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One of the best parts about taking a vacation to Western North Carolina to visit The Greystone and Lake Toxaway is that you’re just steps away from some wonderful places in nature.

It’s easy to fill up your days here with all kinds of mountain activities, especially during the summer months of the year when the sun rises early and sets late, and the temperatures are mild enough to enjoy the outdoors even during the hottest part of the day. Our guests love to get out and explore!

There’s one activity that you may not know about—forest bathing.

What exactly is forest bathing? Per TIME Magazine, forest bathing is “bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses.” It isn’t a type of exercise like mountain biking, hiking, or kayaking and it isn’t even an afternoon fishing along your favorite river in the Appalachian mountains. It is simply being in nature. Sure, you might need to take a short walk to your favorite spot but once you’re there… it’s sitting down, relaxing, and breathing in everything that nature has to offer your senses.

You don’t even have to be in a forest to appreciate forest bathing. You can sit down along the shores of Lake Toxaway, close your eyes, and allow your senses to take in all that is Lake Toxaway. You can feel the soft, damp earth beneath you and listen to the gentle lapping of the lake waters as you hear the birds chirping in the trees. You might hear a fish jumping out of the water and coming back down with a soft splash. Your nose will detect the fresh, mountain air and maybe, if it’s close to dinnertime, your nose might even pick up the delicious smells coming from our Lakeside Dining Room.

We’d love to know—where’s your favorite place to go in nature when you visit with us? Do you like to hike to a waterfall to sit at the edge of the water and take in its beauty? Or do you prefer to find a quieter place off the Blue Ridge Parkway where you can take in the view over the Blue Ridge Mountains? If you don’t have a favorite place yet, stop by our front desk. We’ll be happy to point you in the direction of a place we know you’ll love. This summer, share your photos of ‘forest bathing’ with us on social media by tagging @thegreystoneinn!

Read more about forest bathing in Time Magazine’s article here: https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/

We are excited to share with you that The Greystone Inn has been nominated in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards!

Condé Nast Traveler is one of our favorite travel resources. They’re dedicated team of writers and editors have pulled together all of the information you could ever want to know when it comes to planning the agenda for your next adventure. They provide you with an abundance of inspiration, new destinations to discover, information on places to stay on your trip, and a peek into the style, culture, food, and drink of the location you’re headed to. It’s an incredible resource that you should check out before you plan your next vacation!

As a valued guest of The Greystone, we would sincerely appreciate your vote in the Condé Nast Traveler 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards. Voting is open until June 30th and it’s a simple process to share what you loved about your visit with us. You’ll even be entered to win a dream trip when you vote! How awesome is that?

We are truly grateful for your support over the last year as we have renovated and reopened this majestic retreat on the shores of Lake Toxaway. Our entire team is looking forward to welcoming you back to The Greystone again soon!

Happy April!

It’s an exciting time around Lake Toxaway as our community begins to thaw out from a chilly winter and as nature around us begins to come back to life again with bright green leaves and fresh blooms. The waterfalls are even beginning to melt and move again. It’s a beautiful time of year to see Lake Toxaway and the Blue Ridge Mountains!

It’s the beginning of a busy season at The Greystone and we invite you to join in on all of the festivities with us.


On Easter weekend (April 21st), we are opening up our Lakeside Dining Room again for you and your family to enjoy. The view from the dining room is amazing—you’ll be able to take in all of the spring beauty from your table as you enjoy a delicious meal. You can dine with us:
Breakfast: Monday – Friday, 8am – 11am
Brunch: Saturday & Sunday, 8am – 2pm
Dinner: Everyday 5pm – 10pm

You can also still enjoy dining in our Mansion from 12pm-10pm Monday through Friday and 2pm – 10pm Saturday and Sunday.


We’re also excited to share the the Lake Toxaway Country Club will be reopening for the season on April 19th! It’s time to reserve your stay with us and start booking your tee times on their award winning golf course, court times, and dining reservations. If you haven’t experienced this luxurious club, it’s time that you did. We promise that it will not disappoint you!

Finally, we invite you to join us on April 23rd to celebrate Miss Lucy’s birthday! We’ll have cupcakes and champagne on the North Terrace to celebrate Lucy Armstrong Moltz. She’s the woman who in 1951 built this magnificent mansion on the hill and who’s heartfelt generosity and good deeds encouraged great things in people.

We are excited to see you again soon at The Greystone!

This Earth Day, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the ways that we are committed to minimizing our overall impact on the environment.

