Valhalla Resort Hotel — Hotel in Helen

This year was our second visit to the Valhalla resort. We stayed this year in the Presidential Suite, and added on the "Celebrate You" package as part of our stay to have a few extras. Pros: the rooms are comfortable. We liked having the separate living area in the Presidential. We enjoy having the robes and slippers, and the housekeeping staff did a great job replenishing our bottles of water and keeping our room tidy. The TVs are not great and fireplace is mostly decorative, but it's not a big deal. We ate at the Caledonia Room and the Skybar. The bartender, Matthew, at Skybar is super friendly and makes our experience enjoyable. Our server at Caledonia was also very nice and helpful. The valets are helpful in getting your bags unloaded from the car and up to your room. We visited the spa and had massages and head spa treatments and loved both! Cons: the worst part about our experience was the lack of communication from the front desk. Make sure you hang on to your emails and any written communications confirming everything. We had no real problems checking in, but it did seem like there was a lack of preparation. Our Celebrate You package included breakfast in bed one morning and an afternoon tea. After some fumbling around, we were finally provided with the breakfast in bed order forms and told how to use them, but no mention of the tea, although twice in my confirmation emails I was told we could take care of it at check in and it would be served in our room. I didn't think much of it at the time, thinking maybe we set that up later since we had arrived in the afternoon on the day of check in. I finally asked at the desk a day or so later about it and was given the tea list to choose from, and I asked if we could do the tea earlier in the day rather than the standard 3-4 pm. KT told us that she would inquire, and let us know via email later that evening. No emails were received, and no mention was made that the tea would not be in our room like it did in my two confirmation emails. I called the front desk the next day to ask again, and had to call three times before anyone answered. Tammy informed us that "they had a lot going on" and no one would be there to do the tea service until the 3-4:15 time slot. I said that was fine, and we would do the 4 pm. Again, no mention of any other location. We made a point to be back in our room by no later than 330 so we could be ready for tea. We waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing brought to the room. No call to let us know it was delayed or canceled. We finally left about 5 pm because we had plans to get to, and stopped by the desk to ask about the tea. KT caught a bit of an attitude and told us that they had it ready for us downstairs and we never showed up. That it is "always served in the Highlands Room." I told her that we had not been made aware that it was not served in our room and so we waited, and no one called or ever communicated to us that it anywhere other than our room, and she said she thought she had told us that. She offered to send it up the next morning, but we had plans to check out, and she just shrugged it off. Only after I went and got my phone and showed her the two emails did she offer any kind of other compensation, which was a $20 credit. The next day at check out, I asked to review our bill, and there wasn't a credit. I asked Tammy about it and she, too, immediately blamed us for the gaffe, saying it was our fault and that "there is no credit" and she didn't know where that $20 credit offer had come from. I pulled out my phone and showed her the very same emails, one of which had Tammy's name on it asking "Would you like to schedule your preferred tea service in your room?" and told her that KT had offered us the credit. She said she would look into it while we got something to eat before we left. She did finally give us the credit, but it left a sour taste in our mouths. Fortunately I had the receipts to prove that we didn't just not show up. Do better about how you treat your guests and don't instantly blame them for...

