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Fancy Famous Fantasy Friday – The Greenbrier
I’m starting a new weekly series: Fancy Famous Fantasy Friday. Each Friday Miles and I will explore hotels, locations, planes, cabins, etc that are fancy, famous, and a fantasy…at least at this point. The objective isn’t to set a timeline on these places or experiences, but to implant them into the psyche. We believe in a little thing called Imaginaction: Imagine + Action. You can not realize your dreams without having them in the first place. Our very first edition exists here in the good ole U.S. of A: The Greenbrier.
Not much has changed…and I like it that way.
I want to feel like I could see Eisenhower nipping into the bar for a little sumthin sumthin.
I love old, classic, iconic hotels. Most want to see famous art in a museum. I want to see a famous hotel.
Since I was little I’ve loved to see big, grand, old hotels. My family would go on trips and I’d be bored to death walking around a museum looking at old paintings. It just wasn’t my jam. However, I remember walking into The Drake and thinking OMG this place is amazing. I was alive inside. There is something about those old and iconic hotels that made me feel as tho I’d arrived. Those feels created an experience and I want to relive that over and over and over again.
The Greenbrier – The Jewel of West Virginia
As described by the hotel itself:
I’ve always wanted to go to the Greenbrier. The hotel features 710 rooms, 10 lobbies, and 96 homes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! It’s also on 11,000 acres and offers 55 different activities: They range from Falconry and Ziplining to Shooting, Bowling, Yoga, and Glass blowing.
- Falconry
- Ziplining
The Greenbrier also has hidden bunkers. Tour please!
You can take a 90 minute tour of the once classified cold war bunkers. I love this kinda thing. I mean…this was a relocation facility for the U.S. Congress. Unreal.
Look at the accommodations. They range from guest rooms to full on homes. I would love to spend a few nights with family and friends.
I would love to hole up in an estate home or a legacy cottage. Look this is a fantasy, and I don’t know about your fantasies, but mine aren’t in an entry level guest room;)
Hawley Estate home: My and 200 of my closest friends can be entertained here.
South Carolina Row cottage:
Oh and Obviously they do Afternoon Tea.
Miles and I have to have our Afternoon Tea. Thankfully the Greenbrier can hook us up in the Upper Lobby. BYAH!
I could go on and on
The point of this series is to put some ideas in your head. Check in on Fridays to see what sort of spots Miles and I aspire to visit and experience. We’d also love to hear about what’s on your list. Comment below – we love to interact!
* All Images are from Greenbrier.com
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.