Club Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Sapphire Valley — Hotel in Highlands

The Sapphire Valley area and the Western North Carolina mountains are a bucket list destination if you love the outdoors. The mountains really do "call you home." The area offers opportunities for new adventures each day of the week. There is something different to do every day. The views from the boathouse at Lake Fairfield are amazing. Take a bottle of wine and sit on the beach or the deck area watching the sun set and it will suck you in and force you to relax. We found this to be true of numerous publicly accessible areas. The waterfalls in the area are magnificent. There are hiking trails for every level of experience.||The roads leading up to the mountains are winding single lanes roads with a series of switchback turns that make it a blast to drive if our are an adventurous driver. The drive offers endless spectacular views.||We are Wyndham Vacation owners and we have stayed on this property numerous times over the years. The property is an older resort and it is pretty well maintained. However, it does need some TLC and updating. Not a ding, just an observation. This location's decor is rooted in the rustic mountain genre. However, unlike most Wyndham timeshares it presents as if it is still caught in the late 1980s or early 1990s era. The kitchens, TVs, and IT items are modern and worked great for us. We have stayed in other units in the past and we have found that that the kitchens present with everything one will need if you elect to cook/eat in. Our stay on this occasion was in a 1-BR lock-off in a "suite" type unit. Read on....||The beds were conformable. We slept well. The only knock on the sleeping arrangements is that we found that the only units that offer a king size bed are the 1-BR suite section of the 2-BR lock-off units. The suite is the lower unit of the lock off.||If you book the lower unit lock-off suite be aware that the layout is peculiar and has very limited daylight due to layout and window placement. The upper seating area has a window and the bedroom has a walk-out slider to a small balcony. That is about it for direct views to the outside. The kitchen and eat in area is on the interior aspect of the unit and looks through a window into the soaking tub which in turn has a picture window exposed to the outdoors. We found this to be odd. ||In the same lower unit unit, the Pullman kitchen offers very little food preparation and cooking areas and no oven of any kind. The two burner cook top was small and we found this to be a detractor. Your cooking choices are limited to either boiling or frying (or using the charcoal grills, no gas grills on the site).||The bathroom in this unit is a good size. However, that said and fair warning, if you are a person of large diameter girth you may have an issue fitting into the shower stall. The shower stall is approximate 32" x 36". We found the shower to be a squeeze and we are both under average weight with athletic build body types.||If you book the lower level unit we suggest that you pack your ear plugs if you want an undisturbed night's sleep. The floors and walls are thin. The floors above us unforgivingly squeaked and thumped. We were keenly aware of every step that our upstairs neighbors took. From the excitement of when the college football team they support had good/bad play right up to their midnight visit to the bathroom or refrigerator (we could follow their path to/from their destination).||There are numerous local places for dining out. Keep in mind if you travel "off season" that the local places shut down at early hours and often close on a whim when business drops off. We suggest that you call ahead and have a back up plan whenever you go out to dine.||We dined in numerous locations in the Asheville, Highlands, and Cashiers area. A must visit eating opportunity in Highlands is Don Leon's. It is off the main street area (not in walking distance) but worth the short trek. Ironically, our favorite meal was at a restaurant and gas station in Glenville. The Local is a family run small hole in the wall. Quite the find. The menu and bar selection is limited. We sampled numerous items off the menu. The portions were generous and everything was loaded with flavor. It has a family atmosphere and a play area for the kids and an outdoor eating area in the kid's play area.||The local executive 9-hole course offers a week long package that cannot be beat. The course was well maintained and was fun...

I've stayed here twice this year and thoroughly enjoyed my stay both times. The setting is gorgeous and the grounds are well maintained. I walked around quite a bit, enjoying the scenery and small river and streams that run through the property.

There is an activity center with a wide variety of things to do as others have mentioned. The large grocery store, with a Starbucks, is only a few miles away. There is also a very nice produce market and shops a few minutes further. Asheville is about an hour and a half away on very curvy mountain roads, but I went several times each trip. There are a lot of waterfalls, hiking trails, national parks and wilderness areas within an hour of the resort. I saw many waterfalls on my first trip and a few on the second trip. Almost any outdoor activity is available within easy driving distance.

Almost every staff member I encountered was very friendly and helpful. One even stayed late in May to help me get the keys, even though I had after-hours check-in instructions. He saw us pull in the parking lot as he was walking to his car. I never would have known he was an employee, because he had already changed clothes, but he went out of his way to be helpful and get me everything I needed.

The first stay, I and a couple of friends were in a 2BR lockoff unit, complete with fireplace, dining area and a nice fully equipped kitchen upstairs. The downstairs portion wasn't quite as updated, but was still nice and very comfortable. It had everything I needed, including comfy bed, coffee maker, small kitchen and jacuzzi tub. We had one issue in the room, but the staff took care of it almost immediately.

The second stay I was in a smaller 1BR unit with everything downstairs except the sofa and TV. This unit was a bit more updated than the first one and had a better kitchen. It was also very comfortable. It was at the end of the property and much more remote, so it was very quiet and had more wildlife, including a large hawk.

The staff were friendly and helpful the second trip as well. I'll be staying here in the future when I want a quiet, relaxing...

So annoyed!! We bought 5 units with 4 different families (8 kids). We were excited to explore the property and take advantage of the amenities on property. The older lady at the front desk was extremely rude. Our kids are kids, but pretty well behaved. They were quiet and not running around everywhere but the lady kept walking around and looking in the window at us.||After a long day of exploring the town, we took the kids to the pull. We honestly didnt read the signs (we play travel ball and stay at hotels 3+ times a month so we know hotel pool rules) there were cameras everywhere so we were kn our best behavior. The older lady kept looking in the window and you could tell she was mad. She came in (with back up) and firmly told us to “read the signs” and that kids 14 and older were not allowed in the hot tubs. I explained that with toddlers, and the pool being freezing, we really hoped to use the hot tub. I also told her that the rule should be advertised because we literally chose this resort over others because there was a hot tub. Some of our kids are small and the arent crazy about a big COLD pool. As she was walking out I said “well can we get some towels” and she again, firmly replied “yes but you have to return them when you leave” like we were going to steal the towels or something.||The “back up” stayed behind and she was nice. She explained their crappy rule and stated that she was sorry. I will add that the hit tub was warmer than my kids bath water...||Bottom line, one: you do not have to treat your guests like fugitives, and two: advertising ALL rules, stupid ones included. And three: we love the area but we WILL NOT be...