Best Hotels near The Compleat Naturalist, Asheville

After reading several reviews on Tripadvisor and Hotels.com we booked our stay in Asheville here. Although conveniently located with easy access to restaurants, the interstate, and the Biltmore, it wasn't worth the high ratings I reviewed nor the expense. The hotel overall is dated and needs basic cosmetic work (like paint), new floors, and redecorating. The room itself was rather small (for the price), not very clean (the carpets were so dirty we couldn't walk around in our socks without them becoming soiled). The bathroom really needed a good cleaning, which it obviously didn't get before we arrived. The curtains allowed way too much street light into the room at night so I had to employ a hair clip to hold them shut in the middle and stuff towels below them to keep out the light. The best thing about the room was the king-sized bed - very comfortable and supportive. The exterior landscaping was full of garbage. I was charged $22/night to bring my small dog and there was only one very small area in which to walk her which wasn't well lit (obviously other folks staying there didn't avail themselves of the doggie trash can because the area was littered with dog excrement). Additionally the breakfast offerings, less an apple, had to healthy options. I felt for the cost if was way overpriced.

Average. Towels were dirty. Breakfast was good - omelette, sausages and waffles. No 24/7 coffee/hot water which is pretty common now.

Staying in this hotel can be said to be a kind of fate! The hotel I booked earlier was not this one. It's in a hotel next door. The brand belongs to Radisson. But because this hotel is so bad! So I made a decisive decision and immediately applied to cancel and switch to this hotel. Hilton Group management is indeed different. Whether it’s the attitude of the front desk clerk or the service in the restaurant, It is also undoubtedly good. 

Stayed here to visit the Biltmore. The hotel was crowded when I checked in so I got a room facing the parking lot which was loud and uncomfortable. When I spoke to the manager after staying overnight, he was conciliatory and moved us to a nicer room on a higher floor with a nice view and included breakfasts which I hadn’t included in my booking. I ended up really pleased with the hotel and stayed an extra night. The breakfast buffet server was so nice and remembered my beverage the next morning. Everything was clean and comfortable.

Over the phone, I booked a “Big Dance Weekend Package” that was to include 2 nights, tickets to all the dance events, 2 breakfasts and parking. After booking the package, the agent insisted that I needed to purchase 2 dance tickets for an extra $278 total. Even though I pointed out that the website stated that the tickets were included, she was insistent. Not wanting to miss out initially, I made the purchase. A few days later, I called back to again question the need for the tickets and a different agent confirmed that the 2 tickets were not needed and she submitted a credit card refund. After a week, no refund. I called back again and went through the same conversation. They confirmed that the refund had not been issued and they offered no explanation but did apologize. They again promised a refund but it took another week for the refund to actually show up. If I had not bothered to call them -twice- I would have been overcharged and they would have done nothing. Upon checkin, we got our 2 electronic keys and neither worked. Fortunately, a hotel employee happened to be in the hallway and he let us in. I walked back down, explained the issue and the attendant re-programmed the same keys. Result: no joy. I called down and they sent someone up with 2 brand new keys that finally worked. Why they didn’t just give me 2 brand new keys the first time is a mystery. At the breakfast buffet, in the waiting area to be seated, both tanks of coffee had run out. Instead of bringing 2 new tanks and replacing the empty ones, the staff chose to take the 2 empty tanks away, presumably to fill up, and left nothing for the guests. It took 20 minutes for the replacement tanks to arrive. How hard is it to replenish coffee in a customer-friendly way? These types of missteps are common at common hotels. GPI is not a common hotel. They should not be commanding premium prices for everyday performance. The hotel does offer a unique charm, atmosphere and experience that can be found in very few places. But the expectations they are setting are not always met.

The room is quite clean, you can see the mountains and forests in the distance from the window, the forest coverage in North Carolina is very high, the air is fresh, the hotel is located next to the high-speed, although it is very close to the city center, but it is still necessary to drive, walking is not convenient, there are too many roads around, service attitude is good, a little bit snub.