The Martha Washington Inn & Spa hosts board meetings for 10, conferences for up to 200, retreats, tour groups of up to 250 and weddings with in-house catering and 63 guest rooms on site. The inn stands at 150 West Main Street in downtown Abingdon, in the Blue Ridge Highlands of Southwest Virginia.
Seminars and company events
The meeting and banquet rooms take everything from a board meeting of 10 to a conference of 200. They are equipped with high-speed internet, surround sound, telephone lines and audiovisual equipment. The events team coordinates the technical setup, the menus and the guest rooms for attendees, which makes multi-day retreats and planning sessions simple to run from one place. Typical uses include business meetings, conferences and corporate retreats. Tour groups of 10 to 250 are welcome as well, with group rates on rooms, free bus parking and lunch or dinner in a private banquet hall before an evening at the Barter Theatre.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings take place in the inn's ballroom and in a choice of smaller spaces, from a quiet elopement to a large reception with dancing. The inn also hosts engagement parties, bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, farewell brunches, vow renewals and anniversaries. All food and drink must be provided by the inn's own catering team. A dedicated sales manager handles wedding planning.
Rooms and capacities
The largest meeting format seats up to 200 for a conference, and the inn receives tour groups of up to 250. The ballroom is the main setting for receptions, and a private banquet hall serves group meals. Detailed room capacities and floor plans are available from the events team.
Accommodation
The inn has 63 guest rooms, each furnished with antiques alongside modern comforts. Hotel guests have access to the spa, a fitness center, an indoor pool and a hot tub, and breakfast is included for in-house guests. Tennis, pickleball and a putting course were added during the renovation that followed 1995.
Catering
The catering team works with locally sourced ingredients and publishes set menus for meetings, banquets and weddings. Sisters American Grill, the inn's restaurant, was created during the renovation that followed 1995 and gives attendees a second dining option on site.
History and setting
The brick house was built in 1832 as the home of General Francis Preston, his wife Sarah Buchanan Preston and their nine children. In 1858 it became Martha Washington College, a school for young women that ran for more than 70 years and served as a hospital for both armies during the Civil War. After the college closed in 1932, the building housed actors from the Barter Theatre, and in 1935 it opened as a hotel. Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lady Bird Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Elizabeth Taylor have stayed here. The Prestons' living room is now the main lobby, the grand stairway and parlors keep their 19th-century layout, and a library holds more than 1,000 volumes.
Getting there
The inn is on Main Street in the historic center of Abingdon, opposite the Barter Theatre and close to the start of the Virginia Creeper Trail. Tri-Cities Airport in Tennessee is the nearest commercial airport.
