Lied Lodge is the rare hotel with a mission statement you can feel: owned and operated by the Arbor Day Foundation on 260 acres at Arbor Day Farm, it’s 140 rooms of woodsy, unpretentious comfort where the trees are the point. The Tree Adventure — treetop trails and canopy-level exploring — is right outside the door.
The lodge does the family-resort thing without the chaos: indoor pool, spa, the Timbers restaurant, and Arbor Lodge State Historical Park (the Morton family mansion) next door. In October, when the apples are in and the trees turn, Nebraska City is genuinely lovely, and this is where to be.
Ask for an arboretum-view room. Golfers: ArborLinks is a mile away.