Need to know
Rooms
78, including three suites and 16 cottages.
Check–Out
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
More details
Rates don’t include breakfast. A $100 a day resort fee covers a farm tour; beekeeper meet and greet; morning yoga, sound baths and meditation sessions; fishing, canoe and paddle-board gear; and high-speed WiFi.
Also
There are 11 accessible rooms, adapted to ADA standards, and staff can ferry guests about the grounds in electric golf carts or a Cadillac Escalade. And all rooms are allergy-friendly.
At the hotel
Farm and orchards, lake, fitness centre, beauty salon and shop, farmstand, cruiser bikes for hire, charged dry-cleaning and laundry services, and concierge. In rooms: 55-inch TV with an interactive Sonifi system, Bluetooth soundbar, mini fridge, smart climate-control, free newspaper, bathrobes. The Premiere Tennessee Suite has a full-size fridge.
Our favourite rooms
We’re not qualified to comment on the state of modern farming, but the state of the hotel’s modern-farmhouse rooms is exceptional, with wallpaper with patterns that reflect the scenery, luxe fabrics, all the tech you’ll need and spa-style bathrooms with large soaking tubs. The cottages are built to be as private as possible – we like Arbor, where you can swing on the deck’s day-bed together as the alfresco fireplace crackles late into the night. And the Tennessee Suite feels extra special, with its vintage trappings.
Poolside
Guests who've booked a spa treatment (or paid for a day pass) can get their daily dose of 60 minerals in a heated lake-view pool. And there’s a larger, seasonal, unheated pool for all guests if you’re lining up laps.
Spa
The land provides spiritual nourishment here, too – at the 15,000-square-foot spa (open 8.30am to 6pm). You can get a day pass for $50 or have access to all facilities if you book a treatment. Ingredients for therapies are sourced from the farm or medicinal herb garden, and there’s greenery to meditate in. Enter its reclaimed wood gate and you’ll find 10 treatment rooms (some for couples, one with a soaking tub), a eucalyptus-scented steam room, Himalayan salt sauna, mineral pool enriched overlooking Lake Mishkin, thermotherapy circuit, and relaxation lounge. You could have a simple botanical massage or Naturopathica facial, or try crystal healing, smoke smudging, sound and forest baths, or tea ceremony. There’s mani-pedis to finish and aftercare can go on and on here, with mindfulness therapists available to book for Zoom sessions after your stay and recipes for healing potions passed on. And, alongside workouts at the fitness center, there are sound baths and meditation sessions, and sunset yoga on special occasions.
Packing tips
Southall is very manicured as farms go, but unprecious outfits of dungarees, sturdy denim, rubber boots, and layers for weather turns will come in handy (as will lake-frolicking gear). And save packing space for the farm’s spoils and Tennessean goodies.
Also
The hotel's boutique sells local products.
Pet‐friendly
One good boy or girl (under 50 pounds) can stay for $250 a room. They must be leashed and accompanied, and they can’t enter the dining spaces. See more pet-friendly hotels in Tennessee.
Children
Juniors to teens will love the outdoorsy activities (especially the aerial adventure, archery and axe-throwing), and there are some interconnecting rooms with two queen beds, and babysitting on request.
Best for
Kids aged five and up, and tweens and teens, will have a great time here.
Recommended rooms
Some of the Polk and Cumberland rooms sleep up to four and some interconnect.
Activities
Outdoorsy activities have an all-age appeal, whether you’re biking through the woods, zip-lining through the trees, tackling the aerial obstacle course, or trying your hand at bee-keeping.
Swimming pool
Kids can swim in the pool, but it’s not especially child-friendly.
Meals
Sojourner’s more casual eats will appeal to kids, and they’ll love the poolside popsicles.
Babysitting
The concierge can help to arrange this; it’s best to book in advance.
Sustainability efforts
Sustainability is sown into the land here, with heritage seeds and heirloom varietals planted, eco-friendly farming techniques in place, invasive plant species removed, wild-mushrooms encouraged, and nitrogen-fixing cover crops fertilising the soil. Natural pest management is in place, with wildflower meadows to attract pollinators, and an apiary with millions of bees, which produce 1,000 pounds of honey a year. Seasonal farming cycles keep the landscape healthy; savannas and meadows are maintained with controlled fires; and wells and underground systems have been dug for geothermal heating and cooling. The property is almost entirely self-sufficient when it comes to water, collecting rain in roofs and gutters and terracing the land and building swales to capture run-off. Renewable materials are used in constructing rooms, furnishings are reclaimed or handmade, and HVAC systems conserve energy. Smart tech means rooms switch on and off as needed and can be operated remotely, the kitchen has strong connections to local farmers, and recycling and composting are duly carried out, while plastics have largely been replaced by glass (guests get a water bottle on arrival and there are refill stations throughout).
