Nemacolin, Pennsylvania — Trip Report

Overview

Nemacolin is a resort in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, at Farmington, about seventy miles southeast of Pittsburgh. It has been a resort since 1987, the year on the gilded sun in the lobby, and it has grown into something closer to a small town than a hotel: several places to stay, two golf courses, a wildlife habitat, a field club for shooting and archery, a patisserie under a glass roof, its own landing strip, and a bird for a mascot that turns up on the tiramisu. This was a late-summer stay of three nights with the Harvell Travel team, which is enough to see it and not enough to do all of it.

Disclosure: this was a familiarization trip hosted by Nemacolin for the Harvell Travel team, and the resort provided the stay. The observations and opinions are my own.

Where we stayed

We stayed in the Chateau, in a Chateau King. It is the centrepiece of the resort: a long white-and-grey façade with a colonnaded porch and flags out front, built in the manner of a Paris grand hotel, with chandeliers down the corridors and a patterned carpet underfoot. Rooms are also in Falling Rock, the adults-only hotel by the golf course, and in the Grand Lodge, and there are private homes and estates on the property, sleeping anywhere from 6 to 22, that would work well for a family trip. Every room type comes with butler service. You put your coffee request out the night before, how you take it and when you want it, and the butler has it at the door on a silver tray at that time. There is also a concierge level you can book: the same butler service, plus a light breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the early evening, and after-dinner drinks.

Jeannie in a white dress in front of a gilded sun sculpture in the lobby, the resort's bird and the year 1987 at its centre — In front of the gilded sun in the lobby, the resort’s bird and the year 1987 at its centre.

A long hotel corridor with chandeliers, wall sconces and an ornate patterned carpet — A corridor in the Chateau: chandeliers, sconces and the patterned carpet.

The concierge level club in the Chateau: dark chairs, a vase of flowers and a chandelier — The concierge level club.

A silver coffee pot and cup on a silver tray in a hotel room — Morning coffee on a silver tray, at the door at the time requested the night before.

Afternoon tea

Afternoon tea is served in the Bleu Room, a pale-blue salon under a chandelier: a tiered stand with a silver bird on a branch above the pastries, scones, sandwiches, and petit fours painted to match the china. Book it; the room is small.

A tiered afternoon tea stand topped with a silver bird on a branch, pastries and scones below — The afternoon tea stand, a silver bird on a branch above the pastries.

Two petit fours, one pale blue with a daisy, on a painted porcelain plate — Two petit fours on a painted porcelain plate.

The Field Club

The Field Club is a few miles from the hotel, down in the woods. Sporting clays are shot from covered wooden stands looking out over a meadow, with an instructor at your shoulder and the guns provided; archery is on a range cut into the long grass. I am from Texas and had fired guns before, but never a shotgun; I broke the first clay out of the trap. The bow went less well, and was worth the try. The club’s lodge is timber and taxidermy, with a bar.

Jeannie firing a shotgun from the window of a wooden shooting stand, smoke in the air, the instructor beside her — Taking a shot from the covered stand at the Field Club, the smoke still in the air.

The Harvell Travel group — three women and the instructor holding a shotgun — inside the wooden shooting stand at the Field Club — The Harvell Travel group at the Field Club stand.

An archer drawing a bow in a meadow, the target set among long grass with woods behind — Archery in the meadow at the Field Club.

The timber lodge at the Field Club, animal mounts on the walls, tables and a bar — The Field Club’s lodge: timber, taxidermy and a bar.

The Wildlife Habitat

The Wildlife Habitat is the resort’s own animal park: big cats behind the fences, and an open area of goats and deer that will come and take feed from your hand. The deer had climbed the stacked boulders for the view across the valley.

A deer standing on stacked boulders above a wooded valley in the Laurel Highlands — A deer on the stacked boulders, the Laurel Highlands behind.

A grey-and-white goat looking into the lens over a gravel bank — One of the goats, come to see whether there was any feed left.

Things to do

The list is long, and most of it needs a booking. Two Pete Dye courses, Mystic Rock and Shepherd’s Rock, with an indoor golf academy on Trackman for the days it rains, and a miniature golf course for everyone else. The Woodlands Spa and Holistic Healing Center, where we had massages, and where the protein balls are. Jeep off-roading, a ropes course, an equestrian trail ride, dog-sledding in season, and several pools. Pinot & Painting, which we did, and cosmic bowling, which we also did. PJ’s Ice Cream Parlor, the Hardy Zone, and the resort’s own casino. The Weekend Extras card in the room lists the resort’s own programme for the three days: artist meet-and-greets, whiskey tastings, a tortoise encounter, candle making, line dancing, pony rides, a cornhole tournament, family bingo by the pool. Indoors there are golf simulator bays, VR bays, and the Immaculate Reception football on display under the story of Franco Harris.

A printed Weekend Extras card listing the resort's activities for Friday, Saturday and Sunday — The Weekend Extras card: the resort’s own programme for the three days.

Golf simulator bays with screens, a bar counter and a geometric carpet — Golf simulator bays.

VR bays with bright graphic panels in a high-ceilinged hall — The VR bays.

The Immaculate Reception football in a glass case in front of a wall panel about Franco Harris — The Immaculate Reception football on display.