Our team makes every effort to conserve water and energy at The Greystone Inn, in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, and minimizing waste. One way that we work to minimize waste is through our partnership with Clean the World, an organization that provides recycled soap products and educational materials to impoverished families around the globe.

Fast Facts:
According to the World Health Organization, millions of young lives could be saved with access to bar soap and basic hygiene education. Pneumonia and diarrheal disease are two of the leading causes of death among children under 5 years old.

Hotels throw away over 2 million bars of partially used soap every day in the United States

Source: https://cleantheworld.org/#

At The Greystone Inn, our team donates all of our used solid and liquid soap amenities to Clean the World. The bars of soap are sanitized, grinder, and cut into new bars that are then boxed for distribution to impoverished communities around the globe. How cool is that? Instead of ending up in a landfill, our used soaps gain a second life through Clean the World and go to someone who truly needs it.

Clean the World does more than just recycle soap products and distribute them around the globe. They also educate children and their families on proper hygiene, starting with how to effectively wash hands. In Las Vegas, Clean the World has started a new program aimed to provide the basic comfort and dignity of cleanliness to their homeless population. Their Fresh Start Mobile Showers do more than just provide a shower—they connect the homeless with organizations that can help put them on the path to self-sufficiency.

We are proud to partner with Clean the World! What Green Practices are you participating in to help our world this Earth Day?

It’s known as the best ride in North America.

It’s a destination for motorcyclists and sports car enthusiasts alike.

It’s a road with a long history that goes back to the “road” just being an animal track created by large herds of buffalo.

It’s The Tail of the Dragon.

Winding through The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, just across the North Carolina border, this road got it’s name from the number of twists and turns that you find on it. In this 11-mile stretch of road, there are 318 curves! The road is mainly flat with banked asphalt curves, making it an easy road to travel along from the novice motorcyclist to the thrill-seeking rider. With a speed limit of 30, no intersecting roads, and a strict no eighteen wheeler policy, it’s also an exceptionally safe drive. All eleven miles of this road run through The Great Smoky Mountains and the road offers views that you just can’t find anywhere else.

The best time of year to ride or drive The Tail of the Dragon is from March to November after the last snowfall and before winter rolls back in over the mountains. Catch it in early spring time as the mountains are beginning to come back to life with a blanket of green leaves stretching across all of the trees. In the summer, you’ll have pleasant, warm days to cruise with your windows down. And in the autumn, you’ll be able to see the beauty of the fall foliage with colors from deep, golden yellows to vibrant oranges and reds.

The Tail of the Dragon is approximately 2.5 hours up the road from our inn, and makes for a great day trip during your stay with us! Not only will you get to experience the breathtaking views that The Tail of the Dragon offers, but you’ll also get to take in all of the scenery as you travel through the Blue Ridge Mountains to get there. Plan a long weekend with us—travel in on a Thursday evening, drive up to the Tail of the Dragon on Friday when it’s less crowded, and then come back and relax on Lake Toxaway with us for the remainder of your weekend adventure.

However you choose to experience The Tail of the Dragon—by motorcycle or by car—it’s guaranteed to be the very best ride of your life!

For more information on how to plan your trip to The Tail of the Dragon, click here.

Happy New Year!

Start your new year off right by checking off one of the goals or resolutions on your list—we can help you out. We have two incredible retreats coming to The Greystone this winter. One focuses on a developing a new skill while other focuses on you and your wellbeing.


Our first retreat this winter is the Inspired Writing Workshop (March 1-3) featuring Dacre Stoker (international best-selling author of Dracula the Un-Dead and Dracul) and Leverett Butts (award-winning author of the Guns of the Waste Land series). This writer’s workshop has been created to appeal to the novice or aspiring writer who is interested in learning to write in a wide variety of genres. Let the stories of best-selling authors motivate you with this opportunity to improve your writing and develop your ideas in the comfortable reprieve of our inn.

It’s a three day writing workshop that includes inspiring storytellers, writing workshops with constructive critique, publishing information, and discussion. Open to both the community and to guests, this retreat will sell out quickly so be sure to call us to book your retreat today!

Our second retreat is a Yoga Renewal Retreat where you can enrich and nourish your mind, body, and soul—all levels are welcome! This 3-day experience is filled with mindfulness, movement, and nourishment and will rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. Disconnect and reflect in the beauty of the mountains and lake on the peaceful shores of Lake Toxaway as you dedicate two nights and three days to just you.

The retreat features an opening practice and intention setting ceremony, evening restoration and meditation, daily yoga practices, evening meditation and foot soaks, and wellness wisdom and transformation. This retreat is also open to the community and to our guests—you can reserve your spot by giving us a call today.

