Help with trip to downtown Asheville (Raleigh, Lexington: hotels, YMCA, live)
Western North CarolinaThe Mountain Region including Asheville
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My wife and I are visiting Asheville for the weekend for her Birthday. We've never been downtown before. We'd like to stay in a nice hotel that is walkable to many of the breweries and restaurants downtown. Any suggestions on a hotel that is walkable and convenient? Any go to restaurants, bars, live music downtown? We like local unique food.
Also, we are driving in from Raleigh so if there are any good spots along the way you'd suggest for breakfast or lunch that are unique (must hits) we'd appreciate that info as well.
Basically just looking for suggestions on some of the best places to eat, drink, and be merry for a couple days in downtown Asheville.
My wife and I are visiting Asheville for the weekend for her Birthday. We've never been downtown before. We'd like to stay in a nice hotel that is walkable to many of the breweries and restaurants downtown. Any suggestions on a hotel that is walkable and convenient? Any go to restaurants, bars, live music downtown? We like local unique food.
Also, we are driving in from Raleigh so if there are any good spots along the way you'd suggest for breakfast or lunch that are unique (must hits) we'd appreciate that info as well.
Basically just looking for suggestions on some of the best places to eat, drink, and be merry for a couple days in downtown Asheville.
There are some nice hotels downtown as well as near Biltmore Village near the Biltmore Estate. The Grand Bohemian is lovely and you can walk thru the Village, great restaurants in there. Country Kitchen for one, highly rated. There are other nice hotels right near the Village on Rt. 25 as well. Downtown proper, there are also several nice hotels depending on your price range. Several music venues depending on age group.
DW and I stayed at the Four Points By Sheraton. It was nice ... I wouldn't say "exceptional", but it was pleasant and clean. They had morning brunches, and a lobby bar (which closed at 10:00 PM), and gave us free passes for the YMCA next door.
While there, we walked all over downtown, and had a great time. Local watering holes for us were Olive Or Twist (upscale bar, with line dancing the night were there), Emerald Lounge (younger set with some FANTASTIC rock bands), Lexington Ave Brewery (LAB) (mainly beer, gets a large crowd in the not-so-winter months), The Southern (Next door to LAB, has some great food, and a pretty nice dance floor in the back. This has been one of our favorites over the past year-and-a-half), Blackbird (good food and drink, modern atmosphere), and Wicked Weed, which has a nice outdoor eating/drinking area for the warmer months).
But really, just walk around Downtown Asheville. The eating/drinking places are ALL OVER, and you will easily be able to select one (or a few) that you like best.
Funny, on that trip to Asheville, we also visited the Grove Park Inn for dinner ($$$). Wanting to stay a few more days past our scheduled checkout, and seeing that it was also a hotel (we didn't know too much about it before), we decided to check it out, price-wise (not expecting it to fit our budget). Asking for their cheapest room for 3 nights, we were quoted something like $450/night. We smiled and said "Thank you so much, but clearly this is out of our league." The attendant said, "Hold on, I can also give you something for $375/night." Again we explained that we couldn't pay that much, and we'll just stay at Four Points. Then she said she could also put us into a different room for $250/night. Again, we declined, and began walking away. But she called us back and said, if we would be interested in the "Old Wing", she could give us a room with no view, but would only charge us $115/night. Heck, THAT was cheaper than Four Points!!!
She was right ... the room had no view .... all you could see was the rooves of adjacent wings of the building. But it was a beautiful, old-fashioned room with amazing decor. It was comfortable, but it was the furthest room from the lobby, so it was a long walk to other areas of the hotel. Some time later, I found out that GPI has a "haunted" section. I will bet that's where we stayed, and one of the reasons for the low price. But we didn't experience any negative aura or occurrences ... just a nice low price. Come to think of it, we always DID find that the room had a wonderful Eucalyptus fragrance, and asked the staff how they do that. None of them could explain, so maybe the spirits were just "with us", and wanted us to enjoy our stay. If that's it, it worked ... we moved here!!!
As Omni has since taken over the hotel, I really doubt you could still get such a deal, but I wanted to share the story anyway.
Good luck on your trip, and Happy Birthday to your DW.
I guess I should have been more specific. We are early 30s so past the party hard loud music days. Nowadays we like a little country, blue grass, acoustic sets. Love craft beer so definitely want to hit the breweries. Love trying things that are unique to the city we're in. So we want do eat and drink at places that are unique to Asheville. And we'd love to ditch the car and do most of this on foot.
I guess I should have been more specific. We are early 30s so past the party hard loud music days. Nowadays we like a little country, blue grass, acoustic sets. Love craft beer so definitely want to hit the breweries. Love trying things that are unique to the city we're in. So we want do eat and drink at places that are unique to Asheville. And we'd love to ditch the car and do most of this on foot.
Lots of breweries around, some with entertainment I've heard. Google is your friend.
I guess I should have been more specific. We are early 30s so past the party hard loud music days. Nowadays we like a little country, blue grass, acoustic sets. Love craft beer so definitely want to hit the breweries. Love trying things that are unique to the city we're in. So we want do eat and drink at places that are unique to Asheville. And we'd love to ditch the car and do most of this on foot.
Hmmm, DW and I are both in our 50's, and still like the hard loud music occasionally. Go figure.
OK, again, I'd suggest Four Points ... ditch the car and do it ALL on foot. Just walk around and you'll find many places that give you the softer acoustic music you seek ... maybe even on the sidewalks.
I would suggest The Southern, again, for their food ... though you might not like the music. We also like Tupelo Honey Cafe (no live music, but good food consistently). Something we found VERY unique was Nobel Kava, a Kava Bar on Eagle Street. Not sure you will like Kava if you try it (it tastes nasty), but it has a nice calming affect, and it's (believe it or not) still legal here in the USA.
But as one person's gold is another person's garbage, you might not like my suggestions. I am sure if you just walk around, you will find something that rows your boat.
I just thought of another very nice place, wonderful dining and right downtown. They also have a website. index Vincenzo's on Market St. Awesome Italian and everything is fresh.
Dine on the lower level in The Bistro where there is entertainment. The owner is usually there and visits each table to make sure everything is top notch. Love that place. Upstairs is formal dining and for groups, etc.
Soooo many good places to pick from: Mela Indian food, Laughing Seed fantastic vegetarian, Jack of the Wood, Tupelo Honey breakfasts great, Early Girl Eatery, Katmandu Nepalese, Buchon, all downtown just walk around and look. Have a great time!
I like Hotel Indigo. Near everything, and they make an attempt to be ecofriendly. For beer, try Thirsty Monk and Wicked Weed (you can also eat at Wicked Weed). For some bluegrass, try Jack of the Wood.
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