Fairview Bed and Breakfast

Where to begin?
FALSE ADVERTISING. Their website is 100% absolute shit. I was surprising my husband with a romantic getaway and headed to Devil’s Backbone on the way to visit his brother. I specifically emailed Jennifer requesting a romantic stay at a B&B on a THURSDAY for one night. The site advertises rooms in the gorgeous victorian home for $ 160 a night. It also states that the house will be booked before the cottage and that the cottage is only for large parties who needed the space. She replied back with ‘yeah, we have a space in the cottage still!’ implying that the house was full and I accepted graciously. She charged $ 150 plus tax (not on the website because the cottage DOESNT look like the house. It’s homely, and a family-​ish cottage. Which would have been cool, if we weren’t EXPECTING the pictures on the website. I wanted a tall romantic four-​poster bed & airy and light furniture. The ‘cottage’ was cramped, HOTTTTTTTT, and CREEEEEEPY) Also, the peacocks like to land on the tin roof every 10 minutes and then stare into the upstairs windows. Luckily it was LITERALLY just my husband and I the entire night and were able to «sleep» (read: lay in bed tossing & turning because it’s so creepy) in the downstairs bedroom that was only 400 degrees, vice the 800 that was upstairs.
Oh? Jennifer is supposed to greet you when you get there? Nah bro. not even close. This kid came over and told us to move our car because he was doing work there (strange, because he was behind the house when we got there) so we did that… Then we asked him where to check in at… He responded with ‘idk, where are you guys staying? oh, must be the cottage. You guys are the only people today. heres the code to the door.’ SERIOUSLY!!! If we’re the only customers, how do you not know our names!!!
We went to the cottage and went to go see if there was some sort of ‘breakfast is at this time etc etc’ and we couldn’t find anything so we decided to run up to the little general store and grab some snacks for the night. When we got back, we approached the dude who had yelled at us before & we asked how this all worked. He responded with uhhhh, what do you mean? … We asked when breakfast was and where the horses were… He said ‘oh, we’ve been scaling back lately. We don’t really do that anymore.’
THEN WHY ARE YOU A BED AND BREAKFAST. WE WANTED FRICKING BREAKFAST.
Also, NO HORSES. There are cows and creepy peacocks, and a really cool cat that’s covered in ticks though. He’ll hang out with you all day if you’d let him. Spa services? NOT EVEN CLOSE. They have a hot tub and it looked clean enough but we didn’t get it mostly because we were so creeped out.
There is a LONG drive leading up to the house. and another house that is at the front by the road. Twice during our stay (mind you, we’re city military folk who our aware of our surroundings) cars were parked at the edge of our drive so that even if we wanted to, we had no physical means of escaping. We contemplated leaving but the closest hotels are pretty far and we didn’t check in until 5ish and so by the time we thought of leaving it was dark. WE SLEPT WITH KNIVES BY OUR BED.
In the morning, we demonstrated a little anger by texting Jennifer ‘When’s breakfast?’ and she responded by immediately apologizing and said QUOTE: «This reservation rate $ 150, did not include meals or services, vacation rental only.» Now, a quote from the website: «A full gourmet breakfast for two is included with your room rate. Our menu changes daily and always features fresh ingredients right off the farm, from eggs, honey, fruits, and vegetables from our fields. (Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions.) «
Once we looked through our handy dandy Unilocal we chose to drive 30 minutes to a BOMB coffee shop & had the most delicious breakfast. While we were there, she called us and left a message saying that she was sorry that we were mislead and that she would love to offer us a stay in the main house for a discounted rate at a later date.
Thanks, we’ll pass. And you should too.

Jennifer is dishonest and unethical. I booked the entire Bed and Breakfast for a four day long weekend in August and she canceled my confirmed and paid for reservation for another group that booked after me but would give her more money for an additional night. Instead of honoring the reservation that came first, she went with a later one that made her more money. I have friends now with booked flights that are stuck with paying for it because there is nothing else available in the area that weekend.
If you are a person who likes peace of mind when it comes to knowing that your reservation is secure then I would stay away from Fairview Estates. Your reservation is only secure until a longer visit offer comes in that will make her more $ and your booking will get kicked to the curb.

I booked the cottage for a graduation weekend and put $ 500 deposit. We e-​mailed back and forth and said we would keep in touch. Called two weeks before arrival and was told my weekend was not available. I had forgotten to send final 30 days out but also never got a reminder or request from owner and she rebooked without even contacting me to see if we were still coming. I was devastated because everything else in area was booked for the graduation weekend. I believe the lack of contact was intentional because of a higher offer for the rental. Also never got a penny of my deposit back!!! Looks like similar things have happened to others. BEWARE!!!

