Quick Report - Asheville and Blue Ridge Mountains

italdesign

Level 2 Member
I visited Asheville the weekend of Sep 24. It got on my radar when I read an article by @NickPFD exposing the greatest value of all time in hotel redemption - getting 8 cents per Hyatt point at the Hyatt Place Asheville, a cat1 property consistently going for $400 a night. Whaaaa! As a Value Slave (TM), I couldn't resist. Mountains and hippies, here I come. It's cat3 now, BTW.

There was no direct flight from my home airport, so I decided to drive - 7hrs each way. Of course the gas pipe in Alabama decided to burst a few days before my trip, so fuel shortage was a real concern. Luckily I didn't have trouble finding gas.

Here are my thoughts:
-Blue Ridge Mountains/Parkway is awesome. Magnificent views, sunset, stargazing at night. I had limited time so didn't hike much.
-Asheville, at least the downtown area, is very white. Lots of hippies playing chess, smoking, sitting on the sidewalk, just enjoying themselves. Lots of establishments supporting their interests and are fun to check out. Lots of homeless people but I didn't feel unsafe. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere.
-The food scene is very trendy. Not necessarily authentic, but good variety. Definitely lacking in authentic Asian food though.
-Craft beer is a big draw as far as I can tell.
-A few art deco buildings remain.
-Biltmore Estate will set you back $55 for the tour and you need a whole day. I decided against it, having visited Vanderbilt's summer home in Newport a few weeks ago.

I spent most of my time in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lots of driving but the scenery is incredible. And peaceful this time of the year. I imagine later in the fall brings many foliage lovers.

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Highest point in Eastern United States (but not even close to top 50 in entire US):
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NickPFD

Mmmm.... yeah....
Staff member
Thanks for the mention! Glad I could inspire a trip. I'm still bummed about that Category 1 going away though...

The Biltmore is worth it if you have the time and the money. And yeah, you really do need to plan on a full day for that place.
 

jredmond02

New Member
How did you like that Hyatt?

I did a stay earlier this year at the Aloft in Asheville and it was a dreadful experience and would love another option.
 

NickPFD

Mmmm.... yeah....
Staff member
The Hyatt Place was very nice, I liked it.

Why didn't you like the Aloft? I've thought about booking that one before but haven't tried it out yet.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
It was very nice. New, great location, and my ADA room was basically a junior suite- enormous.

Breakfast was subpar though, IMO. No pancake or waffle.
 

Panache

Level 2 Member
Nice trip report, we're thinking of doing a long weekend there too sometime next spring, we haven't been in a few years.
 

jredmond02

New Member
YMMV of course but I went during a pretty average weekend in April for work.
I was let into the parking deck but not one spot was to be found upon check-in (spoiler alert, they let everyone in the city park in this place). Seemingly on Thur-Sat night the lobby doubles as a locals nightclub. Friday night trying to get back into the parking deck it was being held until cars left (sat for about 30 minutes). They have "hotel reserved spots" that nobody seems to honor (people parking there). It was just kind of a mad house the whole time and loud. I had a few other issues with them like them not posting my Green Choice and the front doors were broken for some time one morning when i was trying to move a ton of film equipment out the door. I will say this, I just lightly complained in passing at check-out and pointed out my issues not expecting much or anything at all and they did proactively give me enough points to stay again one night so that was very nice.

Great news is the location is amazing if you want to just hop out into the city and do stuff/eat/enjoy life. Location is A++ for that but make sure you arrive before 5pm on a weekend or parking seems to be a huge mess.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
That sounds awful. I think they fixed the parking issue. They now let ppl park in the underground garage if upper surface lot is full. They also give you a parking tag so they know you're a guest, and they did check mine each time I pulled in.
 

Skywardbd

Level 2 Member
Hyatt Place Asheville moved from a Category 1 to a Category 3 hotel on Hyatt's latest hotel reclassification update.
Still a nice hotel in a good Asheville location- and most desirable properties in the area are a bit pricey.
 

italdesign

Level 2 Member
I mentioned it briefly in the opening post, but it deserves a separate mention - the sunset AND stargazing in the Blue Ridge are out of this world. The sunset and silhouette you can see in the pictures. Just beware that if you take sunset at the most scenic spots, you'll be driving 1-1.5hr back to town on a mountain road in pitch darkness. It was in these drives that I parked the car and gazed at the bright stars. What an awesome experience - probably the brightest stars I've ever seen, in complete silence. I would like to camp next time to enjoy it to the max.
 

mtnAVman

Level 2 Member
taldesign, I enjoyed reading your AVL trip report! I live in Asheville and I love hearing tourists view of visiting the city. It has a lot to offer as a small southern city. There is so much outdoor activity near AVL that you can find just about anything you want to do. Other than the beauty of the mountains, I think the food scene is the best thing going in AVL. Just a couple years ago we made TripAdvisors top ten food cities in the US. There are a number of great restaurants, but you are right, there is not a great selection of Asian quinine. Oddly enough the best sushi around is in Wearverville, a small town north of AVL. Craft beer is also a big deal here. With Serria Nevada & New Belgium choosing the city for their east coast operations and somewhere close to 20 craft micro breweries the city, there it a lot to try! The sunsets are amazing, particularly anywhere on the parkway. You can get to some great locations that take less than an hour to get to. If you have any questions about the area I would be glad to give you any info I can.
 
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