The Greenbrier is a luxurious resort in the United States. It is located in the well known Allegheny Mountains in the Greenbrier County of West Virginia, next to White Sulphur Springs. The Greenbrier covers a land of eleven thousand acres (approximately 4,500 ha) with 710 hotel quarters, over 55 outdoor and indoor parks and facilities, 20 restaurants and lounges, as well as 36 retail outlets.
The present Greenbrier, which was constructed in 1913, is a famous five-star hotel & resort. The Hotel Corporation of Greenbrier now operates as a member of Jim Justice’s industries. A Total of 26 US presidents have stayed at this resort, the last one being Dwight Eisenhower. The resort is also the site of an enormous underground bunker, which was built to provide shelter in an emergency for the US Congress at the time of the crucial cold war.
History
The resort property has a sulphur water spring at its center. Based on “taking the waters”, which was a popular tradition among local Americans, the property was called “White Sulphur Springs” for the first hundred and twenty five years after it was built. The asset changed several hands among forces between Confederate and Union Armies during the civil war.
After the civil war had finished, the resort was reopened and soon became a spot for vacationing. The resort was rebuilt multiple times, adding more and more attractive features to it. During World War II, the hotel served as a diplomatic detention center until July 1942. Later during the war, it was converted to a 2000-bed hospital and served as the same till June 1946. After that, the resort was completely redecorated and restored again.
Highlights
The Casino Club
A permanent casino, named ‘The Casino Club’ was established in its premises on July 2, 2010. As per the state’s terms & conditions, only Greenbrier’s guests can visit this casino. However, the concept of ‘guest’ has often varied between the hotel and state governors.
Presidents’ Cottage Museum
It’s a two-storied building with displays of the twenty-six presidents’ visits and the Greenbrier’s history.
Features
Golf
The Greenbrier has four magnificent golf courses that have a special place in the game’s history. The Greenbrier resort course hosted the Ryder Cup in 1979. From 2010 until 2019, a PGA Tour event named ‘The Greenbrier Classic’ also took place here.
Tennis
The resort contains a tennis stadium of 2,500 seats, five outdoor courts which are Har-Tru clay, and five more indoor ones which are Deco-Turf.
The Bunker
The US government approached the Greenbrier to assist in creating a secret emergency location center to house the Congress after the nuclear holocaust in the late 1950s. The feature is now an attraction to the visitors, who can tour the present declassified facilities, named The Bunker. The resort has been a major influence in history since the late 1900s till now. It even had parts in video games (e.g. Fallout 76), novels (e.g. Entombed), etc. It was the center of one of the most memorable moments on the US game show named Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.