Blackberry Farm is the perfect example of flawless southern hospitality set in a storybook location. Built in 1939 in the idyllic Smoky Mountain foothills, this boutique luxury hotel is located on 6,200 acres of romantic and fog drizzled forest.

This 62 guest-room property is a fully operational farm allowing the chef to make every meal fresh. Everything you will eat is grown, or raised right on site – the rest purchased from local farmers. The accommodations have a sumptuous feel with an exceptional attention to detail. The Farmstead Cottage and Singing Brook Cottage Suite are two of my favorite rooms, the latter offers connecting doors giving the ability to book side-by-side suites, ideal for family or friends traveling together. Also included is your own private golf cart. Farmstead Cottage is a bit more sophisticated, ideal for a city couple who are accustomed to the finer things in life.

Blackberry Farm’s restaurants are widely known for offering some of the freshest food and ingredients around. The restaurants try to create haute cuisine while incorporating locally grown produce indigenous to the Smoky Mountains. In fact, Blackberry Farm has been recognized as the #1 Hotel for Food Lovers from Bon Appetit Magazine. Spend breakfast at the Main House and make your way to the James Beard award-winning restaurant, The Barn. 

Blackberry Farm offers a wide array of food & drink activities, not to mention they have their own brewery. The Farm also offers yoga, outdoors activities (which include kayaking and fishing), adventure treks, and will help you plan romantic picnics. After a few days there you might love it so much you’ll be asking for a job application.

Photographs courtesy of beall + thomas.