March 2, 2003
At twilight I came into Asheville, North Carolina, landing in a massive rock structure that I can only refer to as heaven. I hadn’t intended to go through Asheville, but it was an easy stretch from Flat Rock. A flip through my AAA guidebook pointed me toward a 1913 historic hotel, the Grove Park Inn. A quick phone call informed me of an amazing discount during peak season. I headed over to check it out. One step inside the lobby won me over instantly.
The great room was expansive with high ceilings and solid oak Arts & Crafts-era furnishings. A long row of rocking chairs stretched before a huge stone fireplace, where guests lounged comfortably in front of the warm flames. A waitress served drinks from a bar to the right. The front desk greeted me with warm and efficient hospitality, and I was soon on my way to a room on the third floor of the main, historic section.
The elevator ride up to the room is worth a note in itself. Built inside the interior of the chimney, this elevator (and a second, located at the opposite end of the lobby in another fireplace) can be found listed in Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Stairs are also available but not nearly as fun as the ride offered by the hotel’s elevator operator, who also offers history tidbits.
Grove Park Inn was the dream of Edwin W. Grove, the owner and founder of Grove’s Pharmacy and Paris Medical Company of Saint Louis, Missouri. He amassed his fortune by selling turn-of-the-century medical treatments, including Grove’s Tasteless Oil Tonic. Following his doctor’s advice, Grove started spending summers in Asheville in the last 1800s and came to love the area. Over time he became involved with the development of the city and on July 9, 1912, started construction of the resort hotel. It opened the following year to rave reviews. In 1955 Charles and Elaine Sammons purchased the inn and continued expanding the inn toward its current glory.
F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed at the Grove Park Inn while his wife, Zelda, underwent treatment in a mental hospital in Baltimore in 1935, as well as during 1936, when he moved her to Asheville’s Highland Hospital. He occupied rooms 441 and 443, which are included in a tour given during the yearly Salute to F. Scott Fitzgerald weekend. The guest registers list numerous other celebrity names, including Will Rogers, Thomas Edison, Bela Bartok, George Gershwin, Baryshnikov, Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR, and seven additional presidents.
My room was wonderful. The ceilings were high, and the sheets were luxuriously soft. Every amenity a guest could hope for was there: leather chairs, stereo system, small refrigerator, microwave oven, two phone lines, data ports, cable television, and an in-room coffee maker, something not always found in luxury hotels. The bedspread and shams were of elegant fabric, and glasses—not disposable cups, which I have found in some high-end lodging establishments—were provided in both the room and spacious bath. The plentiful electrical outlets were appreciated too. Anyone who has ever desperately searched a hotel room and moved multiple pieces of furniture in search of a plug for a laptop knows the value of this.
I had dinner in the Blue Ridge Dining Room, one of several choices within the hotel. It offered a view of the Asheville skyline, linen tablecloths, Tiffany lamps, and the peaceful ambiance of classical music and candlelight. A vase with fresh red and pink carnations graced my table. I chose a pasta dish with yellow squash, red and green peppers, pesto and pine nuts, which was accompanied by a small green salad with a delicious sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. A basket held cheese/chive bread, as well as a flatbread with white and cayenne pepper. I found the flatbread especially good.
Arriving late and staying only one night, I didn’t have a chance to take advantage of all that the Grove Park Inn has to offer, but the facilities available are every bit as fabulous and varied as the rooms. An eighteen-hole golf course, designed in 1924 by Donald Ross, and a state-of-the-art sports complex with indoor swimming pool, fitness classes, and circuit-training equipment are two of the on-site offerings for guests. Tennis and racquetball are also offered. Built into the hillside below the hotel itself, the Spa at The Grove Park Resort gives forty thousand square feet of new meaning to the term luxury.
I did make a point of stopping in at the spa before leaving, in order to snoop around a bit and especially to admire the breathtaking architecture, much of it out of natural stone. There was something very soothing and grounding about the stone as well as the many lobby and small sitting areas, all beautifully furnished with arts and crafts pieces, many appearing to be perfect hidden nooks for reading. This facility ranks among the most luxurious in the world and is designed around a theme of fire, water, rock, and sky. The aesthetic appeal is as intoxicating as the menu of services offered, which don’t end with standard massages and facials but offer such tempting treatments as a Heaven Scent Aromatherapy Massage, Carolina Mud Pie Masque, Buttermilk and Honey Bath, and the Walk in the Clouds Pedicure.
I grabbed lunch at the spa’s café. My orzo and tomato soup was excellent, accompanied by a half sandwich with ham, swiss cheese, tomato, red onions and dijon-chive mustard on sunflower wheat berry bread. I had a chance to munch on the homemade flatbread I’d enjoyed at dinner, and I also got to talk with the chef and compliment him on the meal. Though I couldn’t enter the main area of the spa itself without purchasing a day pass, I observed spa guests arriving in the café between treatments, clad in thick white robes. I readily admit I watched with envy.
The biggest joy about the Grove Park Inn was the hospitality. From the front desk to the elevator operator to the waitress in the dining room to the guy stocking the fire to the chef in the café to the front desk at the spa—well, you get the idea. The management of this resort deserves high praise for whatever they’re doing, as the morale is high among staff, and this carries over to guests. The was the best hospitality I’d seen in years of travel. No preference to high rollers, at least as far as I could see since I’m just an everyday traveler, and I can’t imagine any better treatment than what I received. As someone coming in on a discount rate, grabbing an inexpensive cup of soup in the café, and limiting my recreation to reading and writing in front of the fire, I was given the same courtesies as others who might have stayed in pricier suites and stocked up on spa packages.I finally dragged myself out and got back on the road but only after fighting the urge to check back in.
