You can tell a destination has charisma when you see residential real estate ads in its airport targeting travelers who may just want to put down roots after experiencing all it has to offer.
That’s certainly the case at Western North Carolina’s Asheville Regional Airport, and in fact is a key economic development strategy of the Blue Ridge Mountains city that is hot not only as a tourism and meetings destination, but also as a retirement and second-home market.
“It’s 1,000% part of our strategy, by the way, when we work with the Economic Development Coalition and we talk about tourism kind of being the front porch of economic development,” said Ed Silver, vice president of business development for Explore Asheville. “CEOs who’ve come in for meetings or on a trip talk about getting a second home here, and the next thing you know, they want to open an office. Then they’re moving some manufacturing facilities here.”
Asheville’s laid-back, inclusive vibe is inspiring for meetings groups, too.
“The destination itself becomes an active part of the meeting—it’s not just a backdrop. People get into a more open, creative mindset,” Silver said. “You’ve got the food scene with the 15 or so Michelin-recognized restaurants. We’ve got a hotel portfolio ranging from historic resorts to boutique, adaptive properties; planners can really match the setting and the experience they’re trying to accomplish.”
[Related: Explore Asheville Names New Vice President of Business Development]
Silver added that one major new addition to the Asheville destination experience is Luminere at Biltmore sound and light show at the iconic Biltmore Estate, with recorded music for the show supplied by the Asheville Symphony. When a city of under 100,000 has its own symphony, you know that arts play a leading role in its culture.
I accompanied a March 9-12 48-Hour Meeting Planner Experience fam trip with 13 meeting planners to see first-hand the multifaceted meetings and events offerings in this charming mountain town with lures ranging from artists and makers to Michelin-recognized restaurants and ultra-luxe resorts straight from Gilded Age.
Asheville Regional Airport Expansion
After a hearty, Southern cuisine-inspired breakfast at Michelin-recognized Sunny Point Cafe, located in the trending West Asheville neighborhood, it was back to where it all began—Asheville Regional Airport—to get my journalistic bearings before the planner portion of the fam began.
Aside from the real estate ads in the terminal, I noticed a fair amount of work being done, all part of a more than $400 million transformation of Asheville’s “front porch.” The addition of a new airport terminal—which will increase the airport’s terminal offerings by approximately 150%— is another indicator of a destination that is confident about its future.
“[We] started the process in 2018, when we hit a million passengers for the first time in our history, so we knew the direction we needed to go,” said Lew Bleiweis, president and CEO of Asheville Regional Airport. “In 2019, we had a 43% jump in our passenger traffic in one year.”
[Related: How Asheville’s Hospitality Community Helped It Weather the Storm]
Bleiweis said the 335,000-square-foot second terminal, which is about half complete, is anticipated to open at the end of 2027 and result in up to 12 new gates.
“We have designed this new terminal to accommodate 4 million passengers [from 2.4 million currently], so we’ll still have some growing room, and we’ve got other carriers that want to expand some route opportunities,” Bleiweis said, adding that the airport’s current major carriers are Allegiant, American, Delta, United and Sun Country. Major hubs serving the airport include Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Chicago; Atlanta; and New York, with a growing feeder market out of Denver.
Inn on Biltmore Estate Interview
Following lunch at Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant Little Chango, set in the artsy South Slope neighborhood—its casual Latin American/Caribbean fare, and especially small sandwiches, were a culinary highlight of the trip!—I went back to host hotel Inn on Biltmore Estate for an interview with Tim Hill, director of sales at the multifaceted, 8,000-acre estate.
The 210-room, four-star Inn—one of three accommodations options on the estate, along with the lower price point Village Hotel and historic Cottages on Biltmore Estate—is especially popular with executive retreats, corporate incentives, small associations and other high-end meetings.
Scores of meeting venue and tour options are available across the sprawling estate, including a winery that boasts the most visitations of any in the U.S. Tastings in the Biltmore Winery’s expansive wine bar are a popular activity option for many groups.
