Winter travels: the Old Edwards Inn

Two weekends ago John and I had the delightful experience of visiting the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC. We had the most wonderful time, and I’d love to tell you about it!

First, a few things about Highlands. It’s a tiny town tucked in the mountains and has a population that swells from about 900 in the winter to around 15,000 in the summer. It has an adorable downtown, plenty of waterfalls on the drive in, and mountains galore to explore. It also has the Old Edwards Inn, which is, as it turns out, the nicest hotel I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying at.

Before checking into our room, we took a brief tour of the property. They have so many different accommodations, from rooms in the Lodge to individual cottages, and each was filled with adorable nooks and crannies and thoughtful amenities.

My favorite was this clawfoot tub in one of the cottages:

My next favorite spot was this little alleyway right below our room. Can’t you just imagine this somewhere in Europe?

After our tour we checked into our room. Which was intensely, seriously amazing. The bathroom had heated tile floors and towel bars, several people could have had a dance party in the shower, there were Molton Brown toiletries, there were two of the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in, there was a fireplace (!!!) and balcony, they had peanut butter cookies waiting for us, there were free and copious Dove bars (!!!), and there was a little touchscreen device that controlled the temperature, lights, and TV. Heaven.

We did manage to tear ourselves away from our room for a quick hike at nearby Whiteside Mountain and a drive-by tour of the three close waterfalls.

We occupied ourselves the rest of the evening by watching a DVD we borrowed from the front desk staff and eating Dove bars!

If any of you are looking for a gorgeous place to visit for a relaxing getaway, I would highly recommend the Old Edwards Inn. We loved staying there in the winter, and are eager to see what the experience would be like in the summer!

A huge thank you to the Old Edwards staff, which was kind enough to host John and I for the night through my job. The opinions expressed, however, are all mine!