My husband & I discovered Staunton, VA, last summer after having read about it and the area, and the Shenandoah Valley towns leading down to it, in the Washington Post over the years. We have returned twice already to enjoy this lovely gem of a city. It offers a quiet, friendly (everyone on the street says hello with a smile), walkable and beautiful (what architecture!) place to spend some time. (And just a 2-hour drive away.) We have three times then stayed at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel - it is clean, newly renovated, convenient and perfect for what we need: a quiet, comfortable room in which to rest up. This last visit we did get a smaller room in the older section with a King-sized bed, and preferred the larger rooms with queen-sized beds - those rooms also seem to provide lovely cityscape views. We will continue to stay at the Stonewall Jackson whenever we can manage to escape! We have already brought our mothers along, to see Staunton and catch a couple of plays; we will keep spreading the news. (I agree about the elevators - they are slow. I would love to use the stairs but they seem a bit inconvenient. That is a shame.)

For Valentine's weekend, my husband booked a package at Stonewall Jackson Resort. There were some really great highlights. The staff all-around was friendly. The resort itself had a rustic quality, which is what we were after - a weekend escape from DC. Our room was nice. Our strawberries and champagne were waiting for us when we arrived. All very pleasant. We had lunch at TJ Muskie's. Food was excellent and it was fun to play pool and have some drinks. The dinners we had were pretty good. We had two great waitresses - great service, offered to take pictures for us - the whole nine yards. The hiking onsite was terrific, too. There were some downsides that really took away from our experience. There was a domestic disturbance near our room that took HOURS to dissolve (in the middle of the night) - fighting, screaming, police called, the offender being thrown against our door as they hauled him out...It felt like being on an episode of COPS. While this is not a direct result of the Resort, it definitely created some terrifying memories and obviously didn't create a relaxing environment for us to be in. No one told us what was going on - we were just barked at and told to stay in our rooms, which we understood. However, since we didn't know the full extent of the issue, I was naturally scared by what was going down in the hallway. The next morning when we followed up with management to make sure the issue had been resolved (we didn't want to spend another night near people who would create more problems), the manager indicated that he basically had no control over what guests did and left it at that. He gave us $50 off our stay. Needless to say, that didn't give me back hours of sleep and worry or a ruined evening. When you drive five hours to get somewhere and you really only have 36 hours in which to relax, a manager insinuating there's nothing he can do after a situation like that seems like a crappy deal. I had some spa services while there. The massage was good, but there were reservation issues. I had booked a Swedish massage and they had me down as Aromatherapy. They made it seem like it was my mistake, when in actuality, I hate Aromatherapy and never would have booked that, so I know it wasn't my error. I also had a mani/pedi. It was way overpriced and nowhere near a resort-quality experience. The pedi room is utterly drab and not what I would call spa-like by any means. Additionally, when we went to check out, there were extra charges on our bill that were supposed to have been included in the package we selected. We pointed it out and the check out rep amended the bill. Again, not much of a "Sorry about that, totally our fault." So I recommend to others to closely examine your bill before you leave. You shouldn't have to pay extra because of the Resort's clerical errors. So all in all, the people who work here are in general, very sweet. But this place has a lot to learn in customer service. Just being nice to your guests isn't always enough - sometimes you have to go out of your way to fix things and make them right. I spent most of the weekend feeling like I had to apologize for things that weren't even my fault (botched spa reservations, a drunk guy being too trashed and getting kicked out and my husband and I having to hear all of the BS that went down at 3am, our bill being screwed up at check out). This place has a lot going for it and I'm sure many people would enjoy staying here (especially when you don't have the issues we did). But seeing how management responds to such issues was enough for me to say that I will never go back there.

Other reviews here are pretty accurate. I agree 100% that the walls and doors are thin. Fortunately our floor was relatively empty during our stay, but we easily heard the neighbors and anybody walking by and chatting in the hallway. Pack your earplugs. Our queen bed room in the "historic wing" was on the small side, comparable to what you'd get in a city center hotel in Europe. The hotel website offers a "bed and breakfast" rate that includes the hotel's breakfast buffet during your stay. I suggest passing on it. The breakfast was mediocre, as was the service. A huge wedding party took up most seats on the Sunday morning we were there, which overwhelmed the restaurant staff and led to long waits for a table, at the omelet station, etc. (and the staff constantly complaining to you about it). Buffet items were not restocked, and many serving stations lacked tongs or spoons for serving. There are better places for breakfast in Staunton, so save your money and don't bother eating at the hotel. Blackfriar's playhouse is right next door, and it's an easy walk to the Woodrow Wilson museum, so this hotel is in a very convenient location. Most downtown shops were closed by 4 pm on a Saturday, so if you're planning to explore do it during the day.

We just spent a lovely weekend in Staunton, and chose the Stonewall Jackson mainly because it wasn't a B&B (we're both 25, and didn't feel like a B&B was exactly our speed). The location, first off, is prime. Walking down hill half a block will put you at the head of the main shopping/dining street in the town. Seeing as it was February in the mountains, this was extremely nice. We were able to leave the room 5 minutes before a dinner reservation, and still made it there on time! The hotel itself is emaculate. The lobby is open and clean, but not cold-feeling. There are couches and chairs to sit in and relax. There's a fireplace by the lobby bar, perfect for a quiet after dinner drink. The staff was extremely polite (more so that we're used to, having lived outside NYC and DC all our lives). Breakfast was delicious, and the staff in the restaurant were over-the-top courteous. The only complaint I really have is that the walls and doors are thin! We could hear what I hope was our neighbor coughing and groaning on the first night (Saturday). And on Sunday night, some people were having a great conversation in the hallway, which we could clearly hear. Other than the thin walls, we absolutely loved the Stonewall Jackson, and would definately go back.

Was at the hotel for a conference on March 3-6, 2008. Check in was great. Thank you Shaun F!! My room was on teh second floor of the hotel. Getting up to the room was very weird. There is a seperate elevator that takes you from the parking deck and then you switch in the lobby for the ones that go the rooms. Parkign is four dollars a day fyi. Rooms are small. My second floor room had a view of the roof. Room was clean. it consisted of a king size bed, two nightstands, desk and televsion. Small but reasonable closet. With the rooms being small, teh downside is that the bathroom and closet doors open out into the room. There is no exhaust fan in the bathroom. Wind noise for some reason was really bad along that hallway. Doors and walls are really thin. Quite a bit of light crpet through underneath and along the sides of doors. Excersize room and pool area are clean. You will need to room key to gain access. Jacuzzi is warm and pool don't think was heated but was refreshing after the pool. Bartender Ashley was great and the louge area was clean and quite relaxing with the gas fireplace.