The Greystone Inn

We stayed in the Hillside rooms. Very big with a delightful porch on the lake. The bathroom was spacious, with a wonderful tub and heated floors. The owner was very receptive to my complaint of the cushions on our porch chairs and when out and brought two NEW chairs and cushions!! The restaurant on site was awesome!! Our dinner both nights we are there was a 5 star experience. This was our second visit and we will be back!!

The Inn has a very pretty location on the banks of Lake Toxaway and benefits from co-location with the neighbouring country club (which is well-manicured, offers decent bistro-grade food, a stunning golf course, tennis/other sports and a small leisure pool best suited to children). Lake Toxaway is a quiet lake surrounded effectively by privately owned communities (ie minimal public access), so if you are looking for a peaceful setting, this is it. Positives: - Our mansion room was spacious with character, a comfortable bed and good bed linen - The food is fair but a bit over-priced; service in the restaurant was mixed - some good, some not - The lady running the bar was engaging and helpful - Spa: treatments competent and staff were kind - Grounds: well kept Downsides: - Room: Tiny bathroom - if someone is standing at the wash basin, you can’t open the door - with a roaring extractor fan filled with dirty fluff. Small towels (no bathsheets). Bedroom had no soundproofing to the corridor. Ancient coffee maker dispensing only lukewarm liquid. No in-room safe for valuables. No mirror in the bedroom. Bed still unmade at 2.30pm on any day - Service: With a few exceptions, staff were very friendly but they had very limited service skills. Simple requests (e.g. a kettle) were met with weak excuses (“we don’t have any!” and the offer of a jug of hot water). A good hotel seizes on small things with good grace as a chance to make your day - The spa: shared spaces are small and dark, with no dedicated relaxation area to enjoy after a treatment - Public areas of the hotel - more cleaning and maintenance required e.g. some dirty windows and tables, dusty light fittings, disintegrating plasterwork on the landing; outside terrace and garden furniture felt unloved - Price: way too expensive for what it is. Three nights here in our room was more expensive than three nights over comparable dates in June at the Four Seasons in Manhattan! I just checked. In summary: Reality check required. Objectively, I can’t make sense of the rave reviews. The Inn itself is quaint but definitely not great. I am not looking for a “city luxe” experience here - but at this price, you should expect top quality comfort and quietly excellent service that goes the extra mile. The hotel needs investment in buildings, equipment/fittings, facilities, cleaning, staff and training. Based on our experience, it’s trading on a pretty location and the country club facilities, rather than the quality of its core offering.

My husband and I stayed at Greystone Inn August 4 - 9, 2024 and am sorry to say we were less than thrilled with our stay. .The sofa was stained as well as the carpet and the other furnishings were outdated, water stained and worn. The exception to this was the bathroom which was very nice. .We accidently discovered the duvet insert was also badly (urine??) stained. .The fireplace did not work. (Yes, we wanted a fire in August) .The chairs on the deck were uncomfortable. .Sitting on the balcony was anything but peaceful due to the constant coming and going of boats at the marina which was literally feet from our balcony. .We received no housekeeping service on our first full day-came back to the room late afternoon @ 6 and found it as we had left it. .We spent our last day in Cashiers and rushed back for the boat ride only to find it had been cancelled due to winds. Understandable, but why no phone call or text, especially considering the numerous texts reminding me of dinner and spa reservations that I was expected to keep. Had we been notified we would have enjoyed continuing our time in Cashiers. .The arrogant woman working the front desk upon arrival and checkout. At check in no offer to assist with our bags and at checkout did not ask us anything in regards to had we enjoyed our stay. We have traveled quite a bit and I cannot recall this lack of courtesy at any other establishment. .Overcharge for spa---I am looking now at my receipt and see I was overcharged for my spa service. As a follow up to our stay I received (and replied to) an email from the general manager thanking us for our stay. I replied with the above comments but have yet to receive a reply. I have never gone public with a bad review but am doing so now in the hopes that it will be a wake up call to the management/owner as a direct email apparently goes unnoticed and/or ignored. Given the price point at 469.00 per night our accommodations were not acceptable. I would not recommend a stay at Greystone to a friend and will not be returning. Greystone Inn is on a beautiful property and it appears to be a peaceful haven on its web page which is why we chose to come there-it did not live up to its appearances. Do your homework and choose someplace else to stay. Again this place looks beautiful on its web page but don’t be fooled. It’s definitely not a 5 or even 4 star quality stay.

This was such a disappointment. Do not believe the web site images. This historic hotel is surrounded by mediocre 1980s building on a narrow lake with speed boats. It was not the quiet idyllic setting we had imagined. The staff was not helpful or experienced. The food was microwaved frozen Costco items. The historic building roof slate was falling off. Windows wouldn’t open and close. Mattress was so soft our backs were hurting in the morning. No room service. Coffee was horrible. Totally overpriced.

Five star room - huge space, great bathroom, nice balcony with an absolutely gorgeous view of the lake (room 501 - highly recommend). Lake and surrounding scenery are beautiful. Nice walking path along the edge of the golf course. Restaurant is great- particularly the dinner service. Again, beautiful view no matter if you sit inside or out. Very pet friendly! Great place to travel with your dog. They really cater to dogs… special dog menu, provide bed and bowls and the staff was super friendly to my dog. “Turkey jerky turndown” was too cute. Restaurant is right next door to the pet-friendly rooms so if you don’t want to dine with your dog it would be super easy to pop over and check on them. The kayak and swimming area are the only place that could use improvement. There’s no one to help you get kayaks in and out of the water and there’s lots of spiders - it’s very much self-serve, but they still charge you to use the equipment. The stairs to the swimming area were covered in algae, extremely slippery and dangerous. No sign to warn guests. An attendant for that area and a ladder off the dock would make all the difference in the world.

What a lovely experience! We came up here, after a coworker suggested this lovely Inn, for a mid-week getaway. We stayed Wednesday-Friday. We attended a wedding on Thursday at Black Balsam Knob- good to know, it’s less than 1 hour drive from the Inn to the Blue Ridge Parkway for some great hiking! The GOOD: Room was very clean! We had more than enough space for 2 people, and we were very comfortable- loved the fireplace in the FireStone Room (104). The pillow mints, the turndown service, the glass of lemon water at our arrival & daily thereafter- these are amazing touches that go a long way, in my book! We enjoyed the beautiful scenery here- you can’t beat the lake & Mountain Views. Since it was Mid-week, it wasn’t very crowded. We had no trouble getting a table at the restaurant, where we ate breakfast. *did not get a chance to try other meals here, but the service we had at breakfast was excellent! Smaller menu, but the foods they offered were done exceptionally. The “NEEDS IMPROVEMENT”: my only negative about this place was that our room (Firestone, room 104) was directly beneath another room, and I would assume that room had hardwood floors, because we heard EVERYTHING. The night before our departure, someone was bouncing a hard ball across the floor at 10pm. The morning of our departure, we were looking forward to sleeping in, and unfortunately were awoken by a vacuum running across the floor above us, at 8:30 am. I realize there is not a lot to remedy this situation- hey, they’re older historic rooms, and they are very well maintained! But it would be considerate to plan the cleaning of the upper room after the Fireside guests have left- or at least later morning :) All-in-all, we greatly enjoyed our experience here, and plan to bring back family & friends! I think it would be fun to try a new room each time we come! Thanks to all the staff for making it a memorable experience.