Williamsburg Inn

Francis Street marks the southern edge of the restored eighteenth-century town of Williamsburg, Virginia, and the Williamsburg Inn sits just across it, on a lawn with a view of the Golden Horseshoe golf course. It is white, columned and symmetrical, and it is not colonial. John D. Rockefeller Jr. wanted his guests to sleep in comfort beside the past, not inside it.

History

Rockefeller had funded the restoration of Virginia's colonial capital since 1926, and by the mid-1930s the town needed a hotel for the visitors the project was attracting. He commissioned the Inn from Perry, Shaw and Hepburn, the Boston firm that had led the restoration, and took a personal hand in the furnishing with his wife Abby. It opened on 3 April 1937 with 61 rooms, and the Rockefellers kept a suite for their own visits each spring and autumn until his death in 1960.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip stayed in October 1957 for the 350th anniversary of Jamestown, and returned in May 2007 for the 400th. In May 1983 Ronald Reagan hosted the G7 economic summit in Williamsburg, and the heads of government of the seven nations were lodged at the Inn while the sessions took place in the town. Emperor Akihito, Margaret Thatcher and a long list of American presidents have followed. The Inn is owned and run by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and a renovation completed in 2016 reduced the room count to 62 and enlarged the suites.

Architecture and design

Perry, Shaw and Hepburn drew on the springs hotels of nineteenth-century Virginia, the Homestead and the Greenbrier among them, rather than on the colonial town next door. The style is Regency: a white-painted brick block with a columned portico, tall sash windows, a hipped roof and balustrades. Inside, the Regency theme continues in the pale colours, the Chinese Chippendale railings, the crystal chandeliers and the furniture that Abby Rockefeller helped choose. The Regency Room and the lounges overlook the terrace, the lawn and the golf course.

Rooms and suites

The Inn has 62 rooms and suites on three floors of the main building. Rooms are large by the standards of a 1937 hotel and were enlarged again in 2016; the best look south over the lawn and the Golden Horseshoe. The Queen's Suite is named for the royal visits, and a further suite carries the Rockefeller name.

Dining

The Rockefeller Room is the formal dining room, with a jacket preferred at dinner. The Terrace Room and its terrace serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea with the golf course in view, and the Social Terrace and the Goodwin Room take drinks. The Golden Horseshoe clubhouse has its own grill a short walk across the course.

Wellness

The Spa of Colonial Williamsburg stands beside the Inn with treatment rooms, an indoor pool and a fitness centre. The Inn has its own outdoor pool and tennis courts, and guests have access to the two 18-hole courses of the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, the Gold course by Robert Trent Jones Sr. of 1963 and the Green by his son Rees Jones of 1991.

Weddings and events

The Inn hosts weddings on the East Lawn and in the Regency Room, with receptions in the ballroom and the terrace rooms. Its nine meeting rooms serve conferences, board meetings and the summits that have made its name, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's larger meeting facilities are available to groups staying at the Inn. Capacities depend on the room and the layout.

Location

The Inn is on East Francis Street, at the edge of the Historic Area, with the Capitol, the Governor's Palace and Duke of Gloucester Street within ten minutes on foot. The College of William and Mary is at the other end of the town. Williamsburg's Amtrak station is on the Northeast Regional line from Washington and Richmond. Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport is about 20 miles away, Richmond International about 50. As a luxury hotel in Williamsburg it has had the field to itself since 1937.