OverviewLocated along Highway 70 and roughly a 15-minute drive from downtown Asheville, the Holiday Inn Asheville Biltmore East is geared towards road travellers who require a highway hotel with on-site dining and a free breakfast.
This hotel has 111 air-conditioned guest rooms and suites, each offering free Wi-Fi, cable TV, a coffeemaker, a microwave, a mini-fridge, a desk, a hair dryer and an iron and ironing board. The hotel is wheelchair accessible.
The hotel also offers an outdoor pool, a fitness centre, meeting/banquet space, a business centre, a gift shop, laundry services, free parking and a free buffet breakfast. Big Owl's Restaurant & Bar is located on site and serves breakfast and dinner daily. Pets are permitted for an additional $25 per pet, per night.
Biltmore Estate, Winery and Gardens and Asheville Mall are both roughly a 10-minute drive from the hotel, while Elijah Mountain Gem Mine can be found about 40 minutes away by car. Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is a 25-minute drive away. (All distances and travel time estimates: Google Maps)
Verified with a front desk agent: Free Wi-Fi, free parking, pets permitted for $25/pet/night, wheelchair accessible. (Call Date: September 3, 2013)
The GoodThe majority of the reviews sourced for this analysis were positive, with much praise going to the hotel's staff, rooms, location and breakfast.
The hotel's staff were the source of numerous compliments by reviewers, who described them as efficient, accommodating, friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the area.
Many guests enjoyed the hotel's accommodations. They described their rooms as clean, well equipped and tastefully decorated, with comfortable beds and linens and nice mountain views.
Several lodgers were pleased with the hotel's location. They found it close to downtown Asheville, Chimney Rock, Biltmore Estate, Blue Ridge Parkway and Billy Graham Training Center.
The hotel's breakfast was also praised by several reviewers, who described it as plentiful and delicious, with a good variety of hot and cold items and plenty of seating. One guest noted, "We also enjoyed the HOT, free breakfast. Most free breakfasts are muffins, bagels and drinks. We ate scrambled eggs, biscuits and hashbrowns".
The Bad
While the majority of reviews consulted for this analysis were positive, there were a few complaints about noise transfer and the elevators.
A few guests reported noise disturbances from barking dogs in adjacent rooms.
The hotel's one elevator was a source of complaint for a few reviewers. They felt the hotel should have more than one elevator for the size of the hotel, and reported long waits of 5 or 10 minutes.
TripAdvisor.com guest reviews ranked the hotel #14 of 58 Asheville hotels with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 from 314 reviews.
Expedia.ca guest reviews rated the hotel 4.5 out of 5 with a 95% recommendation rate from 152 reviews.
Booking.com guest reviews rated the hotel 8.2 out of 10 from 6 reviews.
The author called the hotel on September 3, 2013 to verify some information.
