Holiday Inn Asheville Biltmore an IHG Hotel

Welcoming and courteous front desk clerk. Tight parking area. Clean room. One ice machine on 1st floor. Inconvenient for this size property. Noisy — active patrons, doors opening & closing / slamming throughout evening, commotion in corridor, busy elevator — wet floor. Thin walls - can even hear neighbor flush commode. Group of Smokers just outside front entryway — butt can about 10 feet from door — so much for a smoke free hotel. Breakfast was NOT complimentary at this location.

I chose this hotel because of the indoor/outdoor pool and atrium. As a kid growing up in the 80s and 90s, Holidomes were my favorite, and this is almost as close as you can get. I also worked at 2 Holiday Inn properties many years ago and enjoyed being a part of the franchise. This property is dated, and it used to actually be a Ramada Plaza. The room was clean, and my room preference was granted. The front office and maintenance staff were very friendly. The access inside/outside in the pool was very low, much lower than other hotels. You have to swim under to get in/out. At most properties, there's at least some headspace clearance; just a minor annoyance. The main issue was the other guests. While that's not the hotel's fault, there were obnoxious crowds that visited the pool at times, and we ended up leaving. We had an issue with a creepy person staring down at us from one of the rooms, constantly, 2 days in a row. It was a little unsettling, and thankfully nothing happened. I notified the front desk, but I realize there's nothing they could do. I informed them of that guest's room number in the event something did happen. Overall, it's a nice hotel; nothing fancy, older and reminiscent of my childhood. Don't expect fancy accommodations, but it served our needs.

The room was comfortable and CLEANED EVERY DAY, which is not happening in several hotels where I have stayed recently. The restaurant was amazing. Excellent food. We didn't have to find an outside restaurant. Their fish fry was as good as any in Wisconsin.

Two hours after checking out, I called to inquire about a pocket knife I had left on the bed: while I accept responsibility for leaving it, it was disheartening it didn't turn up after housekeeping checked my room. This is a perfect example to sum up this hotel. The lobby is beautiful and the hotel has undergone recent renovations; the desk staff were kind and thoughtful in offering our dogs treat bags when they saw them; and the bathroom door in our room had the whole bottom corner eaten away with a fresh coat of paint slapped over it. For the price, it's a great hotel and I'd recommend staying there: just be absolutely sure to secure your valuables because, much like the nice renovations, what lies beneath the fresh coat of paint is a bit rotten and disappointing. Also, they painted their sidewalk... so be careful once it's rained that you don't slip and hurt yourself.

Bog-standard Holiday Inn: clean, comfortable, pet-friendly, lovely pool/lobby area (albeit COLD). There is a restaurant, but there's no room service. Alas, this hotel used to have a nice hot tub, but no more: it was apparently filled in a few months ago. (Had I realized, I would have gone elsewhere.) Also, the internet is bad bad bad -- at times, it's unusable. All in all, this property would work well for many people, but not for me -- I will be finding a new go-to hotel for trips to Asheville.