We can’t wait for everyone to join us for these two amazing workshops and retreats! It’s going to be an incredible experience.

What a year it has been for The Greystone Inn and The Willcox in 2018!

It was with great excitement we welcomed The Greystone into our family this year. After being closed for four years, our team worked morning, noon and night to completely renovate and breathe new life into this beautiful mountain retreat on the shores of Lake Toxaway. On May 9th, The Greystone Inn once again opened her doors and what an incredible 7 months it has been!

The inn has welcomed both those who have been longtime guests of The Greystone and those who ventured to Lake Toxaway for the very first time. We’re honored to have had so many guests in our first year of being open! It has been a joy to watch new visitors fall in love with the grace and beauty found here, and we have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the old stories from guests who have vacationed at The Greystone for years. We were honored to receive the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator 2018 and to have been nominated for Travel + Leisures World’s Best awards in our first year of business!

It’s been a pleasure to meet so many people from our community and the surrounding area. We’ve enjoyed watching The Greystone become a place for locals to gather, break bread and celebrate. We were grateful for the opportunity to donate to over 25 local charitable events including sponsoring Transylvania County’s Sesame Street in Communities initiative and partnering with Lake Toxaway charities to insure less fortunate families in our community were well taken care of this holiday season. We have hosted 8 brides, 10 corporate retreats, cooking classes with Southern Livings Rebecca Lang, a Halloween party with Dracul author Dacre Stoker, trivia nights, musicians and so much more. We’re overwhelmed with gratitude for how kindly we’ve been welcomed into the area.

In Aiken, The Willcox had a wonderful year as well. Our lobby has been established as Aiken’s Living Room – a place where our community comes to unwind, to catch up with friends, and to enjoy live music. In the beginning of January, we will complete a beautiful refurbishment of our grand lobby. Our lobby will be as inviting as ever, and we’re excited to share it with you. We continue to update and refresh our guestrooms and are thrilled at the excitement our guests express when they notice new tile, new carpet, wall paper and furnishings.

We’re honored to have received the Award of Excellence – Wine Spectator 2018, voted No. 2 Best Hotel in the South – Southern Living Magazine’s South Best Awards 2018, voted No. 5 Top Hotels in The South Reader’s Choice awards Conde Nast 2018 and No. 10 in the Top 10 Resort Hotels in the American South Travel + Leisure! And, how grateful we are to the City of Aiken for their effort in stabilizing the embankment behind The Willcox, securing her future for generations to come.

From our restaurant to our spa, guests have enjoyed world class dining and spa treatments throughout the year. Our team has provided exceptional service to every guest, including the 32 different companies that hosted their meetings and retreats with us and the 28 couples that chose to celebrate their special day at our historic hotel.

This incredible year would not have been possible without the overwhelming support of our Willcox and Greystone families, nor without the hard work and dedication our team brings to the hotel each and every day. We are so grateful for everyone that has supported both The Greystone and The Willcox this year!

From our family and team to yours, we wish you all the best this holiday season and we look forward to hosting you in the new year!

It’s a truly magical and wonderful time of the year! Christmas decorations are beginning to pop up everywhere you look, there’s a festive cheer in the air, and there are parties all throughout the week and weekend for you to enjoy. Your calendar is filling up quickly with everything from holiday events with family and friends to shopping for everyone on our list this year. One thing that your calendar doesn’t have time for? Stress!

This holiday season, allow for us at The Greystone to help you alleviate any of your tension and to help you relax so that you can fully enjoy this special time of year with your family and friends. We want to offer a few ways that you can escape from your hectic, busy schedule and simply take time for yourself:


Book an Afternoon in Our Spa
From a 60-minute massage to a Signature Facial or Therapeutic Scalp Massage, the treatments in our Spa are designed to help you alleviate stress and tension, and to help you relax. Add in a manicure, pedicure, or a blowout and style for your hair , and you’ll feel refreshed, polished, and ready to get back to all of the holiday parties.


Plan a Date Night
Take an evening off from the holiday shopping and festivities, and come dine with us. You can sit back and enjoy a drink from our Mansion Bar and dinner in front of one of our many fireplaces. Finish the evening wrapped in a blanket looking up at the stars. Enjoy that extra drink and let us turn down a room for you.


