Prestigious Great Smoky Mountains resort earns 2026 Oprah Daily honor

• Blackberry Farm in East Tennessee was named to Oprah Daily’s 2026 Hotel O-Wards list.
• Oprah Daily highlighted the resort’s woodland yoga, guided hikes and spa treatments.
• Blackberry Farm is one of only 13 U.S. properties to make the global list of 58 destinations.

Blackberry Farm in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains is Oprah Daily-approved! And it’s not its award-winning food and wine offerings earning the recognition this time.

The luxury resort and working farm in Walland, Tennessee, is featured on Oprah Daily after being honored by the 2026 Hotel O-Wards list. Blackberry Farm is among 58 hotels, retreats, cruises and wellness destinations from around the globe.

The awards from Oprah Winfrey’s online publication specifically highlight retreats that “reset your mind, body and spirit.” Only 15 of the 2026 properties are in the United States, offering experiences from luxury glamping and Nordic saunas to somatic sculpt classes and plant-powered facials.

What Oprah Daily said about Blackberry Farm

Out of the top wellness destinations Oprah Daily checked out across the globe, here’s why Blackberry Farm stood out:

“Most people come to Blackberry Farm for the food, and who could blame them? This Smoky Mountain classic has long been one of the South’s great culinary destinations. But the experience now extends well beyond the table, across 4,200 acres and 68 guest accommodations.

“Travelers can start the morning with woodland yoga or somatic sculpt classes, head out for a guided hike or fly-fishing lesson, then while away the afternoon at the Wellhouse spa, where treatments use botanicals from holistic skincare pioneer Tammy Fender. Watercolor meditation and new- and full-moon rituals add a softer, more introspective layer to a stay already rooted in nature and craft.”

What is Blackberry Farm?

Originally a six-bedroom inn, Blackberry Farm has grown into a Relais & Châteaux resort, part of a prestigious global association of over 580 boutique luxury hotels and fine dining restaurants.

Blackberry Farm accommodations include historic and estate rooms, suites, cottages and private homes. Stays are over $1,000 per night depending on the accommodation type and length of stay. Guests dine on elegant cuisine and sip award-winning wine, and can enjoy fly-fishing, horseback riding, spa and wellness treatments, tours and other activities.

The resort has drawn celebrities and political figures over the years, too. Vice President JD Vance visited last year. Kelly Clarkson got married there in 2013. Jenna Bush Hager, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Carrie Underwood are a few other notable Blackberry Farm guests.

The resort has consistently received awards and recognition for travel and leisure and dining. In recent years, the resort has earned two Michelin Keys, been named among Condé Nast Traveler’s best hotels in the world and recognized by Food & Wine as a leading U.S. destination for food and drink.

Awards in 2026 so far include:

• Travel + Leisure | Top 500 Best Hotels in the World
• Food & Wine Global Tastemakers | Top 10 US Hotels for Food and Drink
• Southern Living South’s Best 2026 | Top 10 Best Resorts in the South
• The Zoe Report Readers’ Choice Awards | Top 10 Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants: The Barn at Blackberry Farm
• USA TODAY | Best All-Inclusive Family Resorts in the U.S.

Other U.S. hotels featured in Oprah Daily

Blackberry Farm wasn’t the only Great Smoky Mountains resort honored by Oprah Daily. The Swag Resort in western North Carolina was selected for its guided hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, pickleball, wine tasting, horticulture lessons and rotating lectures.

“The whole thing feels more like staying at a private club than checking into a resort,” Oprah Daily noted.

The 15 U.S. hotels honored in the 2026 O-Wards are:

• L’Auberge de Sedona in Sedona, Arizona
• Mii amo in Sedona, Arizona
• We Care Spa in Desert Hot Springs, California
• Reset Hotel in Twentynine Palms, California
• Cal-a-Vie Health Spa in Vista, California
• Carillon Miami Wellness Resort in Miami Beach, Florida
• The Fields of Michigan in South Haven, Michigan
• The Swag in Waynesville, North Carolina
• Eastwind Oliverea Valley in Big Indian, New York
• The Barns at Troutbeck in Amenia, New York
• Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort & Spa in Hilton Head, South Carolina
• Nemacolin Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania
• Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee
• Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs, Texas
• Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield, Wisconsin

The full list of the 2026 Hotel O-Wards winners is at oprahdaily.com. The special Oprah Daily summer travel issue is available now.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. 

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