Blackberry Farm
Hotel Name: Blackberry Farm
Number of Rooms: 65
Location: 25 minutes from Knoxville Airport or three hours’ drive to Nashville, in the foothills of the Smokies.
This celebrated Smoky Mountain retreat, with its 65 rooms and 9,200 acres, is impossibly luxurious for a farmstead. The bucolic woodland surroundings give guests the chance to foxhunt, cycle, canoe, fly fish, or relax in the most beautiful of settings, and the legendary cuisine makes returning after a day of activity seem like the ultimate treat. Blackberry Farm plays host to famous chefs every month and sources handcrafted ingredients from the resident beekeepers, farmers, and cheese makers; nightly dinners in the 18th-century barn are warm and inviting affairs.
What We Loved: Is there a destination out there with a name as hazily evocative as the Great Smoky Mountains? Epicures head to this romantic pocket of the country to indulge in Americana gone gourmet – this isn’t just farm-to-table, it’s table in the middle of farm.
What We Didn’t Love: On-property activities are charged a la carte, which takes away from the feeling of relaxed luxury.
Right For: Metropolitan families looking to escape to a land of lawns and lambs; Couples with big appetites for epic Foothills Cuisine and the stamina to work through a world-class wine cellar.
Wrong For: City slickers afraid to get their boots muddy; Dieters.
Best Time to Visit: May-June, September-Early November
TLF Tip: The property hosts specialty weekends throughout the year, like a fall yoga retreat with an outdoor practice platform among the changing leaves, or a 2-day gluten free cooking workshop with the founder of Jovial Foods.