Worth the Drive: The Swag

When I checked in at The Swag, an attentive staff member handed me a menu asking me to choose my lunch order for the next day. Lunches are served to-go — the idea being I could eat it in an Adirondack chair, looking at the Great Smoky Mountains. Or take it with me on a hike. (The resort shares a mile-long border with the national park.) Or I could take it to the pool, or eat it in front of the fireplace in my room, or enjoy it and the views in the dining room. There are 250 acres to explore, after all. 

Not only did I have my choice of where and what to eat, but also how to carry it: in a brown paper bag (large with handles, not like a school lunch bag), in a backpack, or in a wicker picnic basket with a hinged top. While it wasn’t the practical choice — a backpack would have been wiser on the trails — it had been a long time since I’d skipped through a meadow swinging a picnic basket of sandwiches, fruit, homemade granola bars and beverages. So, picnic basket it was. Everything at The Swag felt like the freedom and joy of that picnic basket lunch — like running barefoot through the grass.  

The Swag, named for the shape of the valley where the resort sits, was purchased by Dan and Deener Matthews in 1971. Eventually, they turned their private getaway into an inn. In 2018, the Matthews family sold The Swag to Annie and David Colquitt, who first stayed at the resort on their honeymoon. The Colquitts have maintained the history that made them fall in love with the place, while adding a spa, an outdoor dining porch, more cabins and a wine cellar. These upgrades allowed The Swag to join luxury hospitality group Relais & Châteaux in 2020.

The attention to detail by the Colquitts and their staff is beyond compare. When I arrived, my Polaroid photo was taken and placed in an album in the main lodge. There, I could peruse photos from past years. Repeat visitors note the albums feel like family photo books, and they find snapshots of multiple generations. First-timers to the resort get to pick a wooden walking stick with a Swag hiking medallion for the year. Repeat visitors bring their sticks back and amass a collection of medallions. It’s easy to see why folks book their return trips before they leave.

What’s Nearby

The Swag is a 20-minute drive to downtown Waynesville, N.C., which is the gateway town to the Smokies on the North Carolina side. Waynesville is charming, with streets of boutique shops, great restaurants and a terrific used bookstore. (At Wall Street Books, they even have extra reading glasses you are welcome to use if you forgot yours.) 

Waynesville is a worthy vacation destination, and, like all of Western North Carolina, wants to spread the message that it’s open for business post-Hurricane Helene. But The Swag is so lovely, restful and insulated from the real world that I went to Waynesville after The Swag — rather than miss a minute at the resort.

What To Do

Just as The Swag staff offers a menu of dishes to eat, they give you a menu of activities to choose from. At least for a few hours, your activity should be “do nothing but sit in an Adirondack chair, look at the mountains and surrounding wildflowers, and read a book.” Other options include guided hikes (from all-day excursions to short jaunts), yoga classes and trips to the spa. 

You can take a chauffeured tour — in one of the resort’s eco-friendly Volvos — across the mountain, past the Cataloochee Ski Area, to Cataloochee Ranch, The Swag’s family-focused sister property. Cataloochee Ranch is not all-inclusive and doesn’t have the same jewel-box feel as The Swag, but it is delightful. I took an eco-printing class using gathered wildflowers and felt like I was in an ad for the Smoky Mountains.

Back at The Swag, at night, there may be live music, art experiences or lectures offered by one of the resort’s experts in residence.  

Where To Eat

The Swag is an all-inclusive resort. But not like the all-inclusives you’ve been to in Mexico or the Caribbean. This is food you want to eat, made with ingredients from the surrounding mountains and crafted by executive chef Jake Schmidt. You pick your lunches and dinners the day before, and you order breakfast from a traditional menu. The menus change daily — leaving me briefly disappointed when I quickly developed favorites, but then found something I loved even more. 

There are afternoon snacks, s’mores supplies, and old-timey coolers filled with nonalcoholic drinks and homemade ice cream. The minibar in your room also has drinks and healthy snacks, including The Swag Bar, a homemade peanut butter-and-chocolate energy bar. 

You can also be shuttled to Cataloochee Ranch for lunch and dinner. The sister resort’s meals are not included at The Swag, but offer a more traditional bar-and-restaurant environment with even more stellar mountain views. 

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

I dare you not. I slept blissful, deep sleeps in Davy’s Room in the Chestnut Lodge — under soft sheets, with my choice of any weighted blanket, and control over air conditioning, heat and my in-room fireplace, which I could light myself or have someone light for me. 

The rooms might have a rustic aesthetic, but they are anything but. The bathroom floors are heated on a timer, and towels are laid out on a heated rack. The resort has its own line of skincare products, also used in the spa, that smell like the pine trees outside. Turndown service prepared my room for sleep by closing the shades and adjusting the lights. 

No two rooms are exactly alike. Some, like mine, are not ADA-accessible. And some have outdoor copper tubs. There are stand-alone cabins and rooms in the main Swag House, too. Plus, there are no TVs, so there’s no danger of nighttime distractions.