I bought a Living Social Nov 8, 2011. The first time I tried to use it the following summer/​fall (2012), there were no weekend dates available. Jennifer (the owner) agreed to extend the deal to May, 2013, so we scheduled for a weekend in early March. Unfortunately the fire occurred in Jan-​2013, so the March trip never happened. Jennifer extended it again, to this past weekend in August-​2013. My wife and I had a great weekend, but be sure you set your expectations right.
We never met Jennifer the entire weekend we were here. Not sure where she was, or anyone else for that matter. Didn’t really surprise me, as she is almost impossible to get hold of. We were greeted by Tanisha (sp) the housemaid/​cook, who showed us which room was ours, and that was it. She was very nice, but no history of the house, no ground rules, etc. Wine tasting? There was a bottle of wine on the dining table that guests could help themselves to. That’s it. The breakfast food was very different, as I’ve found with other B&Bs as well, but it wasn’t bad.
The peacocks are kind of neat to see wandering around the yard (there are 8 of them) and they make for a few good pictures. But peacocks are birds, and guess what birds do… all over the place. Especially the front porch. Tanisha was washing off the porch Friday afternoon when we arrived. But no one bothered Saturday, and it was a mess. It was unfortunate to have to watch where you stepped when you went to sit on a rocking chair on the front porch Saturday or Sunday. But you had to do it, because the views of the Blue Ridge Mtns from Fairview’s front porch are absolutely amazing. All the other negatives were trivial compared to the location of this place, and the views.
Lots of things to do from here, if you like hiking, wineries or antiques. A couple of things to be aware of. There are NO TVs anywhere in the house, and the Wi-​Fi was terrible. The signal was very weak, and I never was able to log on from my tablet. We would visit again the next time we’re in the area, and would hope to actually meet Jennifer.

We stayed at Fairview this past weekend. I had purchased the groupon about a year ago and Jennifer made sure we could still use it even after the expiration due to them being in high demand.
The location was nice, our fellow guests were great, the food was very good, the house was unique, but needs some minor work, painting, etc and the top floor was super hot but we bought a fan at CVS. We took my working dog, didn’t know there was a $ 25 per night pet fee, just would have liked to known ahead of time rather than at checkout.
We have already recommended it to our friends. We recommend Travelers Restaurant in Amherst, Bold Rock tasting, Devils backbone brewing, and Crabtree falls hike!

My original reservation date had to be rescheduled due to repairs needed due to a fire or some such. (!) Since then, I have been unable to confirm a new reservation date due to a total lack of response from the vendor. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Read more complaints about vendor here and on TripAdvisor! Save your sanity and find somewhere else!

I have never written any type of review, but especially do not like writing negative reviews for businesses. However, this called for the big guns!
I am absolutely DISGUSTED by a place that seems so beautiful. Similar to all of the other Groupon-​ers, I purchased this last December as a gift for my parents. I live in San Diego and, at the time, was finishing grad school (read: low cash!). Despite spending my last dime on this, I purchased this as a Christmas gift for my parents because they are the best. They were so excited and loved the thoughtful gift.
My father began trying to reach this Jennifer lady for MONTHS to make a reservation to take my Mom for her birthday. My Dad would try calling at all hours, from various phone numbers, sending several e-​mails, and finally she picked up and then said «I’m busy with someone right now, let me get your information and I’ll call you you back.» My Dad obliged, and guess what? She NEVER called back– big surprise! My Dad even went as far as calling the Amherst County Chamber of Commerce to report this lady. Even the CofC said that they were having a hard time getting ahold of her. My Dad specifically asked, «Is this place a scam?» The CofC lady kindly replied, «I assure you it’s quite nice, but we are hearing the same complaints.»
A) How hard is it for someone to have the common decency to call back someone who has technically ALREADY PAID for a service?
B) Who raised this lady? Talk about poor upbringing. If you’re overwhelmed because you bit off more than you can chew, at least send out an e-​mail or call people and let them know the situation. What a coward!
C) My sweet parents will most likely never to be able to enjoy such a wonderful weekend, as I am calling Groupon for my money back! Even if it’s in Groupon points, I’d rather have it back to re-​purchase something else for my parents. Even if this Jennifer lady were to come around and actually be a decent person, I STILL wouldn’t want my parents going there.
Rude, rude, rude! Shame on you, Jennifer!

I have been calling and emailing Jennifer to try and find out what is available so I can make a reservation. She does not return calls or emails. I will be contacting Groupon for a refund. The fact that I discover below they have no availability through November gets very close to the expiration date. Perhaps they are too busy providing superlative service to those currently staying there. Sounds like they definitely bit off more than they could chew. The place looks amazing… such a shame we wont get to see it!