Reserve a Weekend Getaway
When you stay with us in December, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time to a picturesque, traditional holiday experience. With the twinkling lights and the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains for a backdrop, you’ll feel the outside world melt away the minute that you step through our front doors. Indulge in a spa treatment, take time to put together one of our Stave puzzles in front of a roaring fire, and stroll around our property in the crisp and refreshing winter air.

We can help make your stay with us even more extraordinary this holiday season with the addition of one or more of our Experience Enhancements. These enhancements were designed with you and your Christmas celebration in mind:

Christmas Welcome Basket: have a basket filled with a gingerbread loaf, hot chocolate mix, chocolate syrup, and a candy cane waiting for you in your room when you arrive

Elf Tuck-In: are your children coming to stay with us as well? Surprise them by having one of Santa’s elves drop by your room with milk and cookies and a bedtime story before tucking them in for the night.

Festive Christmas Tree: bring a little Christmas into your room with a decorated Christmas tree to enjoy throughout your stay.

To reserve a weekend getaway with us, book an appointment in our spa, or make a dinner reservation, please visit our reservations page or call our concierge team at the front desk, 828-966-4700. We hope to celebrate the holiday season with you this year!

The holiday season is a magical time on Lake Toxaway, and all of us here at The Greystone Inn would like to extend a warm invitation to come and experience all of the holiday magic with us. It’s a wonderful time of year to be in the mountains—the busyness of the summer season has faded away, the cooler temperatures beckon you outdoors to explore the hiking trails and waterfalls, and at night, the breathtaking view of the stars is unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Your days can be as busy and exciting, or as slow and relaxing, as you choose. Take your time waking up in the morning and breathing in the fresh mountain air. Enjoy a massage in our spa, a round of golf, or a scenic hike during the day before retiring later in the day in front of one of our crackling fireplaces with a drink in hand. No matter how you choose to spend your day, it’s sure to be a perfect one.

This Thanksgiving, we invite you to stay with us and enjoy all that The Greystone has to offer. With our Thanksgiving Experience package (rates starting at $143 per person, per night) you will enjoy:
A three-night stay
Sunset cruises on the Miss Lucy (weather dependent)
Evening turndown service
Deluxe cooked-to-order breakfast each morning


That’s not all that you have the option to enjoy during your stay, either. You can create wonderful new memories and traditions by adding on to your stay with our Experience Enhancements:
Thanksgiving Dinner … $55 / person
An afternoon of falconry … $135 / person
Private Golf Lesson … $85
& more!


Our concierge team is more than happy walk you through each experience enhancement option that is available to you during your stay over Thanksgiving Weekend. Our favorite enhancement might be the Thanksgiving Dinner. Our Executive Chef Regan and her team have curated a divine meal comprised of local, seasonal ingredients that is sure to delight you and your family. There will be three courses with three options within each course to choose from, including an incredible dessert course. There’s even a special kids menu for those 12 and under to enjoy.

To make your reservation, please visit our reservations page or call our concierge team at the front desk, 828-966-4700.

Is there any other more picturesque time of year along the shores of Lake Toxaway than autumn?


The fall foliage found in the Blue Ridge Mountains this time of year is nothing short of stunning.

Hints of color will slowly begin to take over the treetops in the distance before bursting into vibrant hues of red, orange, and yellow that can be seen as far as the eye can see. The temperatures will begin to drop and bring us chilly mornings and evenings that are best spent with a cup of coffee in hand in front of a crackling fireplace. The days are still perfect for outdoor adventures and the mountains offer hiking and mountain biking, and everything in between.


How do you plan to enjoy this beautiful season? We have a few suggestions:

Book a Getaway to The Greystone—come and stay with us so that you can take in the best that autumn has to offer! Wake up to a brisk morning, spend your day exploring the area, and retire each evening before a crackling fireplace.

Explore the Blue Ridge Parkway—there are miles and miles of this scenic route for you to enjoy. Take a leisurely drive through the mountains and stop at each of the scenic overlooks to see the most breathtaking views of the fall foliage. Or, if you love to cycle, grab your bike and hit the road for a different, more thrilling experience along the parkway.

Hike to a Waterfall—Transylvania County is known as the “Land of Waterfalls” and fall is the perfect time of year to hike to some of the best ones around.

Day Trip to a Brewery—Asheville is known for their burgeoning craft brewery scene. Plan a day trip to one of their most well known breweries, Sierra Nevada, and enjoy their incredible craft beers, their delectable snacks, and live music outside on their expansive terrace.

The leaves will begin changing colors at the beginning of October, with peak time occurring towards the end of the month. We welcome you to come and stay with us so you can experience this beautiful time of year in person!