The Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa is a resort hotel which is located outside of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Established in 1806, it is one of the last and best-preserved of 19th-century resort hotels based around mineral springs.

The hotel was documented in 2005 by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The resort is part of the Omni Hotels & Resorts brand, based out of Dallas, Texas.

A portion of the resort property, including the hotel, golf course, and spring areas, was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1984.

In 1912, A.W. Tillinghast redesigned the course bringing it down to 9 holes. In 1923, Donald Ross redesigned the course again and brought it back to 18 holes. During the resorts extensive restoration, the golf course was brought back to the design that Donald Ross created in 1923.

As part of the resorts relaunch, an extensive renovation of the Tillinghast/Ross course was undertaken. The historical course had suffered over time from sediment filling in the margins of the waterways, and from "modern" approaches to landscape in the 1950s, which tried to "tidy-up" the creek edges with a "mown-lawn" approach. The renovation of the course, renamed the Bedford Springs Old Course, restored the natural spring bed with native grasses and other natural materials indigenous to the flood plain. Befitting the course's siting next to Shober's Run, there are water features apparent at nearly every hole.

The spa

Fed by the recently discovered eighth spring, the Springs Eternal Spa is a spa and salon that pays homage to what has historically made Bedford Springs such an alluring destination. The spa's signature treatment, called The Bedford Baths, is a ritual of immersing the body alternatively in hot and cool pools and soaking in herb-infused steam from the mineral-rich springs.

See also

  • List of Historic Hotels of America
  • List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Bedford County, Pennsylvania

References

Citations

Sources

  • Omni Bedford Springs Resort