It’s too bad that my boyfriend and I weren’t even able to contact the inn keeper to make our reservation. We saw that they had many great reviews and were really excited about this trip. Like a few others who reviewed this B&B, we purchased a groupon for this place. If they were too overwhelmed, it would have been nice to receive some type of response anyway. Not to mention, it probably would have prevented several of the bad reviews they received. Maybe they should invest in an online reservation service so they don’t have to deal with too many phone calls and e-​mails that they can’t seem to keep up with…

Went with my boyfriend to celebrate the beginning of summer and we could not be happier with our stay. We ended up arriving at around 2am because of scheduling but Jennifer was totally helpful and our arrival was smooth and felt safe even though we had never been there. The surrounding area was completely dark but pulling up, Fairview seemed to have every light on and could be seen for miles. The accommodations were beautiful and the house was decorated with tons of antiques, but the great thing was that all the facilities were modern so there was great AC, kitchen, bathroom, etc. Jennifer was very friendly and was fun company, and although she stepped out occasionally to give time for the guests, I know it would’ve been just as great had she joined us. Great dinner at a reasonable price with fresh food, and if you wanted to venture out Jennifer had honest suggestions in the area. A perfect location to have a family reunion or holiday since it is so private and cozy. Can’t wait to go back for a visit!

My Girlfriend and I recently stayed at the Fairview and had an amazing experience. The Inn is perfectly located close to the Blue Ridge mountains and local wineries. Crabtree Falls is also a short drive away. Fairview is a great way to get away from DC and see the best Virgina has to offer. Jennifer is an amazing host that cares greatly for her guests.
To those complaining about not being able to contact Jennifer: try a little patience. She doesn’t have a staff and does everything herself.

Seems that I have had the same problem as many others with Fairviews Groupon. I received such little service from Jennifer at Fairview that I asked for a refund from Groupon. I was looking to go any weekend from the orginal Groupon date to Nov. Sadly, I was told none were available. Then to my shock Fairview offered the same deal on Bloomspot! I again contacted them but there was no availability, amazing! I work in customer service and know all to well how this sort of news travels. Whats worse is that Fairview is aware of this issue and has offered no apologies. The Inn looks amazing, but this is one I will never get to see.

Never having stayed at a bed and breakfast before, I now can’t imagine traveling any other way. From start to finish I was incredibly blown away by the beautiful surroundings, friendly service, the incredible food, and all that the region has to offer.
The location was ideal. Nestled in the middle of the mountains, the surrounding views were amazing, with cows, horses, dogs, peacocks, and geese creating a picturesque scene. At night the stars were incredible and you felt like you were in the middle of no where. The house itself was a gem of history, with so many beautiful rooms and décor.
We were immediately greeted a warm and sincere patron, Jennifer. Talking to her was always easy and interesting. Anything we needed, any questions we had, she was always ready to help.
As a foodie, I have to say that the meals provided here are amazing. All fresh and local fare created wonderfully. It was so tasty and better than anything I could find in the restaurants near by.
Within a easy driving distance you will find multiple vineyards, hiking trails, biking trails, a waterfall, restaurants, orchards, antiques, and history.
An added bonus, they not only allowed my dog to stay, but made him a special guest. He had an incredible time checking out the b&b, playing with all the animals, hiking up the Crabtree falls, and exploring the Veritas vineyards.
Just a few hours from HR or DC, this was the perfect get away that we can’t wait to get back to.

I had the same problem as the person below. I booked it for a special weekend as well and made sure it was free before I bought it. She said it was then I sent at least 10 emails and called her and got no response. I had to contact groupon and they reached out to her and she then reached to me and told me that it was ‘first come, first serve’ and to book another day. I told her I was the very first person to talk to her and confirmed that those dates already! Very unorganized for a business. I’m very very disappointed and I hate writing bad reviews because I know it can hurt a business but I felt it necessary to do it because of how I was treated.

Seems like this B&B may have bitten off more than they could chew with their recent Groupon deal. I was one of the first people to purchase it, and asked the owner a few questions — she seemed great, and I was so excited to visit her business for our wedding anniversary! Unfortunately, as the sales mounted, it became impossible to get ahold of her. It wasn’t until days and days later that she finally responded and is all booked up. Super disappointing experience.

This is an amazing Bed and Breakfast. We originally chose it because I was traveling with kids and found out that they allowed children.
The setting is wonderful. The house was beautiful and the hot tub was well-​maintained. The breakfast was out-​of-​this-​world. It really is hard to describe the relaxing landscape and setting. I’m planning on making this a regular stop on our travels up to the Northeast.
I only wish I had arrived earlier in the day so that we could have spent more time at Fairview. Oh, and their are horses and peacocks on the grounds