My husband and I booked a trip to Georgia for his birthday in May 2024. We had decided on Valhalla Resort for a couple of reasons: 1. They had an early bird special for booking and 2. We thought it was gonna be fun, being that it was a resort. This resort was expensive and not worth the money, I would have stayed at a holiday inn. ||This place being called a resort is a stretch for me. As an avid traveler, I didn’t see any resort qualities, minus the valet parking and some complimentary champagne upon arriving. There is absolutely nothing fun to do on this resort. They do not have games, parties or even fun people working. There is a pickle ball court, tennis court (couldn’t find it) and golfing. But you can only do this during the hours of the pro shop being open. So in the evening when the sun is still out, you’re SOL to do anything. The spa is on premise, but from the looks of it, I wasn’t impressed and did not try any of the services. ||There was supposed to be a Memorial Day party, which got rained out, they tried to do it another day but it was a flop. Also nothing there was included, it was 13$ for a hamburger and a bag of chips, drinks weren’t included. Being that it was a “party” you’d think something would be free or there would be decorations, SOMETHING, anything, but there was no party, even the staff were bored just standing outside talking to each other. The pool was also dirty with debris and dead bugs floating, we stayed here 6 days and I didn’t see anyone clean the pool, not once. ||The food at the resort is just “ok”, it’s not worth it by any means and again it’s expensive. The young man Matthew at the sky bar was great for conversation and local recommendations, but the food-not worth it. It would be great if there was any type of complimentary breakfast, because there isn’t a lot around the resort. You can go into Helen, but it is a tourist nightmare. ||Our room smelled like rotten eggs every single night. I did not know why or what caused this, it seemed to be coming from the shower drain or the toilet. You can’t even close the toilet because there isn’t a lid and the smell came through the door. I did mention it to staff 2x, nothing was done. We had our toilet back up as well, we did tell staff about this and they fixed it. Unclear how long it took since we were gone all day. ||We did a safari tour with Drew, who was absolutely great. Very knowledgeable and funny, showing us around the property, in the hopes of seeing any wildlife. That was a bust, which is fine this isn’t a zoo, but I hoped to see bears that the resort talks about so frequently. But this tour was 50$ a person, which just seems like a stretch and I’m not sure the resort is even pushing these “safari tours”, but it was one of the only things to do. ||Other random things that bothered us: no microwave in the room, the doors are not key card access and they randomly lock these doors so then you have to go around the front and when you get back later than 11pm the front doors are locked. The whole “resort” is outdated and not current with technology. We walked around this resort to find the “trail” which was not clear and seemed slightly unsafe and the signs were not leading us to the right place and when I asked staff, explaining we couldn’t find the trail, she simply said “welcome to Valhalla” and showed us the entrance.||This might be a good fit for people who are 55+, but younger people do not go here, there is nothing to do. Staff is also completely oblivious, they don’t say hello or ask you how things are going. There was only 14 rooms in use out of 25 during our stay and the people who worked there couldn’t tell you our names or anything. The staff just seemed bored...

Helen Georgia is a quaint American/German town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s not a large town so you can see most things in a few days. There is even a Festhalle for their Oktoberfest in September. I know, the dates sound messed up. You can choose from multiple places to stay from hotels to bed & breakfasts. The numerous restaurants of different cultures give you just the place for what you crave. The German restaurants are the showcase restaurants of the town since they are a recreation of a German town. The many shops and bakers round out the list of things central to the town. I will start with the place we stayed, the Valhalla Resort Hotel. Located at the resort are the Solasta Spa, Caledonia Fine Dining, Sky Bar Bistro, Staghorn Grill & Pizzeria, and golf. The resort is a little out of town in the adjacent hills. The roads are narrow in some places, with tight turns, and sudden stop signs. You pass a guard shack for the entrance to the resort area where you show why you are entering. The driveway to the hotel door circle is narrow and a tight turn. The outside of the hotel is very plain. One of the great perks of the hotel is the free valet parking, just tip and go. The lobby is open, well-lit, and clean. Check-in was easy and our bags were taken to our room. The hotel also has 3 Tesla charging stations. The resort is handicap accessible. We were in a penthouse deluxe king room. The room is large with everything we needed, a TV in the living room area and one in the bedroom area but there is no streaming service. You can watch movies offline from a USB device if you bring one. There is a gas fireplace with a timer, a two-sink bathroom, a safe, a fridge, a snack basket, and a large shower. There is no ice machine. If you want ice, you have to call the valet. There is a desk and chair in the living area. The couch and chair are comfortable. The sofa is soft, but not to the point I would consider excessive. There are plenty of plug-ins on the lamps but no USB ports. The bed and pillows are comfortable. They are soft but not excessive. The air-conditioner is close to the bed. I found it a little noisy when trying to sleep. We enjoyed sitting outside on the small balcony. There are 2 chairs and a table. The pool area is well set up with a grill area, cabanas, and poolside seating. The view from our room is breathtaking watching the sunrise over the mist-filled Blue Ridge Mountains.Another part of the Valhalla Resort is the Solasta Spa. It is essential to schedule your massage time in advance. The entrance is around the corner from the front entrance down by the pool. The entrance lobby is bright and airy and the reception desk is straight ahead. Everyone at the spa was friendly and welcoming. We were taken to the changing area and then to our massage room. Our tables were about six feet apart. The lower light level and music in the room made it easy to relax. Our massage therapist was friendly and explained the process. They asked if certain areas need special attention. The hour-long massage was very relaxing. I felt great having the tension removed from my neck and shoulders. There is lemon water and coffee available. After the massage, we were taken to the entrance lobby where we were given a choice between champagne or sparkling juice. I am very happy we scheduled the couples' massage during our stay. We had a very nice stay at the Valhalla Resort. I would stay there again if I went...