New downtown Asheville hotel opens with '280-degree views'; rooftop pizza to open soon
ASHEVILLE - With "280-degree views" of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the new Embassy Suites by Hilton Asheville Downtown hotel officially opened Dec. 29 at 192 Haywood St., adding 188 new hotel rooms to the downtown skyline.
The Embassy Suites are a Hilton brand of over 270 hotels. The hotel provides one-and two-bedroom suites with separate sleeping and living areas, along with "panoramic views" of the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to a hotel news release.
Hotel spokesperson Jack Benton told the Citizen Times the "soft opening" has allowed hotel staff to take their time and make sure "each guest is getting that level of service our brand is going to expect."
The hotel includes a lobby-level chain restaurant and bar, E'Terie — a location which is associated with the Embassy Suites brand, according to the Hilton website. However, another, unique restaurant is coming to the rooftop of the downtown location — Soprana, a Italian brick oven pizza restaurant.
The restaurant — which is the "crowning jewel" of the hotel — is set to open the first weekend of March, Benton said.
“We couldn’t be more excited to open this hotel in the vibrant community of Asheville,” said Rohit Radhakrishnan, general manager at the hotel, in a news release. “Our goal is to seamlessly blend into the local culture and thriving community through partnerships with local organizations, breweries, farmers, purveyors and more ― maintaining the city’s individualistic quality of life as we welcome residents and out-of-town guests and groups.”
Starting prices for hotel rooms for the beginning of February currently vary between $149 to $190 a night, according to the Hilton website.
The soft opening has also allowed the staff to continue to tweak the layout and presentation of the hotel, Benton said.
"We're also able to play around with where furniture lives and how much furniture lives in one space, or where a piece of artwork should go. So, while still being open, we are still kind-of just putting things all around and see what's going to fit best or translate best and, obviously, showcase best," Benton said.
The seven-story hotel includes space for conferences, meetings and weddings, where nearly 400 can be hosted, according to the hotel website. Additional services include a made-to-order breakfast, a nightly evening reception with complimentary snacks and drinks, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center and on-site parking.
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'Cues from nature and architecture'
The primary piece of guest feedback right now? The hotel's beauty.
"The big feedback we've gotten is: 'Oh my gosh. This is beautiful,'" Benton said. "So, we're excited to hear that."
The design of the Asheville Embassy Suites is different from other hotels, where the process was "far more interactive, creative" than other hotels of the brand, Benton said.
"We have a lot of architectural lines and a lot of design lines on the property, and inside each of the guestrooms, that really showcase Asheville — that really accent the fact that we are surrounded by mountains," Benton said.
The hotel is located just a few blocks from the Grove Arcade, Harrah's Cherokee Center and other major downtown locations.
The construction of the hotel had been the primary subject of a 2020 legal fight, where the the city of Asheville spent over $450,000 fighting the building permit obtained by Parks Hospitality Group. The city appealed all the way to the N.C. Supreme Court and lost every decision along the way.
The hotel is one of a few that have been proposed or set to open in the Haywood Street-Carter Street hotel overlay area. If all proposed hotels are built, there will be a total of six hotels between Carter Street and Haywood Street.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel opens downtown Asheville