A staple of the Biltmore Estate is its vast array of unique meeting and event spaces, from beautifully restored barns and tented venues adjacent to Biltmore House with stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background to world-class meeting space at the Inn on Biltmore Estate. Biltmore can host groups from 10 to 1,000.
Unique meeting options on the estate include tours of Biltmore House (the original mansion built by George Vanderbilt between 1889 and 1895); the Walled Garden (42-120 guests); South Terrace (750 guests); Antler Hill Barn and Courtyard (210-400 guests); Lioncrest Veranda (100-225 guests); and the self-contained Deerpark complex (550-600 guests), among many others.
[Related: Asheville Is Fully Back in Business One Year After Hurricane Helene]
“We don’t have a lot of traditional meeting space here compared to a box hotel, but that’s what’s so unique about Biltmore,” Hill said, adding that small groups of 35 to 40 room nights are a sweet spot at the Inn. “Part of the beauty is being at the Inn on a morning and transporting the group, potentially, over to Deerpark or Lioncrest, and passing by horses and deer or wild turkeys—just seeing the wildlife. Even a bear, if you’re lucky enough.”
It’s all about authenticity and respecting the traditions that helped build Asheville.
“Gracious hospitality is the cornerstone of how this company was built from back in the George Vanderbilt and Edith Vanderbilt days, and it’s continued to be relevant in how we approach everything,” Hill said, adding that this graciousness was extended in the Covid era when the property let groups move without penalty. “We’ve been here 130 years, right? And to sustain that, we do what’s right for people, and if you do that, they’ll come back.”
Guests also want to come back because of the many activity options available in its relatively sequestered environment, such as carriage rides, horseback riding, sporting clays, archery and private behind-the-scenes tours of the stunning Biltmore House, gloriously preserved for the ages.
A true highlight of my Inn on Biltmore Estate stay was the opening night dinner in the Biltmore Estate Dining Room, where the service standards, food quality and elegant, formal-but-not-stuffy atmosphere were the perfect appetizer to the 48 hours ahead.
A Diverse Selection of Asheville Meeting Hotels
An interesting aspect of Asheville is its meetings hotel lineup, ranging from ultraluxe and historical, such as the Inn on Biltmore Estate and The Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa, founded by pharmaceutical magnate Edwin Wiley Grove and opened in 1927, to the traditional meetings-focused Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel; the eclectic, in the Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville; two Hilton properties; the luxury lifestyle yet meetings-friendly Kimpton Hotel Arras; and unique adaptive reuse properties such as the Flat Iron Hotel, The Radical, The Restoration Asheville and The Foundry Hotel Asheville.
Following are photos and a brief description of each hotel featured on the Asheville 48-Hour Meeting Planner Experience:
The Inn on Biltmore Estate
Guest Rooms: 210
Indoor Meeting Space: 3,530
Largest Meeting Space: 1,750
Featuring two acclaimed hotels, America's largest home and myriad gathering spaces, Asheville's iconic 8,000-acre estate boasts breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountain vistas, ample outdoor adventures, an award-winning winery and farm-to-table cuisine. The property is celebrating 130 years in operation, and as it's still owned by descendants of George Washington Vanderbilt II, can operate with a great degree of flexibility many of its corporate-owned competitors cannot.
The Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa
Guest Rooms: 513
Indoor Meeting Space: 86,852
Largest Meeting Space: 18,000
Ashville's other iconic luxe historic property, The Omni Grove Park Inn & Spa, offers more than 86,000 square feet of premier indoor and outdoor meeting space, state-of-art technology and personalized service. Make sure to enquire about its phenomenal The Spa at The Omni Grove Park Inn.
Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel
Guest Rooms: 278
Indoor Meeting Space: 22,000
Largest Meeting Space: 8,000
The largest meetings property in downtown Asheville, the Renaissance boasts an 8,000-square-foot ballroom, meaning it won't need to stack groups: "You don't have to share and you own it!"
