This might be worth checking out for those of you coming to the area. www.princessannehotel.com
Rates look comprable or slightly less than some of the B&B's w/ more room options. Right off Charlotte Street you could walk into downtown in about 10minutes...also about 4 blocks from a great bakery/sandwich shop (City Bakery) and Starbucks.

hey Leah - what the heck is going on in Asheville this weekend? Don't people know peak leaf was LAST weekend? I always seem to pick the bad weekends. Princess Anne only has one room left, a 2 bed suite, $189 a touch pricey for me to sleep 45 minutes from home, but as i'm not having much luck on the lower end of the spectrum...who knows.

I know, it's packed. We went out last nite to Limones and there were only a couple of free tables at 7:30pm and more people kept coming in.

Hi Leahinsc. You really know your way around Asheville. I really enjoy reading all your comments that you post. I also enjoy Litespeed Chick as well. My question to you is about the hotel Best Western Asheville Biltmore, on Woodfin Street. I have reservations there for two nights (Nov.19-Now.21). It sounded great on some review sites with low rates, and downtown. However, I found some other places online where people said the hotel was awful. Crime, dirty, ect.. If you could, please let me know your opinion. We are staying in hotels for eight nights and need to stay within a budget. It will be me and my husband, with our two small children. Any comment would be appreciated.
Thank you so much!

I just looked at Princess Anne's website and it looks great. Thanks for the info!

Sillybilly - I walk or ride past this hotel almost everyday but I've no idea what the rooms look like. I know that in back of the hotel there is an underpass beneath the highway where homeless people live but I've walked past that area several times and never had any problems. It is a convenient area to be able to walk into downtown. You are across the street from the YMCA of Asheville. I'd probably ask for a room on the non-highway side so it was quieter.

Thank you so much. I will keep the reservations. I called and requested the city side. I really wanted to be downtown for easy access. Thanks again!

Hey leahinsc & LiteSpeed, can't you two somehow make it to Raleigh for our GTG next weekend??? Pretty please!!! Would love to have you ...

Bonnie...Thanks for the invite. We may end up in Raleigh after all as one child has a competition there. Will look up the thread on the GTG and see. Otherwise it is a bad wknd for us.

Silly - I stayed there this Friday night. $79. It's not what I would call a nice hotel, but it works for us. I would not be afraid to stay there. We stayed on the 5th floor facing downtown and noise was not a problem. The room was not bad, had a King bed and a full size sofa. It seemed OK clean.

The shower was pretty horrible with impossible to regulate water. PLEASE NOTE: the water coming out of the tub faucet was scalding hot, no matter how you adjusted the overhead shower nozzle. PLEASE be careful with your small children until you are sure that you have the water temp right. Not much pressure either (due to the shower head I think).

The hallways are a little dirty, but no worse than a lot of Holiday Inns.

There was a free continental breakfast which we swiped some milk and bananas from. Looked like it had cereals and bagels.

Assuming you are planning an active vacation and will only be in the hotel to sleep, I think it's a good choice, especially because the location is prime. If you plan to spend time relaxing in your room, however, I would look elsewhere.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

Litespeed, thanks a lot. We will not be spending much time in the hotel. We got the same rate too. Maybe I will bring a bottle of clorox cleanup. We will be out and around Asheville. Plan to see the gingerbread display and walk downtown. Also, plan to drive to some surrounding towns and check them out. Thanks for the heads up on the shower!
Kathy

We were up at GPI last nite. Heard from a friend who works with the hotel that the # of entries was so much higher this year that they have had to spread them out more. We saw ones displayed down the hallway to Horizons and normally they are just downstairs near the Grand Ballroom. Your child will enjoy them and you will be astounded at the creativity.