My birthday always seems to fall during the hottest week of the year, so this year I decided to do the only thing you can do when it's hot and you're nowhere near the beach - spend a couple of days by the pool.
The side view of Keswick Hall, overlooking the pool
In my opinion, one of the best hotel pools in Virginia belongs to Keswick Hall, which has an infinity pool looking over an expansive golf course. It's a 5 star hotel that recently received an enormous renovation that completely modernized and expanded the hotel, and added the Jean-George restaurant, Marigold.
Keswick Hall's Infinity Pool
The pool is adults-only and you can rent cabanas for the day
Many years ago, I used to go to Keswick Hall for my birthday every year to enjoy afternoon tea. The hotel was built in 1912 and was bought in 1993 by Laura Ashley's widower, Sir Bernard Ashley. It was completely decorated in Laura Ashley style back then, which obviously was absolutely my cup of tea.
It was hard for me to see how much has changed but I realized the hotel was badly in need of modernizing and I did enjoy the luxurious touches. One of the highlights was a meal at Marigold, a Jean-George restaurant. I can honestly say it was in the top 5 meals of my life. Online reviews were mixed, so my expectations were modest, however the outdoor patio with views of the golf course and the exceptional meal really exceeded all expectations.
World famous French chef Jean-George Vongerichten owns a collection of 60 Jean-George Restaurants, including multiple 2 Michelin star restaurants and one located on the 59th floor of the Four Seasons in Philadelphia.
We were up and at the pool fairly early on in the morning, so I managed to take some photos with the pool empty, surrounded by gentle rolling hills still covered in some morning mist. You can just see in the foreground how the infinity pool looks over views of the golf course.
I found a corner with patio seating that I thought was so charming.
There were a lot of nooks and crannies with delights like this all over the hotel grounds.
Apart from these photos, I didn't capture much of our stay, as I was too busy enjoying myself! Hopefully these few pictures give a feel for the lovely pool and elegant surroundings that you can enjoy at Keswick Hall.
