Greenbrier Bunker — Attraction in White Sulphur Springs

This was the worst tour I’ve ever had. When I first signed up for the tour, I got there a little bit early to see what the outside of the Bunker looked like. I was told. I couldn’t go to the area until the tour starts. I later found out this wasn’t true. The outside blast door and hidden wall of the bunker is located at WEST VIRGINIA WING. 4400 • 7700.

I would’ve preferred to pay cash, but I was only giving me option of charging it or charging it to my room with my room key. The tour started off with Theresa , an elderly woman who was very cranky , very nasty and she kept yelling at people for standing in the doorway. The tour wasn’t organized. The group was spread out everywhere and I couldn’t hear the tour guide. The tour was boring, and there were other people in the group that were going into other areas that weren’t part of the tour. The doors were open and I couldn’t understand why the tour guide wouldn’t let us know what was in that area as part of the tour. If we weren’t allowed in that area, I understand it, but at least explain to us what it is is part of the tour.

To be honest, you won’t see much of the bunker. The bunker was taken over by a company that uses the area for document storage.

You start the tour by seeing the opening of the bunker. There’s a blast door. You’ll walk down the hallway through another hallway. You’ll see a brief movie and walk down a few more hallways into a room.

The tour was very disappointing It was disappointing because not much was covered about the bunker itself, and you really don’t see much. You might see five or six items of interest.

The tour guide named Theresa really made the tour a terrible tour. I’d suggest if you get her as a tour guide you should pick a time for with another tour guide.. I’m in the process of asking for a refund for the tour. That’s how bad it was.

You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the bunker, but you are allowed to take pictures outside before you go in. If you get there early, just ask for directions to the West Virginia wing that I have noted above and you will see exactly where the tour will start. If the bunker door isn’t open you’ll be able to see the wall that hides the bunker.

You’ll need to make reservations ahead of time...

Greenbrier Bunker:

President Dwight Eisenhower decided the Greenbrier hotel in West Virginia would be a perfect cover for a congressional bunker. So in 1958, government workers broke ground on what they called "Project Greek Island."

It was just about a four-hour drive from Washington and since nuclear bombs were delivered by airplanes at that time, it would give them enough time to get Congress and the Senate safely out of Washington.

It was built 720 feet into the hillside under The West Virginia wing of the gorgeous hotel. The walls are between 3 ft and 5 ft thick concrete with blast doors at the entrances that weighed up to 24 tons. Once it was completed in 1961, the facility was constantly maintained by a small group of government employees working undercover as audio and video technicians.

The bunker was able to safely hold and feed 1,100 people for 60 days. lt included a full medical staff and operating room,  dental facilities, a dining area that could serve 400 people at a time, meeting rooms and more.

When people would arrive there after an emergency evacuation of Washington the Senate and House personnel that arrived would be processed through a high pressure shower to wash off any nuclear dust that may have gotten on to them. After their shower they would be checked with a geiger counter and given new clothes.

The bunker remained a closely guarded secret for 30 years until 1992, when Washington Post reporter Ted Gup revealed its existence in his article, “The Ultimate Congressional Hideaway.” Given that its secure location was one of the primary guarantees for its defense, the bunker was quickly decommissioned when exposed.

Parts of the decommissioned bunker are used as rental areas and other parts of it are restricted and used as a data farm for corporate entities to store off site data.

The Bunker tour at The Greenbrier is approximately ninety minutes and a must-see experience that takes you behind the scenes and walks you through a fascinating...

$30 and about 80-90 minutes of your time gets you into a big, empty white room for about 15 minutes while the guide talks. Then into the bowels of the Greenbrier where you can see furnaces and water tanks for another 15 minutes (how exciting), a big 30 ton blast door (it's just a big metal door) for about 5 minutes, some hallways where all doors are locked and cannot gain access that you for some reason spend 15 minutes in, and you get to spend 5 minutes in the theater room (that is still used) about 5 minutes watching a short video in another room, check out the decontamination shower for 1 minute (a quick walk through) then back out into the empty hallways. Then you finally get into a small room with the old stuff that "might" have been historically been there for another 10 minutes. Then end where they have culinary stuff going on. We couldn't even walk down the tunnel to the other entrance. You may NOT bring your phones or any cameras in there because of "sensitive CSX IP company" material that currently contract with the Greenbrier (you never are able to see or gain any sort of access to that stuff to begin with). I do not think they are telling the truth about the CSX "sensitive material" currently being utilized down there. I think they just don't want pictures to get out to show how lame the tour really is. I felt this was a waste of my time and money. This was a tour that really could have taken less than 15 minutes and at maximum $5 out of your wallet. You are better off just reading about it and looking at the available older pictures online that are free...