Asheville, North Carolina
In the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville has catapulted in recent years from a convenient stop off the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway to a destination in its own right, pulling in awards as one of the world’s best cities from National Geographic Travel, one of the best towns ever from Outside magazine and one of the friendliest cities in the United States from Condé Nast Traveler.
Meeting groups are also starting to take notice, and Asheville is stepping up its facilities in response.
“In the next two to three years, about 1,500 more hotel rooms are coming on board,” said Carli Adams, group communications and services manager for the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The downtown inventory will more than double, including a brand-new hotel next to the CVB with 2,000 square feet of meeting space inside and a rooftop.”
At present, meeting planners’ largest option downtown is the Renaissance Asheville Hotel, with 21,000 square feet of meeting space; but just over two miles north, with more of a resort environment, the Omni Grove Park Inn has 55,000 square feet of meeting space and 513 rooms.
Asheville’s main attraction, the Biltmore Estate, is the largest privately owned home in America. It’s also a prime spot for meetings, with 14 wide-ranging event venues including the glass-ceilinged conservatory, the restored Antler Hill barn, the winery’s champagne cellar and a new 209-room hotel opening in fall 2015 next to the estate’s winery.