Kimpton Hotel Arras
Guest Rooms: 128
Indoor Meeting Space: 3,000
Largest Meeting Space: 1,875
Another design-forward downtown meetings property, the Kimpton Hotel Arras delivers 3,000 square feet of artfully crafted event space that is a good fit for everything from high-impact small group board meetings to receptions for up to 150 guests.
Flat Iron Hotel
Guest Rooms: 77
Indoor Meeting Space: 7,000
Largest Meeting Space: 1,410
A unique property with character-driven design, the Flat Iron building is celebrating its centennial in 2026. Meeting attendees will like the hotel's versatile gathering spaces and walkability to all downtown Asheville has to offer.
Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park
Guest Rooms: 165
Indoor Meeting Space: 7,600
Largest Meeting Space: 2,476
Set in the heart of Biltmore Park, a walkable urban village, Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park offers flexible spaces, culinary excellence, easy airport access, plenty of food and beverage options within walking distance, and a dedicated event concierge.
Cambria Downtown Asheville
Guest Rooms: 136
Indoor Meeting Space: 9,769
Largest Meeting Space: 3,300
Right in the heart of downtown, the Cambria features flexible event spaces, a ballroom and a rooftop venue with standout Blue Ridge Mountains views. Off-session, its location is ideal for attendees to stroll the charming boutiques, galleries and restaurants of downtown Asheville.
DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Asheville
Guest Rooms: 140
Indoor Meeting Space: 3,914
Largest Meeting Space: 2,002
With meeting spaces boasting floor-to-ceiling views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the latest AV technology, this downtown DoubleTree also offers a rooftop bar and ample meeting space for groups of up to 170, with overflow options extending to the next-door Embassy Suites Downtown Asheville.
Embassy Suites Asheville Downtown
Guest Rooms: 188
Indoor Meeting Space: 6,438
Largest Meeting Space: 4,704
With interiors designed to reflect the vast expanse of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Embassy Suites Downtown Asheville offers distinctive gathering spaces, including a main-floor ballroom for groups of up to 370 guests, and also what may be its true secret power: a Michelin-recognized rooftop restaurant, Soprana Rooftop Cucina.
The Foundry Hotel Asheville
Guest Rooms: 87
Indoor Meeting Space: 5,825
Largest Meeting Space: 1,800
The Foundry Hotel Asheville combines thoughtfully designed spaces, inspired local cuisine and the energy of downtown Asheville. The front entrance to the property is set off the street, with a large green expanse perfect for gatherings and providing the ability to secure a relatively sequestered environment for guests.
Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville
Guest Rooms: 124
Indoor Meeting Space: 5,060
Largest Meeting Space: 2,200
Set in the heart of Biltmore Village, the newly renovated Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville offers 17th-century European hunting lodge–inspired meeting and event spaces ranging from the Kessler ballroom, Bösendorfer Salon, Bavarian Boardroom and Tyrolean Terrace to intimate private dining in Red Stag Grill and a new 450-square-foot meeting room in the Manor House.
Haywood Park Hotel
Guest Rooms: 48
Indoor Meeting Space: 18,363
Largest Meeting Space: 11,291
Featuring the popular Fitz and the Wolfe nightclub, the Haywood Park Hotel offers a collection of distinct event spaces, from speakeasy-style lounges to boardroom-ready setups. Attendees will get a taste of the hip and happening side of the destination via its many unique meetings options in this former Bon Marche department store with a decidedly Art Deco past.
The Radical Asheville
Guest Rooms: 70
Indoor Meeting Space: 5,000
Largest Meeting Space: 1,200
This stylish, design-forward property offers a hip and happening vibe, with an event-friendly 4,000-squaqre-foot rooftop bar, a hidden speakeasy and a large, impressive private dining venue with a river view.
The Restoration Asheville
Guest Rooms: 60
Indoor Meeting Space: 11,289
Largest Meeting Space: 4,039
Offering a variety of flexible indoor/outdoor event spaces, The Restoration Asheville features suite-style accommodations in the heart of downtown. Its speakeasy-style Draftsman bar is the spot for live entertainment, craft cocktails and games galore, including bowling lanes, pinball, skeeball and classic arcade favorites.
