everyone here take pride in knowing your name. You can call ahead from your room for reservations if you wish. Depending on the time of year you may not need to do this. The restaurant decor keeps with the style of the living areas of the cottages. Full of deep dark colors and large stone fire places. The inside is lit up by the vast amount of windows overlooking the golf course area of the resort. There are covered areas out side with plenty of fans if you feel like eating outside. These spots usually go quick so if you want to eat outside you may need to make a reservation.
The gardens also host a pretty nice golf course. The course was voted 13th in the sate of Georgia by Golf Digest. It is an 18 hole course that is $100.00 a day. They also offer rental equipment at a fee. If your not up for 18 holes or just don’t want to spend that much money you can go for the 9 hole course at $50.00 a day.
If your looking for something to do with your dog you can try some of the hiking and biking trails. If you fell like biking you can rent bikes from the souvenir shop. They will give you a map of the grounds and suggest trails based on your personal wants.
The hiking trails are fun. There are 3 different lengths you can do. A simple mile loop, a 3 mile, and a longer 5 mile loop. The trails cross over several bridges, run by the lake and follow a small stream for a while. Remember that if you are taking your dog you need to keep it on a leash. We took the 3 mile loop and stopped about half way for a picnic by the river. The creek adds some nice background noise. The dog loved playing in the creek and chasing birds. There are a few hills in the trail and a break in the middle wasn’t needed but it was a nice rest. Make sure to wear good shoes though because there a parts of the trail by the lake that can get pretty muddy. Sometimes after a hard rain parts of the hiking trails might be washed out or really muddy.
If you like fishing there is a great trophy fly fishing stream not far from the resort at all. In fact you can sign up for a guided fishing trip to the stream. If you don’t know how to fly fish but would like to learn you can sign up for a class on that too. The instruction classes are a $125.00 per person. The classes include gear. If you want to fish but don’t have gear you can rent some from the store.
This place has events all through out that year so check there calendar to see what’s going on. My two favorite things here are the Easter egg hunt and the mothers’ day celebration. The children’s Easter egg hunt is so much fun to watch. There are kids all dressed up in there Sunday best running around. The restaurants have tables setup outside for eating and a special meal price.
Mom is sure to love you more if you bring her here for mothers’ day. Treat her to a 5 star meal outside at a private table. Prices are set for certain 3 course meals. Usually around $30 or $40.
