The Umstead Hotel and Spa

We just had a wonderful stay at The Umstead. I’ve stayed here many times over the years, and this visit was by far the best. The attention to detail was exceptional — from the warm, attentive service to the impeccable cleanliness and comfort of the rooms. Every part of the experience felt thoughtful and refined. I’m already looking forward to returning over the holidays. A few standout staff made this visit especially memorable: The in room dining staff were all amazing. Nico, who helped with our bags and car, was fantastic — helpful, and professional. Lauris, our server in the bar/lounge on 7/25, provided excellent service, perfectly complemented by the incredible jazz music playing that evening. The in-room dining was also a highlight — prompt, delicious, and brought with genuinely friendly service.

This hotel is worth the price tag if you can swing it. The service was fabulous from the front desk who remembered my name, the housekeeping guy who brought us a new coffee machine because we had trouble with the first, and the servers in Heron’s Restaurant were also very attentive, warm and funny. The rooms are plush and in very good condition. The air conditioning works well. There was no outside noise to wake us up. The room was serviced several times, including turning down beds and night, laying out slippers and bathrobes, wrapping up our charging cables with a small piece of leather with a snap, placing 2 super fancy chocolate truffles in the room, and more. Heron’s Restaurant is excellent. I highly recommend the tasting menu for dinner. We were served 5 courses plus 3 elegant amuse bite and several tiny sweets to take in an elegant box. Service was great. Plus, breakfast and lunch were very good too. Photos are from the tasting menu.

Let me preface this by saying that my husband and I have previously stayed at Umstead Hotel as well as dined at Herons on numerous occasions and we have always had top-notch service. However, yesterday, we arrived for a special event: sunset floating Sound Bath and I could not have been more disappointed in our interaction with some of the staff. Valet was very friendly and welcoming, as usual. The young lady even escorted us to the stairs towards the pool area, which is the service I’ve come to expect at this establishment. However, when we arrived poolside, the gentleman with the mustache that eventually greeted us seemed less than friendly as he redirected us back into the hotel while set up was finishing. Not a problem but the fact that he couldn’t even manage a smile, at the very least, was problematic. When we came back down at quarter ‘til as we were instructed in the email details, no one greeted us at all so we just stood around. I took the opportunity to take some photos of the grounds. When we were back at the pool entrance, again, we just stood around waiting. A couple of other ladies arrived and a blond young lady from bar staff promptly approached them and offered cold water while they waited. At this point, I realize that my husband and I were basically being purposefully ignored. I actually had to approach this young lady myself and ask if we should go on to check in or not. She replied that we were 10 minutes early but that she’d check with the event organizers. Eventually, she came back to us and we were ushered inside to check in. I was very offended that were we never greeted correctly and never offered a cold drink while we waited as I had observed with other guests. I’m not sure exactly what the problem was and I hate to race bait so I’ll chalk it up to poor event customer service. Thankfully, we didn’t have any issue with the other event organizers. Sadly, we ended up getting rained out and rescheduled. I intend to get my good money’s worth from this event although I’d prefer a full refund. I doubt that I will ever shell out the dollars for any special event at Umstead going forward and now I’m reluctant to book any spa service. But we’ll continue to book Herons, where it seems the restaurant staff is well trained on providing the excellent customer service that we’ve come to expect from Umstead Hotel. UPDATE: Though I didn’t expect it, hotel management reached out promptly after my earlier review, expressing genuine concern about our experience. They were apologetic and eager to make amends, assuring me they’re taking steps to address the issues I raised. I spoke with both David Mars, managing director, and Susan Hunnel, spa director. Their approach was both professional and compassionate, making it clear that they value guest feedback. The rescheduled floating sound bath took place on yesterday evening. It was seamless this time around, as promised. My husband and I are very pleased with the response of the hotel and my formerly one star rating has been changed to reflect that. We look forward to visiting again soon!