Almost-Tuscany in Virginia, USA

Filed in archive Hidden Gems , Neighborhoods on May 15, 2008

Hmmm...I was just dreaming about Tuscany in the previous post.

Now I found this from The Washington Post: That's Italian . . . in Virginia?


© trentroche



K.C. Summers wrote, about Keswick Hall:

I do like a nice hotel. And while I'm not the kind of person who ordinarily spends $400 a night on a room - not even close - I managed to rationalize my stay at Keswick Hall thusly: Europe is not in the cards for me this summer. Just can't afford those $1,300 airfares, not to mention the crushing costs of food and lodging, thanks to the abysmal state of the dollar abroad.

But I could manage a tank of gas for the 220-mile round trip to Charlottesville, and Keswick was an appealing destination. The country-house hotel is set on 600 acres in Virginia's hunt country, in a 1912 Tuscan-style mansion that has been expanded and renovated over the years. Its 48 antiques-filled guest rooms overlook formal gardens or rolling fields; public spaces feature wood-burning fireplaces, overstuffed sofas, and tables piled with art books and first editions. I'd wanted to check the place out ever since Orient-Express Hotels bought the property in 1999 and liberated it from its Laura Ashley phase.

Even though it was just over two hours away, I'd hoped the hotel would offer some of the same pleasures I was looking for in a Tuscan getaway: great natural beauty, wine-soaked dinners, a sense of history and character. And so that's how I justified the $500 package deal for one night's lodging plus gourmet dinner and breakfast for two. Bonus: No passport, surly security agents or jet fuel surtax required.

Charlottesville, Virginia (USA)?! I'll definitely keep that in mind. ;-)

Read more of K.C. Summers account of the stay at Keswick Hall from The Washington Post.