The Martha Washington Inn & Spa — Hotel in Abingdon

Beautiful Hotel, but be cautious if booking a big event.

The good: The food was consistent and delicious for a 230+ person wedding. Breakfast was delicious as well daily and was included with the rooms. The valet team was fantastic, friendly, and helpful. There were a handful of really helpful wait staff that were working hard to ensure we had a great stay and wedding reception as well. The overall cost of the event was not completely unreasonable. The event was beautiful and the guests had a fantastic time. We had the parlor, porch, backstage, and ballroom.

The bad: The ballroom A/C could not keep up with the large group and read 78 degrees during the reception. There was considerable sweating. Additionally, the wedding coordinator and manager were not what you would expect from a high-end venue. I'll list details below of specific concerns to consider--communication was certainly the biggest challenge. I found the process of hosting a wedding for 230+ people to be unnecessarily stressful when reality did not meet what had been discussed at length in planning meetings. The draw for us to this venue was that we would not have to worry about the finer details, but this was not the case. Customer service and recovery skills fell short of what is seen in comparable hotels and venues.

Communication was exceptionally poor. A few of the larger issues are as follows: Room Blocks were not completed as we discussed and many wedding guests had to seek accommodations elsewhere due to the miscommunication. The block given was smaller than was discussed in initial meetings. The bridal suite was described as having two large bathrooms for the wedding party to get ready in and was discussed at length during our first visit with Wendy, the wedding coordinator. Upon check in, we were placed in a lovely, but small suite with a single, dark bathroom with one sink. When the concern was raised, we were told that the hotel was completely full and no other rooms were available. This caused major concern and unfortunately turned out to be completely untrue. One of our groomsmen was placed in the wrong type of room when he checked in later that day and when he went back to the front desk, he was upgraded to beautiful king suite in the center of the hotel that we had been told did not exist. He called and traded with us immediately. Additionally, housekeeping stated the another suite was empty on the floor above us. Whether the event coordinator was working with poor information or not, the situation was exceptionally unfortunate. When you are spending the amount of money we spent on a large wedding at a high-end venue, the regretful decision not to rely upon basic service recovery in this situation was unacceptable. We met and discussed the need for additional bars, bartenders and specific food and beverage options when we placed the deposit. When we received the detailed document, there were errors on every page as if we had not met at all. I honestly thought we had been sent someone else's paperwork. As the deadline was approaching I phoned a with the request for a return phone call to discuss details and to ask questions. Those calls were followed up via email from the coordinator with the promise of return phone calls that didn't come. This happened twice. As the deadline for final paperwork neared, I received an email request for us to sign the incorrect paperwork that was highly unprofessional. It was sent with demands in ALL CAPS and exclamation points on nearly every line of the message from the wedding coordinator. I phoned the hotel manager and shared my discomfort with the situation. Chris listened and stated that he hadn't heard of any issues before, but promised to speak with the coordinator and call me back later that week on Friday. That call never came. We were an out of town couple and had to take off work and drive over two hours from our home to complete the paperwork in person.

While I really did enjoy the wedding itself and the gorgeous setting, a lot was left...

This historic building is absolutely beautiful and the staff are very friendly and the rooms are beautiful.However, this hotel is NOT handicap/disabled accessible. My grandmother, who is handicap/disabled, stayed here this past week and I was appalled by how unaccessible it was for them. Once we arrived we realized that this could potentially be a problem because the only way to get to the front desk to go up stairs. My grandmother uses a walker and cannot walk up and down stairs, the only way she was able to get checked in was because I went inside to do if for her. I was not staying here with her. I asked the person at the front desk where the handicap accessible entrance was and I was not expecting the answer to be down a VERY steep hill next to the valet. If you have a walker or wheel chair this is a very dangerous walk way. The bricks were coming up, stopping the walker suddenly, and the ground is so uneven that the walker had a hard time maneuvering down the walkway. Once you get into the building there is an elevator that can take her to where her room was. The elevator stopped working twice restricting her from going to the restaurant. The elevator was fixed after getting stuck. My grandmother also had tickets to see a play at the Barter and if I or someone wasn't there to help her get there she would not have gane. SHe had to walk up the only entrance/exit she could ( up/down the very steep incline ) and once she got to the top of the hill she was at her limit for waking. I live an hour away and had to come help her to the theater so her tickets did not go to waste. I had to drive down multiple times, as did my mother, to help her get in and out of the hotel. Another thing that is quite ridiculous is that there is only ONE ice machine and it is on the third floor. You can get to it by the elevator however if you are handicap/disabled you will have a hard time carrying your ice bucket and walking with you walker up to the elevator, in the elevator and then back. The pool is also not accessible to handicap/disabled people. The only way to get to the poot is down a good amount of stairs. Unless you can get to the back parking lot an walk in that way, and that is IF you can get to that entrance. My grandmother could not access the pool at all. THe pool is also accessible to people who are not guests at the hotel. All doors leading to the pool are unlocked to where you don't need your key to get in. THis is also true for the entire building. At 8:00 pm there were people entering the building who were not guests. I understand they want to see this historic building but there should be certain hours during the day for non guests to visit the building. All in all neither my grandmother, mother, nor I would ever come and stay here again. The hotel is only doing what they have to in order to appease laws and regulations for handicap/disable accessibility. The hotel needs to be upfront with how accessible it is, even if it means...

My husband and I honeymooned at The Martha during the weekend of November 6th. As a Tri-Cities native who grew up hearing stories about this Appalachian gem, I thought it would be the perfect place for us to celebrate our new marriage.

Boy, was I wrong!

Our room was in sub-par condition--peeling wallpaper, spots on the ceiling--but I'll let the photos speak for themselves on that point.

The restaurant food was mediocre, and I am surprised at recent reviews which rave about the breakfast. OUR breakfast experience consisted mostly of granola bars and yogurt, with the special addition of some sausage and boiled eggs on Sunday (but not weekdays). Sounds like this has improved, but if it hasn't, I recommend planning to leave first thing for adequate sustenance throughout your stay.

I have saved the best for last, though: this portion of my review is the story of how I had to teach a staff member how to use a wine opener on my wedding night.

First, there no effort made on the part of The Martha to acknowledge the fact that it was our honeymoon (not expected, but I was surprised that there was no thought given here, considering the reputation). When I called the front desk for a bottle opener to open the red wine that we (thankfully!) packed, they bristled. After I reassured staff repeatedly that I would return what seemed to be their only wine opener on the premesis, a young man arrived at my door holding a tool a step above a Swiss army knife. If I thought I would be permitted to take the opening of my wine into my own hands, I was mistaken. The gentleman insisted that he must open the bottle himself. I stepped aside so he could enter my suite and do that. (What was it with this opener?!)

Reader, this is where I invite you to picture the scene: my new husband was in the shower and I wore feathered heels and a robe. (I cannot say it enough: it was my wedding night!)

I watched the young man struggle to remove the cork for several minutes before I offered to help. He declined, and struggled for another minute before I insisted--the cork was becoming increasingly sawdust-like. I stepped out of my slippers and taught him to use the lever function on the device.

And look, I used to be a caterer--I get it--those things can be tricky! But I just have so many questions. Why would a honeymooning couple at THE Martha be greeted with nothing so much as a card in their suite? Why are physical conditions in this hotel worse than most Airbnbs I've visited? And why would a hotel this size apparently only have one, very precious wine opener?!

We love Abingdon and will be back to visit, but never again at the Martha Washington Inn. There are too many sweet bed and breakfasts nearby that don't seem to be coasting on a bygone reputation. We had a wonderful honeymoon experience --I just wish we did not have it in SPITE of...