Three of the first five United States presidents had homes in the region around Charlottesville, Virginia. Situated just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this scenic area was, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a social and intellectual hub for the Piedmont planter class, whose considerable influence helped shape the young country. Thomas Jefferson built Monticello here, James Monroe lived at the nearby Highland, and James Madison’s family estate, Montpelier, was just a day’s ride north of them.

Roughly a century after Monticello was completed, another great house would rise in the area: Villa Crawford, built in 1912. Just over 100 years after that, in 2021, the entire estate — which by then had grown into a luxury resort called Keswick Hall — completed a multimillion-dollar makeover that included a new wing, a stand-alone spa and a new restaurant from celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. I’d had lovely stays at the property before it closed for renovations, and I was eager to experience its new incarnation.

Keswick Hall

After years of reviewing hotels, I can often tell within moments of entering whether a property will earn my recommendation. So when I tripped over the crumpled carpet at the front door of the 80-room Keswick Hall, I felt immediately skeptical. At reception, a warm welcome was undermined by an inexperienced clerk who gave us neither a hotel overview nor a list of our Andrew Harper benefits, which included an upgrade on arrival if available. When I flagged this, she offered to elevate us into one of two Estate Suites. But which to pick? After some prying, I learned that one of them overlooked the parking lot. That made the choice easy!