Our return to the Omni Homestead Resort & Spa was long overdue. We first visited in 2014, and a lot has changed at America’s first resort since then.
Eleven years ago, our report was all about golf, and that was appropriate. Homestead was where the legendary Sam Snead first started playing golf. He had worked at the resort’s Cascade course, one of the best layouts in the country, and its other 18-holer, dubbed The Old Course, offered an historic photo op. The No. 1 hole is the longest continuous first hole in American golf. That’s still the case.
Four years after our first visit Homestead began a massive restoration. That was understandable, as Homestead dates back to 1766. That’s 10 years before the birth of the United States.
Twenty-four of the 47 sitting U.S. Presidents have visited Homestead, starting with the first one. George Washington passed through the area as early as 1755. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, loved the hot springs, which he felt alleviated his problems with “rheumatism.’’
The first president to play golf there was William McKinley in 1899. William Howard Taft, one of the most avid golfers among the early presidents, had a three-month stay in 1908. Another, Woodrow Wilson, played there with his second wife while they were there on their honeymoon. The last to visit was George W. Bush in 2015, a stay in which he played both the Cascades and Old Course. The Homestead has always been rich in history.
In recent years, though, it has undergone a restoration that’s been priced at $170 million. Starting in 2018, the restoration touched most every phase of the resort from the Great Hall to the guest rooms to the bath houses, and the transformation has been impressive.
The 483-room resort has a two-acre water park, eight restaurants, skiing facilities for winter guests and equestrian activities. More unusual amenities include axe-throwing, falconry, shooting club, fly-fishing and Cascade Gorge hikes — which are particularly popular. More