A bowler at a lane under blacklight, screens above showing football — Cosmic bowling.

Two riders on the carousel horses, the meadow behind — On the carousel.

Jeannie in a white cap holding up her painting of pine trees under a blue sky — Pinot & Painting: my canvas.

A stand of chocolate protein balls on sticks on a wooden table by a window in the spa — Protein balls in the spa.

Where we ate

Dinner the first night was at Gusto: pasta in tomato sauce served in its copper pan, and a tiramisu with the resort’s bird dusted in cocoa on top, then after-dinner drinks at the Circle Bar. The second day was lunch at the Peak and dinner at Aqueous, in Falling Rock: burrata with prosciutto and beets to start, and a dessert built as a strawberry on a slate plate to finish. The resort has a number of restaurants across the property; the shuttle runs between them.

Pasta in tomato sauce with mozzarella and basil, served in a small copper pan — Pasta in tomato sauce, served in its copper pan, at Gusto.

A tiramisu in a cup, the resort's bird stencilled in cocoa on top — Tiramisu at Gusto, the resort’s bird dusted in cocoa on top.

A plate of burrata with prosciutto, beets and greens — Burrata with prosciutto and beets, at Aqueous.

A red strawberry-shaped dessert on a black slate plate with crumbs and berries — A dessert built as a strawberry, on slate, at Aqueous.

Around the resort

Falling Rock, the adults-only hotel, has a three-wheeler coffee cart parked in its lobby under an arrangement of flowers; at the Chateau the Patisserie is under a glass roof hung with chandeliers. Outside, a bronze bird sits in the fountain pool in front of the Chateau, and the pool by the fairway runs its jets into the evening. There is a carousel by the meadow, and the Lobby Bar at the end of the day. Refill stations for the resort’s aluminium water bottles are all over the property, the terrace in front of the Chateau looks out over the hills, and the art collection continues into the grounds, where a piece of the Berlin Wall stands among the trees.

The Harvell Travel team and their Nemacolin host Laura, four women smiling for a selfie in the Lobby Bar — The Harvell Travel team and our Nemacolin host, Laura, in the Lobby Bar.

A vintage three-wheeler coffee cart under a hanging arrangement of flowers in the lobby at Falling Rock — The three-wheeler coffee cart under its flowers in the lobby at Falling Rock, the adults-only hotel.

The Patisserie under a glass roof, crystal chandeliers hanging from the girders — The Patisserie under the glass roof, chandeliers overhead.

A rounded bronze bird sculpture on a plinth in a fountain pool, flags and clouds behind — The bronze bird in the fountain pool in front of the Chateau.

The Nightcap bar, red leather stools, a parquet floor and a coffered ceiling — The Nightcap: red leather stools under a coffered ceiling.

Lit fountain jets in a pool beside a fairway at dusk — The fountain pool at dusk, the fairway beyond.

The stone terrace in front of the Chateau, the bronze bird in its pool and storm clouds over the Laurel Highlands — The terrace in front of the Chateau, a storm building over the hills.

A graffitied segment of the Berlin Wall held in rusted steel posts among trees in the grounds at Nemacolin — A piece of the Berlin Wall, part of the resort’s art collection, out in the grounds.

An Elkay refill station filling a green aluminium Nemacolin water bottle — A refill station for the resort’s aluminium water bottles.

Shopping

Laurel Lane Shops — curated women's, men's and children's apparel — Ramy Brook, L'Agence, Rails, Rodd & Gunn
The Hardy Collective by Louis Anthony Jewelers — jewelry, with some of the most unusual tennis bracelets I have seen
The golf shop at Falling Rock — a large selection Falling Rock
The Nemacolin outlet — Nemacolin-branded items at a discount near the casino

Pro tips

Book the Field Club and the Wildlife Habitat before you arrive. Both are timed, both are a few miles from the hotel, and the popular slots go first.
Book the concierge level. It keeps the butler and adds a light breakfast, afternoon tea, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and after-dinner drinks — most of a day’s eating and drinking, on the room.
The Nemacolin outlet is near the casino. Nemacolin-branded items at a discount on the shops by the Chateau.
Ask for the vanity kit and the dental kit. A jade roller and a gua sha in one, toothbrush, paste and mouthwash in the other; both are complimentary on request.
Reserve afternoon tea. The Bleu Room holds a handful of tables.
Pittsburgh is the airport, and you do not need a car. The resort’s shuttle will collect you from the airport for a fee, about an hour and a half by road, and once you are there the shuttles run all day between every part of the property. Nemacolin also has its own landing strip for small planes, so a private or charter flight can come straight in.
Fallingwater is twenty minutes away. Frank Lloyd Wright’s house over the waterfall is at Mill Run; tours are timed and sell out, so book ahead.
Three nights is the minimum. One for the property, one for the things that need a booking, one for the things you only find on the second day.

An open green vanity kit box on the bed holding a jade roller, a gua sha and pouches — The vanity kit, complimentary on request: a jade roller and a gua sha.

An open green dental kit box on the bed with a toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash — The dental kit, complimentary on request.

Book a trip like this

I can research and book a stay like this one, with the Field Club and the Habitat arranged before you arrive. See Book with Jeannie. The stay itself was hosted by the resort; the disclosure is at the top of the page.