High Hampton Resort — Hotel in Highlands

THIS IS FIRST AND FOREMOST A COUNTRY CLUB. We didn’t do much research before we booked a room, but we wanted a luxury escape for a few days, and for the price and based on the photos, I thought this was a 5-star hotel. This is, in fact, a massive and crowded country club with an inn and cottages on the property. The property location is excellent, the design and decor is immaculate, the service was very good, the restaurant was fantastic, but as a guest on a property full of members, the vibe is so…off. This is nothing like the Blackberry Farm experience because this place has hundreds of members on property everyday who spend their entire summers here every year. I don’t think the website or the other reviews highlight the fact that this is 90% members-only country club and 10% hotel. There are no parts of the property that are exclusively for guests, so the entire place is for the members and guests, then I think some aspects are members-only. I’ve never been to a luxury hotel that was set up like this, and it just doesn’t provide an experience anything close to staying at a luxury resort. I never want to come back unless I buy a summer house here and become a member.

So our experience got off to a bad start, and we almost left but decided to stay. We arrived on a Thursday at 7pm, tired and hungry, checked in and got a dinner reservation for 8:30. Went to the room with an info sheet and saw the dress code for the dining room and my husband didn’t have the right clothes. I was dressed in a dress and nice shoes but my husband was in khaki shorts and sandals. We went to the lobby to see how strict they would be and they discouraged us from eating in the restaurant. They drove us on a golf cart to the Holstead House to “try to get a seat” and they said it would be more casual. It was packed, and it really seemed to be members-only. We told the hostess that we wanted a table in the bar and she said to go grab a drink and she would find us or we could eat at the bar. We sat at the bar, ordered drinks, and the bartender asked for member number, we said we were guests, and she never spoke to us again. People were eating at the bar, but we were not offered menus or a place setting. We were so uncomfortable, plus it was really loud and so crowded, so we walked back to valet to get our car and go find food. A staff member came outside to check on us, and we told her we weren’t offered dinner, so she recommended a place and called to get us a table. It was a nice gesture, but it wasn’t the hospitality we were hoping for. The next day we went shopping and had dinner in the dining room. There were a lot of people dressed nicely in sport coats, but there were also men in shorts and a guy in shorts and flip flops, so they really should have welcomed us to have dinner that first night instead of sending us away.

So don’t expect room service here. There is also nothing in the way of a minibar. There is an empty fridge in the room with a few coffee creamers, some water bottles, and a Keurig. I think I was under the impression that there were multiple dining options for guests, including something casual, but in our experience the only dining option was the dining room for very nice dinner ($250+).

The layout of the property is designed for golf carts because this is a country club. To get to the gardens or the pool you walk on the road for cars or the golf cart paths which are used by members on golf carts. We felt out of place walking around with our stuff for the pool because everyone else was in a golf cart. There were actual hiking trails but they’re lined with members’ houses and construction of more member homes. One evening after dinner we walked behind the inn where there was a patio and 3 fire pits with Adirondack chairs and a view of the lake and the mountains but it was crowded with large families and they were playing bingo, so we went back...

Lovely old resort renovated fairly well. Beautifully tended grounds. Very friendly but undertrained staff (lots of warm smiles but few answers to questions), good food, but way too many kinks to be worked out before it's worth the prices they are charging. Unheated pool, insufficient water safety equipment, rules, and staff, and difficulties finding out when things are available for guests versus local club members. We booked a year in advance but couldn't get golf times other than 8:30a or 2:30p, thus clashing with included family meal times. The croquet course was monopolized by locals/ club members. As Inn guests, we felt like second class citizens to the club members. Donkey and llama viewing times were not posted or known by staff. Damp, dew soaked day beds. A Spa reservations was "lost" and then found after the scheduled time. Shower door installed backwards with the towel rod on the inside, toilet paper holder falling off, impossible to use toilet without squeezing past door and shutting it. On and on it went. Suggestions for simple improvements. A property tour offered at scheduled times daily would have helped. A "Manager's wine and cheese/ bites" gathering would have been welcome to meet and learn about the property, it's offerings, and staff.

Despite being marketed as an inclusive multi generational destination, it is not set up for this at all. You need to bring most everything from off premises. No room service for anything except ice. Restaurant hours are not small child friendly at all. Breakfast doesn't begin until 7:30a. Only one outlet opens at 11:30a for lunch, the others open at 12p. Dinner begins at 5:30p. Our group was not offered the child menu until the FOURTH night. Dinner is three courses but the "rules" are not explained. Everything except tap water and brewed coffee is an additional charge. When I couldn't decide between two appetizers the server suggested to get both but did not mention the additional change. I was charged $33 plus for the second ($25 plus 20% service fee, plus other fees and taxes). Three way overcooked tenderloins midweek when the head chef was off. A few very bland dishes. Short pours (2.5 to 3 ounce) of white wine everytime (for @ $20 and up). Defensive attitude when questioned. Strangely the menu does not offer many (nor emphasize) local/ regional ingredients. Carolina trout, Springer poultry, and Anson grits were about it. In a region rich in tradition, we were surprised that there weren't more local, foraged, inspired, greens, grains, fungi, fruits, vegetables, breads, meats, game, fish, cheeses, etc. A cheese course as a dessert option would have been a welcome break from the overly sweet offerings. We anticipated Blackberry Farm quality and offerings to go with their name on the renovation and their prices. We were disappointed. We will not be recommending it after...

This is a beautiful place, but it is first and foremost a very elite country club. I didn’t get that from the website at all. When you stay as a hotel guest, you have access to the country club, but in the summer it is full of members and their guests, and there is no part that is for hotel guests only. We felt very out of place here.

We knew the Blackberry Farm name was associated with High Hampton so we thought we would have that kind of experience, but it’s nothing like that. BF is an actual 5-star hotel for guests only, and High Hampton is primarily a member’s club crowded with hundred of members everyday who use their club every summer.

During our stay we never received information about how to use the amenities. There is no spa, room service, minibar, or poolside service. There is nothing to eat or drink inside the room besides water and coffee. The pool, lake, canoes, kayaks, lounge areas, everything is crowded with members and their kids. If you want to play croquet, you have to wear all white. The price that you see when you book is misleading because there is a 20% charge on the entire bill. It is really nice to not ever have to tip, but $200/night service charge seemed excessive for the amount of service we actually received. It also costs $37 to valet your car each day, also subject to the 20% charge. We looked up the initiation fee to be a member at High Hampton, and found $200k. The most expensive country club where we live is $40k.

On our first night my husband didn’t have a jacket to comply with the dining room dress code so we were taken to the member’s-only restaurant where we were denied service. We went back to the hotel and they still didn’t make an exception and let us eat dinner, they instead referred us to a place 15 minutes away where we would be allowed to eat. We paid $5k for 3 nights and the staff were snobs to us. It was really humiliating, especially when the hotel manager suggested a second-hand store as a place for us to buy a jacket.

The decor throughout is beautiful but the pool chairs are from 1991. They’re old and uncomfortable and honestly they take away from the view of the lake and the mountains. Somehow they got overlooked during the update. I will add that our room in the Lake Cottage was gorgeous and so comfortable, but cleaning staff missed some hair in the shower, which happens, but because of our dinner experience we were hypersensitive to everything wrong with the place.

If you want to walk around the property like my husband and I did, you will be the only people who are not in a golf cart and the members in their golf carts just kind of stared at us. There was a real sense of not belonging, maybe it was my own insecurity, but I’ve never felt that way at hotel. It just wasn’t a good experience for us as guests. We would...