Smoke Hole Caverns & Log Cabin Resort

Very nice cabin on well maintained property. Hot tub in room but we didn’t use it. House keeping forgot to do our room the second day. Probably because we were going to stay one night and liked it so much we stayed 2. Nice trout pond and stream on property. Petersburg is a short drive and has everything you may need. We chose to eat out so really didn’t use the kitchen. Staff is very friendly and my wife loved the boutique in the gift shop next to the caverns. Cavern tour was interesting but they might want to get off the script and get real guides instead of kids on summer vacation.

I stay in the area for business often and this is the BEST place to stay when in the Moorefield/​Petersburg area! The grounds are beautiful. Feeding the fish was so much fun. The pool is well kept. The log cabins are clean, roomy and wonderful! I often bring my children with me aand my sister to watch them and they LOVE IT!!! Yes it is slightly expensive but well worth the $!

We stayed overnight at Smoke Hole «Resort» this week. I hesitate to post this, because when my Mom brought up the issues we had at this resort, the proprietor did everything BUT listen to our concerns. All she did was ignore, deflect and, well, ignore them some more.
The positives:
It’s a beautiful setting. The grounds are well kept, and you can’t get a better view of the mountains.
When you first walk into the cabin, it seems very quaint. It turns out that that’s a nice way of saying «it needs updated.»
The housekeeper I saw the day we left was very friendly.
There’s running water, an indoor toilet and a shower.
We had two bedrooms in the family cabin and two beds upstairs. The couch was just a couch, not comfortable enough for sleeping.
The not-​so-​positives:
We arrived after 6, and the lady called me (Jan?) from SHR about 5:30 to see if we were coming. I called her back twice within minutes and only got a recording. She never called me back.
They leave the cabin unlocked with the key on the table. Maybe I’m too city-​fied, but this seems like a primo opportunity for some sicko to wait for you.
The office closes at 5 p.m. Yes, you read that correctly FIVE P.M. If you can’t get there before or call before, they will not call you back.
I called the day before to request late check-​out on Friday; the answer I got was that a company had rented 18 cabins, and «We treat THEM special.» Well, okay then.
We could not find the wifi password anywhere — turns out it’s on the one of the little papers they leave on your kitchen table. When I called — twice — to ask for the password, nobody called me back. EVER. The kids had no computer all night, which shouldn’t be a big deal, but if you advertise wifi it should be easy to get to.
You are expected to do your own dishes — BY HAND — and sack your own trash; if you do not do these things, they will charge you a «housekeeping fee.»
When we spoke to the manager (Jan?) about this the next day, it was totally in one ear and out the other; no apology, no nothing, just a lot of dismissing and excusing. «My staff thinks of everything,» she said, as if she had just received a compliment. «Well, I guess you called in the 5 minutes between me leaving the lodge and going to the cabins.» Um, no. I called you FOUR TIMES on Thursday afternoon/​evening, and NO ONE picked up your phone. Or called me back. EVER.
If the management will listen — which I doubt it will, if the lady we spoke to is any indication — here’s what I’d suggest:
We paid as much for this place overnight as we did for the Hilton in Lexington, KY. If you are going to charge Hilton prices, you need to ACT like the Hilton — be available for your guests, ALWAYS answer your phone, and pay somebody to do the daggone dishes. Better yet, install dishwashers.
Do NOT assume people know where to look for things. We could only find one small bar of soap for five people; putting it in the drawer without a sign that says «extra soap in the drawer» doesn’t help. Thank goodness we brought our own shampoo and conditioner.
Treat every guest as «special.» We paid money to you we could have very well paid to somebody else; respect that.
My recommendation to travelers — find someplace else to stay.

This was a really nice cabin. Perfect amount of room, quiet and romantic.

