A unique conference venue nestled in the scenic mountains and streams of southern West Virginia. Pipestem is a state operated resort park appoximately 20 miles from I-77 and I-64 on route 20 in southern West Virginia. attendees to any conference or event here will clearly have spectacular views of gorgeous mountains, rivers and streams, vegetation and wildlife. Leisure activities available: an extensive trail system of various lengths and intensities, horseback riding, archery, fishing, boating, camping (cabins also available) as well as two golf courses are all available at Pipestem. Tram rides down the mountain to streams, the Mountain Creek Lodge and additional dining are available as well.
Pipestem recently added a new conference center addition onto the property. This center provides one large room which can be devided into up to four sectioned roms as well as another meeting room which opens out onto a deck which can seat 80 comfortably and offers a stunning view. These two areas combined would make excellent space for a nice reception. There are three meeting rooms in the older section. One is large enough for conference meetings. The other two are smaller and would serve as a small reception area or a conference room for 10-15 people. One of the rooms in the older section is not ADA accessible.
The lodging rooms are adequate but nothing like staying at a very nice hotel. They are clean and well kept but the views offered more than make up the difference. Suites are availiable for your VIPs and these are a definite upgrade over the standard rooms. If your group is quite large some of the attendees will have to stay at the Mountain Creek Lodge, which is only accessible by tram cars which hold 3-4 people. This does require more extreme planning and time constraints. Thirty to fourty extra minutes are needed to get from that lodge to the Main Lodge (McKeever) where the conference facilities are located.
This facility would be a perfect venue for a group between 50 and 250 people. My convention at this facility was larger and did logistically limit our scheduling and exceeded the facilities' on site accommodations, including use of the cabins. However, a conference of up to 250 people would be perfect at this facility including corporate retreats and conference activities outside ofthe meetings.
One of the true gems of this place was the staff. The Convention Manager is experienced and talented and works well with the group or planner. The support staff and waiters and waitresses are incredible. They were able to turn a large meeting room set up for sessions into an evening banquet with decorations within 1 hour and 10 minutes - exceptional! They worked hard the entire time to make everything run as smooth as possible. The staff made adjustments and accommodations well and responded to the demands of the group exceptionally.
The food and beverage at Pipestem is outstanding. The chef is talented and creative and the presentation was excellent. The specialty of Pipestem is fresh trout and it is truly a wonderfully delicitious dish to enjoy as you look out over the setting sun on the valley below the lodge windows! All-in-all, Pipestem is a hidden gem in the wild and wonderful West Virginia mountains!
