BlissWood Bed and Breakfast Ranch — Hotel in Bellville

Ahh, Blisswood. How I love thee, let me count the ways...

If only I was a poet!

Myself and 4 of my girlfriends enjoyed a fabulous 2-night stay at BlissWood's Oasis during our "Girl's Glorious Getaway" 2 weekends ago. The entire trip was wonderful! We couldn't arrive Friday night until 7:00 p.m. By that time of night this time of year, its already pitch black outside. Driving down an unfamiliar and gravel road seemed daunting at first, but never fear! Skeeter met is punctually at the "3 flags" and personally escorted us to our cabin, The Gate's House. He stayed to make sure we could get in, and that we were all comfortable and everything we needed!

The amenities at both the Gate's House and within the grounds around the Oasis were much more than I had ever dreamed. The beds were extremely comfortable and luxurious. I never sleep well away from my own bed at home, and I slept very soundly and comfortably both nights! That really says something - I'm a tough critic when it comes to beds.

The kitchen was well stocked with all the appliances and utensils we would need to prepare a couple meals during our stay. Complimentary coffee ready to go each morning! The house was spacious (3 bed, 2 bath, living area, laundry room, full kitchen and dining area, TV). The air conditioning unit ran nice and cold all weekend long, another big plus in my book! Additionally, I had full mostly full bars of AT&T wireless service the entire time we were at BlissWood (at the Oasis, at the pond/gazebo, at the horse barn, etc.) which was great! In fact, I was never without cell service the entire weekend.

The grounds around the Oasis are just beautiful. There are several water features, gardens, green-houses, and even a Koi pond. I couldn't stop snapping pictures. The stonework and all of the details and thought that went into planning this almost tropical, Zen-like, hide-away in “the middle of nowhere” is mind-boggling. So beautiful. Saturday morning myself and one of my friends opted for a one-hour horseback ride. There is NO better way to see the beautiful BlissWood acreage than on horseback! Apparently the entire ranch is around 650 acres, and horseback riding allows you to see certain parts that you would otherwise not get to see. Our guide, Armando, was very kind and knowledgeable about the ranch. We enjoyed his conversation. He also dismounted several times and offered to take pictures of us atop the horses with our cameras, which I thought, was very nice! The ranch is just so beautiful. So many picturesque spots. I could spend hours just hiking throughout the property and taking in the scenery around me.

Saturday evening all five of us had reservations at Carol’s Restaurant. WOW! The atmosphere and ambiance alone was enough to win me over. We enjoyed walking around and admiring all of the paintings and amazing photographs. But, the hospitality, friendliness, and humor of the staff were what really made our night. Our waitress was exceptional! We were also very pleased to have a nice wine selection. And I haven't even mentioned the food yet! I've never had a better seasoned or cooked pork chop in my life. So juicy, so flavorful! One of my friends let me sample their steak. It was also cooked and seasoned to perfection, not to mention precisely cooked to order. The side dishes and the soup were magnificent as well. I can't wait to eat there again! Back at BlissWood, anytime we had a question about anything, Skeeter was right there on the other end of the customer service line! We were even able to schedule a time to meet him at the gift shop on our way out of town Sunday morning. I came home with a nice t-shirt. :)

I'm already planning my next stay at BlissWood – this time with my husband and our dogs! I hope we can stay again over the Christmas break...

My fiancé and I had a lovely time here. The trip was meant to be leisure and he ended up proposing to me here so this is a special place! The scenery was lovely and the staff didn't bother us at all! They don't come to the rooms unless you desire and we really enjoyed that. The room itself, Bluebonnet Bungalow, was clean and had such a country feel to it. Albeit, it was a little tricky to find our house but once we did we fell in love! The outdoor shower and hot tub were our personal favorite.

We ran into a bit of an issue on our last night which unfortunately, shifted the mood on our stay. I personally let the owner know as I don't believe this is the type of luxury experience she would vouch for.

There is an option to order from Carols restaurant and get it delivered to the cabin door. I placed an order for Sunday Supper around 9:16 AM, and we didn't get the food until 8:20 PM. About 2-3 hours past the delivery window advertised (5:15 - 6:00 PM).

I called to check in on the order using the number in the confirmation email, at 6:30 PM, once I saw we had no food. Bobby answered and said there was no order on their end, then Sarah took the phone and said she would check for the order.

She called me back once she found it and offered to deliver slices of cake now or we could wait until 7:30-7:45 PM for the full order. These were the only options presented. This was a bit frustrating as the food costed $87 for two meals and the only thing being offered to eat was cake. I can't imagine spending almost one hundred dollars on two slices of cake, so we opted to wait.