Spent two nights here over a weekend to do some hiking and sightseeing. This is a nice getaway for D.C.-area folks, only about a two-​hour drive. The cottages and other properties owned by this resort in the surrounding area look sort of creepy and run-​down, so I recommend staying in the log cabins directly around the conference center. The grounds are beautiful and have a large field behind the cabins that meets up with the Potomac River. Most of the cabins have a small trout stream that runs behind them with back decks only inches from the water. It’s a very nice, relaxing setting. The cabins have grills just off their spacious front porches, and many of them have fire pits.
The resort is conveniently located near plenty of opportunities for hiking, hunting and fishing. It’s not far from Seneca Rocks, Dolly Sods or Spruce Knob. We spent the weekend hiking the Seneca Rocks trail, exploring the Smoke Hole Road wilderness and of course touring Smoke Hole Caverns, along with enjoying the peace and quiet of the area, taking in Petersburg, etc.
Eating in this area can be tricky unless you like fast food or country cookin’. Petersburg has McDonald’s, Arby’s, DQ, etc., and a couple country bars. There are a few more options in Moorefield, but that’s another 12 miles back. The resort doesn’t have a restaurant, although the gift shop down by the caverns sells wings, pizza, fudge and other gift shop food. Your best bet is probably bringing food with you to cook out or trying the restaurant in Seneca.
Overall, I like the area and the relaxing atmosphere better than the lodging of the resort itself and its pretty much nonexistent amenities. Here are some areas where I think they could really improve:
— Need to fix their mobile site and proofread web and print materials (This is just general business sense that would help them out… and being so close to D.C., I can’t believe they aren’t advertising or doing Groupon deals or something. The cabins were definitely not all full, but I think they could be if more people knew about it and they made some updates.)
— Cabins are serviced daily, but for some reason you have to take out your own trash and do your own dishes (no dishwasher, beware).
— Woodburning fire places mean you need to spent another $ 7 for a bundle of wood and firestarter from the gift shop. Still, was really nice to have.
— Despite there being a large conference center/​office at the cabins, you have to drive two miles down the road to the caves/​gift shop to check in.
— Checking in is a little scary, and I’m frankly shocked at how they handle it – they leave the cabins unlocked with your key on the kitchen table. This means if anyone beats you there they could be waiting in the cabin to rape you, so come armed. This is convenient, however, during the checkout process, when you just leave the door unlocked with your key on the table and head out when you’re ready. Also convenient for any squatters who want to use the bed before the cabin is serviced again. Just weird.
— The décor inside the cabins is very dated.
— There’s no couch, just a small loveseat and another seat in the living space. The loveseat was stained by what I hope was coffee or something. The TV is probably 26″ at most and an old standard definition in the corner. They do have some cable channels.
— Despite advertising free wifi, it doesn’t reach out to some of the cabins, and it doesn’t really work that well anyway. I think it’s one DSL connection or something that must be shared across only one wireless access point. Brace yourself — there is NO CELL SERVICE here, despite what they advertise. At least if you’re on AT&T. Sometimes when the clouds went away I could get one bar of 4G that MIGHT get a text or a tweet across every five minutes.
— There was a spot in the bathroom floor that was soft from I presume the shower overflowing at some point and them not replacing the rotted area beneath.
— The bed is the absolute worst part. Flat pillows, and a creaky, lumpy, bed where you can feel every single spring jabbing you in the back. I bet it’s the original mattress from when the place was built 30 years ago.
— There seemed to be three or four flies constantly in the cabin… not sure where they kept coming from. Luckily, they do equip you with a fly swatter (no lie).
It sounds like there’s a lot of little inconveniences and issues with the lodging, and there are. But the staff is very nice, and there were plenty of good qualities too (like REALLY hot water and a good shower head). I don’t think this place really deserves the title of «resort,» but the setting is beautiful and absolutely perfect for a weekend away from the hustle of the city. Despite the fact that the cabins could use some major updates, this is probably your best bet for staying in this area, and the experience is enjoyable.

a little pricey. we had a house which was cool but 1.5 miles from the resort, although we didn’t miss much– a pool? The resort has no restaurant which would be helpful. The resort grounds are beautiful, clean & well kept. Our house was clean & in great shape. The staff was friendly. Will definitely stay again.

Overpriced.
Pros:
— The rooms were clean.
— The staff were exceptionally friendly.
Cons:
— The bed was as old as the cabin. Lumpy, uncomfortable, and squeaky.