Asheville by Neighborhood: Four OFTB Clients in AFAR's Latest Guide

Asheville is a town that runs on neighborhoods. The one you choose to stay in determines whether you wake up to the sounds of a bustling city or the peace of a nearby stream, and whether your morning starts with a walk to coffee or a drive to it.

Most guides give you a list of hotels and restaurants and very little sense of what the days in between will feel like. Jenn Rice starts with that feeling instead. Seven neighborhoods, each with its own places to stay and eat, laid out so travelers can find the version of Asheville they're actually looking for.

I'm thrilled to share that four OFTB clients made the list.

Downtown

Rice points readers to Embassy Suites by Hilton Asheville Downtown, and the reason she gives is Soprana Rooftop Cucina. Spend one sunset up there with an Aperol spritz or a bowl of pasta and you'll understand how a hotel restaurant became a place locals claim as their own.

West Asheville

Gan Shan makes the neighborhood's where to eat list, with chef Ray Hui's dumplings, wings, and the occasional Japanese hot dog all named directly. Each is worth the trip on its own, and the rest of the menu makes a strong case for ordering more than you planned to.

East Asheville

Firelight at Shope Creek is the stay Rice recommends, and we couldn't agree more. Eight Scandinavian-inspired cabins tucked into 22 wooded acres along the creek, with private hot tubs, an outdoor sauna, herbs from the garden and eggs from the chickens for breakfast. Rice also introduces readers to Brownie, the resident rooster, and that one detail tells you more about the place than any amenity list ever could.

Guides like this reach travelers early, before the reservations and the itinerary, when they are still deciding what kind of days they want to have. Asheville rewards that. It really is a choose your own adventure type of place, and this guide gives readers all the options without ever flattening them into one right answer.

Thanks to Jenn Rice for an inside look at the neighborhoods shaping Asheville today.