She mentioned she would text when on the way, but I had to call again around 8:05 PM because still no sign of the food. Someone showed up who I believe was not Sarah but was delightful and offered two sparkling waters as consolation...

Unfortunately, the food was not very good. It was lukewarm at best. We thought we would be getting a really nice pork tenderloin with rosemary sauce but it was overall very dry and no sauce. My fiancé had also found a little spider in his dinner box. They explained the cook had gone home which I can understand but I feel maybe a refund should've been in place instead of what was served. It doesn't seem to be a very good depiction of what was on the menu.

Ultimately, because we were waiting for dinner so long and had cooked our own food already we had nothing left. We decided to cut our trip short and leave.

The last few things I would touch up on:

We paid for an additional anniversary package and we would've loved to see real rose petals on the bed instead of fake.

Currently they only offer continental cold breakfast. Bagel, yogurt, granola, apple, muffin. We were a little confused by this as they are offering "hot" dinner for purchase. We would've loved to have hot breakfast or potentially the option to order it.

The picnic that came with our package was a nice thought but you have to assemble your own sandwich. We can see the groceries for it came from H-E-B, (the waters offered were from there). I think it would be better to buy H-E-B's pre-made deli sandwiches, then ask what snacks we would like on the side. To accompany our sandwich, we were given goldfish, fruit snacks, popcorn, trail mix, lays - but majority of that stuff we don't eat.

Lastly, more snacks to be available in the room, like a little goody basket of options. We did bring our own but since they gave so many random options in the picnic, we feel the picnic should've been more personalized and then these random extras could have gone in the room.

These things wont stop us from coming back at all, as this place is special indeed. We just intend on bringing much more food and will likely not try the restaurant...

Blisswood is fantastic and the ideal quick getaway, only one hour from Houston. The booking process was easy and the communication with Carol fantastic - we got talking about our rescue dogs (mine was coming to the Ranch with me) and from that moment I knew it would be a very special place. I've stayed at several other guest ranches and, as someone who loves privacy, sometimes found them a bit too claustrophobic with cabins too close to the other guests and long rides with many others, not here however. Blisswood has the right mix of activities and privacy, you can choose how much you want to interact with others or simply relax in peace, and the other guests we came across were all polite and lovely. The ranch really has such an incredible, relaxing atmosphere and you're given so much free rein to simply explore the ranch at your leisure. We decided to stay at the Enchanted Cabin, just my dog and me. It's the most remote cabin and on a private road across from the stunning lake where you will see beautiful herons, birds and fish. We arrived in the late afternoon. The cabin had been warmed for our arrival and the pictures don't do it justice. It's beautiful, roomy, clean and very comfortable and cosy. My dog loved sleeping on the rug in front of the fire after our long walks. With a porch and hot tub it's great to sit outside with a beer and take in the surroundings and quiet. A delicious (and plentiful) breakfast was in the fridge ready for the morning and coffee is easily brewed using the pot. We also opted to have a meal delivered from Carol's restaurant each evening, delivered by a lovely man called Skeeter. The steak and salmon were delicious and cooked perfectly and the portions were large, I couldn't finish it all! I recommend hiring one of the golf buggies to tour the ranch on. We had so much fun zipping round on it, I was driving with my dog in the passenger seat and it was a great way to have a look at the grounds.

The horse riding was great, the horses are lovely and well behaved and it just long enough. You are accompanied by a very experienced wrangler who keeps you safe and talks about the grounds and horses. Afterwards we had a look at all the lovely animals around the show barn, including two beautiful lemurs and some extremely cute two week old calves! All of the animals are so well cared for, we even commented that we'd never seen such beautiful looking cattle before, they're in such great condition! My favourite of all the animals was the tiny little donkey that is kept with an older (and beautiful) horse and other donkeys near the wagon accommodation. It was so cute, confident and adorable and had a lot of character, trying to search in my pockets for some goodies and also hilariously running off with my iPhone case that was in the buggy. It gave me a good laugh and I gave them all some apples in exchange for a kiss from each (and my iPhone case!).

As a side note, as the website says, make sure you keep your dog on a lead here. It's probably tempting to let them off as there's so much space, but there are animals (such as the donkeys or horses) that might come out of the brush unexpectedly when you're on walks and you don't want to scare or upset any of them by accident.

My dog and I really had a blast here with a mixture of walks by the lake, riding and exploring and relaxation. We'll most definitely be back for weekends and with friends and family who come to...