Brown Mountain Beach Resort — Hotel in Lenoir

The setting of Brown Mountain Beach Resort is a serene and scenic old campground, retrofitted with yurts and refurbished original site cabins. Nestled against the backdrop of the Pisgah National Forest, BMBR lay along the winding creek bed of Wilson Creek Gorge (although it resembles more of a river than a creek) endowing those lucky enough to witness the creek and Pisgah timberline with pure serenity. All our guests quickly found themselves right at home, with all accommodations having kitchenettes and full baths, most cabins having their hot tubs overlooking the lazily flowing creek, comfortable beds, and soft linens, as well as clean and tidy confines. Each cabin and yurt are unique; bespoke décor paying homage to local culture and heritage along with easy access to every part of the resort and its features, no matter the location of the accommodation on the property. The staff of Brown Mountain Beach Resort is reminiscent of your favorite relatives you don’t often get to visit. The proprietor of the resort, Ron, is a genuine soul who wants nothing more than to share the majesty, that is his little slice of heaven, with those who find it. Ron’s daughter, Kelsey, who has begun to take the operational reigns of the resort, mirrors her father’s confidence, work ethic, and honest personality. Her and Ron’s shared vision being evident in the continuing improvements to the resort, which were made in the year between our reservation being set and the wedding weekend itself. Friday, our guests began to arrive, as my wife and I decorated for the coming celebration. The check-in process was relatively laissez-faire and to each their own, as our guests trickled in throughout the day. That evening, BMBR prepared a delightful supper of wood-fired pizza, as our guests and ourselves all enjoyed one another’s company. We were served beer and wine by the A+ staff of __, hired out by BMBR. The revelry continued well into the evening as guests were able to come and go at their leisure. Saturday was filled with food and fun in the sun (and some nursing of hangovers) as our guests were left to their own devices. Some fished and kayaked while others went on hikes, some helped my wife and I tie together some final decorating details, while others enjoyed being outside, away from cell phone service with an endless supply of spirits. Our ceremony was everything we could have dreamt of and more, the weather cooperated for our outdoor ceremony on the beach, in the mountains (how spectacular is that?). Our vendors, who were primarily recommended by BMBR, all worked in perfect harmony, and the evening's festivities went off without a hitch. Our reception was held in the Rock Pavilion, followed by cocktails and live entertainment in the speakeasy. Our celebration carried well into the night, ending on the beach under the stars, sharing stories and smoking cigars. In summation, the weekend was absolute perfection, especially given this being a “destination wedding” for most of our guests, my heart hums with happiness just reflecting on it all. Sunday check out was late enough for a leisurely pace, following breakfast in the Rock Pavilion. Our guests, well-fed and thoroughly tuckered out after a weekend of matrimonial celebration, went along their merry way, and we followed right behind. All told, BMBR was the perfect location for our wedding, my wife even declared so in her vows. While the rural site is not the setting for everyone’s tastes and vision for their wedding, BMBR knows what they have and shares it with pride and grace not found with corporate venues and larger establishments. Just as with any event which spans many days involving a multitude of people, hiccups happened, but where adeptly overcame and managed. My wife and I, while we are joyous to be done with the preparation and planning of the event, have exchanged a piece of our heart and soul with the McDaniel family, who so graciously share their little corner of the world with...

Really enjoyed out stay here. We stayed in one of the XL yurts with our two kids and had an amazing time. Did a lot of hiking and playing/swimming in the river (at the resort and further upriver). It was surprisingly refreshing to be without reliable cell service for our stay, and we found we only used the cafe/front desk WiFi for checking the weather each day. The staff was very friendly, helpful, and very knowledgeable about places to hike and swim locally - we've been through Pisgah before but not here, and it helps to get a local's perspective. The value one gets from a stay here is immense - the yurts are super nice, there's a TON to do, and the outdoor amenities (kayaks, tubes, paddleboards) are fantastic. For the kids the river is essentially steps away, there are some farm animals to visit, and a fair bit to explore. I would also highly recommend the pizzas they offer as well. They're hand made, cooked on site, and many of the ingredients are either grown on site or sourced locally, and they're incredible.

