9 of the best places to stay in West Virginia

22.02.2024 - 19:14 / nationalgeographic.com

West Virginia is a beauty queen of a state, with ragged mountains to hike or ski and white-water rapids to paddle. It’s also stuffed with Civil War history and charming small towns. To explore it all, you’ll need a home base. Here are the boutique hotels, camping compounds, and storied resorts we suggest.

Best for:  College town vibes and culture

In the historic downtown of this college city—home to West Virginia University—this recently renovated 1925 hotel features industrial-cool guest rooms and the Anvil & Ax lounge, with throwback drinks served at a long dark wood bar. The Morgan is within walking distance of performing arts venues (the Metropolitan Theatre, 123 Pleasant Street), small museums, and coffee shops. Plus the rehabbed Wharf District on the Monongahela River has restaurants, bars, and an entrance to the paved Caperton Rail Trail, popular with bikers and joggers.

Good to know: A 13-mile drive from Morgantown, Coopers Rock State Forest offers eye-popping views (and great photo ops) amid thick forests and dramatic sandstone cliffs.

(How to ride on West Virginia’s latest, greatest mountain bike paths.)

Best for: Interior design fans

Guest rooms decked in yellow rose wallpaper. An outsized lobby outfitted with black and white checkerboard floors, turquoise walls, and chintz chairs. The flamboyant public and private spaces at this grand dame resort in southeastern West Virginia came from early 20th-century interior designer Dorothy Draper. Guests check in for the technicolor, old-fashioned charm plus diversions like golf, horse-drawn carriage rides, afternoon tea, and a spa. Historians lead daily interior tours, pointing out details of Draper’s designs (stripes galore, rhododendron flower prints festooning carpets and curtains) and detailing the Greenbrier’s stint as a World War II prisoner-of-war camp.

Good to know: Beneath the Greenbrier’s bright rooms lies a Cold War-era secret: a 1962 underground bunker built as an emergency fallout shelter for the U.S. government. Declassified in 1995, it’s now viewable via 90-minute guided tours that reveal a clunky nuclear blast monitor, a government briefing room, and a bathroom shower-like decontamination site.

(What it takes to preserve a historic hotel—and why you should stay in one.)

Best for : European atmosphere 

Half-timbered building facades, a restaurant serving sauerbraten and spaetzle, and an on-site brewery pouring European-style beers make this Shepherdstown boutique hotel feel like the Alps in Appalachia. On the property, guests find pickleball, tennis, and bocce courts; cozy outdoor fire pits, and an infinity pool with river and mountain vistas.

A short walk from the Bavarian, Shepherdstown’s compact, collegiate downtown holds