Before staying at Nottoway, I read some reviews critical of its current state, and others dismissing those critiques. I'm afraid the former is correct. It's by no means in terrible condition, but maintenance is clearly not sufficient. The exterior paint is in bad shape, there are bug problems (including many nests around the verandas), caution tape, and other messes. The interior of the mansion is far nicer than the exterior, however. There are other issues, like the frequent Mississippi train horns, that clearly aren't the management's fault. Finally, at checkin, the bellboy scheduled me for a "complimentary" dinner, as well as the complimentary breakfast. I was right to be surprised; I found out at dinner that it was, indeed, not complimentary. Other than that, staff was fine.

Bottom line: the expensive rooms are nice, but not in my opinion worth it, especially given the exterior condition.

We are veteran Nottoway visiters. Well, we were until now. I'm afraid that the old girl has received the last of our travel money. The pool was dirty and the room was stained. The walls were crumbling, and ther hasn't been paint on the place in years. The champaigne finally came after many calls, and me going to the bell hop kid (who was busy playing video games) to complain.

This was once a real jewel. The absentee Austrailian owner doesn't care about the house, so why should I? Why should I spend $275 on a flea bag room? The place has reached ''fixer-upper'' status. The food was okay, but over priced. The grounds looked good, but the house itself was water stained, plaster was cracked and falling, and our stay was memorable only in a bad way.

The only thing the house has going for it now is its history. It reminds me of a sad old woman still trying to look young.

Too bad...it's just too bad for this once lovely home.

Stayed in the "overseer's cottage" for $160 a night in July 2006. It was dim, grimy and run down, carpet (badly stained) hadn't been vacuumed in weeks (quite a few dead insects), with dirty smears on the pillow shams, one lumpy old pillow per person, two threadbare small towels for 2 people, and cockroaches in the bathroom running across the counter. Furthermore, it reeked (hopefully the smell is due to mold, but it smelled like urine to us). Plus, we asked for a quiet room -- but the floors above creaked loudly until 2 a.m. and then again at 6 a.m. the next day.

No one seems to run this place. You check in with a teenaged boy and no one else seems to be around; when you leave you just toss your key on the desk. There is no one to go to if you have a question or problem -- you are just on your own. The "welcome drink" you are promised never materializes; the food at the restaurant is overpriced for food that is nothing special, and the wine by a glass tastes like it came from a box. Breakfast is also nothing special.

The experience at the main house may be different, but ours was horrible.

We stayed at the Nottoway main house overnight for a friends wedding. The rooms in the main house were the only ones left and we all wanted to stay where the wedding party was. First (as they did say) we could not check in until 5 and had to be out by 9 since these rooms were on the tour. The excitment of staying in an old plantation helped to cloud our judgment in this case. But that really wasnt the big problem. The water in this old house smelled of the worst sulfor you can imagine. It was horrable. I could smell it on myself even after we were home and had showers. It was that bad. Of course we over compinsated with the cologn which made it even worse. Also there are no amenities in these rooms at all.Yes, I know it's old and I should have expected certain things ,however, I have stayed in many older hotels in Europe and they at least have room service. You must go down to the first floor and find a fountain for water.....room service is non-existant. For $300.00 I would expect some water to be brought at least. Do yourself a favor and stay in the new part........leave the rooms in the main house for the tour.