There are only a handful of things I would put in the "constructive feedback" category, and nothing genuinely negative: For the fire pits, some kindling or just smaller logs would be helpful to make starting a fire easier. Thankfully we were right across from the firewood so it was easy to solve that problem. Cafe hours were a little mis-aligned with what was on the door, so the one morning we considered doing breakfast they ended up being closed. There was an event upcoming though, and we didn't exactly reach out to check; ultimately a non-issue but if you want food or coffee from there double check the hours. Tips if you visit: Bring your own food/meal plan. You'll want to do this unless you're cool driving a ways to go eat - there are a lot of great local places but you will have to drive. The kitchen in our yurt had a pretty big fridge and great prep sinks, and there's a Blackstone flat top and a grill outside, so cooking is very doable. Lenoir isn't too far if you have to run out and get something, but just stop on your way in, stock up, and that way you don't have to worry about it. If you have young-ish kids (ours are 6 and 3) bring your own inner tubes or inflatables or whatever. The smallest inner tubes they have are still a bit big for younger kids. It would be nice if they had them, but it's probably not their biggest demographic. If you're in the XL yurt, the loft portion (where our kids stayed) gets pretty warm. I brought my workshop fan with me because we didn't know what to expect (even though they are air conditioned; the bulk of the yurt is downstairs and stayed plenty cool even with all the in and out), and I'm glad I did - helped keep the kids somewhat cooler during the evenings. There is a domed window at the very apex of the yurt that can be opened, and I imagine that really helps with airflow, but we had intermittent rain and it was super humid when we were there so we had to leave it closed for the most part. Bring some beach towels. There are PLENTY of bath towels, and they have outdoor towels in the yurt, but you end up using all of them if you have a family. If the weather's decent and not raining you're good, but if there's any rain you'll end up using more than you think along with swimming/exploring in the river.

I'm sure there are some more but those are the main ones. I cannot stress enough that this vacation was AMAZING for all of us - we were there M-F and it was so great to unplug, check out, and just enjoy being outside and doing things with the family. We went to Grandfather Mountain again, Linville caverns and gorge again, it was so wonderful. Cannot recommend this place enough, and we will be back. Book early though because it apparently fills up on weekends for events, and if you look at the pictures, you can see why! My daughter literally had a breakdown on our way out because she "had so much fun...

Whatever glowing description I could muster up to describe our experience with Brown Mountain Beach resort would somehow still fall short of conveying our perfect experience. We planned our wedding from Wisconsin, and with moving, graduation, and new jobs on the horizon, the wedding was low on our priority list for many months. We hired a planner through Brown Mountain, Rachael, who was our life line. We met with her twice via zoom- one initial meeting about 6 months out and again 1 month out from wedding day. She was thorough and knowledgable and helped tie up every lose end we hadn't even considered. We stayed at Brown mountain with all 60 of our guests Monday-Wednesday. Monday, we all arrived to perfectly clean and STUNNING cabins and yurts. Rachael guided us through unloading the few decorations we brought and got to work using the resort decorations to bring our vision to life. The venue itself is so stunning without additional decoration, we hardly spent a dime on anything extra (and were never made to feel cheap or less than for this decision). The actual wedding day was peaceful and family-filled. We spent the entire day without our phones or other distractions, and simply floated on the river. Elderly relatives enjoyed the shade of the deck, still able to watch the water fun- and all of our friends (and our dog!) played endlessly in the water. Rachael seamlessly kept us on task and perfectly on time as the day progressed. When rain threatened the start time of the ceremony, she and the staff went to every cabin and informed every guest that we would delay the ceremony an hour. I wasn't even slightly phased, the resort kept everything under control, dry, and easy. I was given options and felt supported in any decision I made to move the ceremony inside or wait out the rain. Within the hour, the skies cleared and we were able to have a dreamy ceremony on the beach. After, we ran around with our photographer while our family and friends enjoyed apps and dinner provided by Brown Mountain (INCREDIBLE charcuterie and pizza that everyone raved over). The resort accomidated every dietary concern (and there were many). Everything about this experience was incredible. We were able to spend three days with our community and feel that every penny we spent towards our wedding held purpose. Both my husband and I would recommend this venue to anyone and everyone- communing with family and friends in nature is both intimate and memorable, which is exactly the core of what we wanted our wedding to be. Leaving, all of our guests spoke so highly of the venue and all of the staff and have already discussed visiting again for family vacations in the future! This venue is absolutely the best investment you could make for your wedding day. Photos by...