15 Best Hotels in The North Carolina Mountains, North Carolina

A handsome downtown bank building from 1905 is now a charming boutique hotel with rooms that have wide-plank paneling and soaring ceilings, creating a rustic atmosphere. You'll feel pampered with comfy beds, high-thread-count sheets, and organic toiletries.

Turn back the clock and still enjoy modern amenities at this charming, pastoral inn on the National Register of Historic Places. Accommodations are in the farmhouse or in five rustic cottages, one of which dates to 1818 and is the oldest inhabitable cabin in the state. A restaurant serves breakfast and dinner on weekends. 

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Snowbird Mountain Lodge is everything you expect from a rustic inn, with two massive stone fireplaces, solid chestnut beams across the ceiling, and beautiful views across the valley. All 15 rooms in the main lodge are paneled in different woods cut on the property, and newer rooms in adjacent buildings have private hot tubs with horizon views. The restaurant, now open to the public, serves dishes like fresh mountain trout with couscous and sautéed summer squash, and the wine list is the size of a small telephone directory. The property changed hands in 2022 and expansion plans are in place. 

Sitting high atop the Cataloochee Divide on 250 wooded acres bordering the national park, the Swag is a luxurious escape that's truly away-from-it-all. You can hike from the grounds to nearby Hemphill Bald, one of the most stunning vistas in the Smokies, or relax in the spa or at the pool, which has views across the mountains. The gourmet meals here are social events, with an option of family-style or individual seating. 

On a warm afternoon you'll love to "sit a spell" in a rocking chair on the front porch of Hendersonville's oldest inn. The rooms in the 19th-century Queen Anne–style lodge, two blocks from downtown, are named after native flowers and shrubs and are outfitted with antique furnishings. There's a social hour each evening featuring local craft beer, and the cozy library has an array of board games.

The interior of this 1902 Victorian showplace is spacious and filled with sunlight, but it's the big grassy lawn overlooking the mountains and river that let you know you've arrived somewhere special. The two suites and three large rooms in the main house, along with two carriage-house suites, are nicely decorated in a crafty early-American style. You can relax in the guest lounge, lined with windows and featuring a stone fireplace and bar.

The two-acre grounds at this B&B feel like a private estate within walking distance of downtown. Period furnishings, a crystal chandelier, and a grand piano add to the grandeur of the 1926 stone-built home. 

At this century-old stone house turned boutique inn, 2 miles from downtown Blowing Rock, you can take in breathtaking views of the mountains from the gardens and stone terraces or relax with a book by the fire in the library. Most of the 10 guest rooms and suites have gas fireplaces, and all are nicely furnished in a country-home style with updates like flat-screen TVs and modern showers. A full breakfast is included, as is afternoon tea. Guests are guaranteed a reservation at the restaurant, which is reason enough to stay here. 

This folksy friendly mountain inn on 55 acres on a hilltop near Bryson City, operated by the same family since 1969, is the kind of place where you can relax in a rocking chair, catch up on reading, or play a game of Scrabble. The family-style meals are prepared with regional foods.

Sophistication with flair (like the portrait of the Rolling Stones over the stone fireplace) defines this playfully elegant inn built in an 1885 farmhouse directly on Main Street. In the rooms, high-end fixtures and furnishings are framed by artistic floral wallpaper. On the ground floor, the Ruffed Grouse tavern serves a simple, excellent menu of pheasant, trout, steak, and duck meatballs that matches the English hunting lodge feel of the restored manse.

With a stone staircase in the entry hall, colorful gardens, Arts and Crafts furnishings, and chestnut paneling and bark siding, it's no wonder that this 1900 manor-style house in the heart of Blowing Rock gets many return guests. All rooms have fireplaces, and some have private balconies. The Best Cellar restaurant, inside the main lodge, serves a seafood-focused menu that includes their signature tuna and a pan-seared mountain trout. Two adjacent cabins allow pets. 

Service at this posh inn is first-rate, starting with the complimentary champagne in the lobby and extending to elegantly furnished guest rooms in the main building, with period antiques and European linens, and more rustic but still luxurious accommodations in the lodge. You can also choose to stay in one of the inn's cottages or rental houses. Reservations should be made far, far ahead. The outstanding spa has won national awards, and golf is available at the nearby Old Edwards Club. The same company owns a chic motel, 200 Main, and a deluxe rural retreat, Half-Mile Farm.

This welcoming B&B occupies an 1878 home whose age is an advantage rather than a deterrent. Rooms have comfortable modern amenities, and owners/hosts Gladys and Larry Pilarski are a joyful presence. Sitting on the porch in the afternoon feels like a slice of small-town life from a bygone era. 

Just outside town, this lovely two-story Victorian, painted a cheerful sunflower yellow, sits on 5 acres with gorgeous gardens, a fish pond, and shady trees. Indulgent breakfasts range from sweet potato pancakes to savory cheese soufflé. Most of the rooms and suites have fireplaces and whirlpool tubs. Rooms in the adjoining Pond House allow children and have a touch more privacy. 

In 1915 Savannah resident Lucy Molz built a second home on Lake Toxaway, a Swiss-style mansion that is now a luxurious inn listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rooms have antiques or period reproductions, while suites are more modern and border the lake. Guests here can enjoy the private lake, golf club, tennis, swimming pool, and small spa, and rates include breakfast and dinner, afternoon tea and cake, and cocktails.