Asheville’s Restaurant and Arts Scene
Those not familiar with Asheville’s dining scene may have been shocked when Michelin bestowed the city with 15 recognitions in its November The Michelin Guide American South—more than any city in the state, including Charlotte and Raleigh.
Dining options range from old school and elegant at the Inn at Biltmore Estate to trendy Luminosa—“where modern Appalachian meets Italian Inspiration”—the contemporary American Posana, which boasts an entirely gluten-free menu, and the surprising Michelin-recognized Soprana Rooftop Cucina on top of the Embassy Suites Asheville Downtown.
Planners should also consider adding arts activities to the agenda, as the destination is a hub for makers and arts and crafts of all stripes, especially in the River Arts District, where our group tried its hand at watercolors at ArtPlay and came away with framed souvenirs of our works.
Other restaurants featured on the 48-Hour Meeting Planner Experience fam included the following:
Recommended in The Michelin Guide American South 2025; Hall of Fame Best of Western North Carolina for Breakfast and Brunch; Numerous awards for its shrimp and grits and bloody Mary. Its Rabbit Hole covered patio can accommodate up to 35 guests; a buyout can accommodate up to 100.
Within the Hilton Biltmore Park hotel, Fork Lore ranks amongst the top breakfast restaurants amongst Hilton hotels in the America with under 500 rooms and won the 2018 Hilton Award of Excellence. Groups of up to 58 can be accommodated for private dining.
Located atop Embassy Suites by Hilton Downtown Asheville, Soprana is a Michelin Guide American South 2025 Recommended Restaurant; a Top 10 Pizzerias to Watch (Pizza Today); Pizza Company of the Year-Southeast (PIE Awards); Gold Medal for Best Outdoor Dining (Asheville Media Group); and the No. 1 Restaurant With a View (Mountain Xpress). Private dining can accommodate up to 16, with a full reception buyout able to host up to 175.
Within the landmark Flat Iron Hotel, Luminosa has been recognized by a variety of top restaurant authorities, including FSR Magazine’s 40 Under 40 for chef Graham House (2025); FSR Magazine’s Rising Star for Sarah Charles, director of food and beverage (2026); Southern Living’s 20 Best New Restaurants in the South (2025); Inaugural Michelin Green Star for the American South Guide (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction (2025); The Local Palate’s Best Chef in North Carolina, Graham House (2026); and USA Today’s Top 39 Restaurant of the Year (2026). Group dining maximum capacity is 150 for a reception and 100 seated.
The Dining Room at the Inn on Biltmore Estate
Within the historic Inn on Biltmore Estate, the property's formal dining room has won numerous accolades, including four stars from Forbes Travel Guide for nine consecutive years through 2026; the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence every year since 2006; USA Today’s 10 Best column: Best Asheville, NC Restaurants; OpenTable’s Top 100 Romantic Restaurants in America; and OpenTable Diners’ Choice Award. The private dining room can accommodate up to 18.
The eclectic Grand Bohemian Lodge's equally eclectic dining option, Red Stag Grill, has been recognized with a Wine Spectator award in 2023 and an OpenTable Diners’ Choice in 2020. The private dining room can accommodate 16 people and the regular dining room can fit up to 12.
Posana South
This standalone restaurant opened in 2025 and is Posana's second Asheville location, with the original winning numerous awards, including Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence every year since 2018. The restaurant can accommodate up to 160 in spaces that include a private dining room, patio and full restaurant buyout.
Located within Kimpton Hotel Arras, Bargello won the 2025 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and offers a group dining capacity of up to 12 guests in its wine cellar and up to 100 on its patio, with full restaurant buyouts available.
Meeting Planner Feedback From Asheville Fam
Following are responses from five meeting planner attendees who participated in Asheville’s 48-Hour Meeting Planner Experience fam:
What were your general impressions?
- “It feels like you get the best of everything at once. You’ve got the mountains wrapping around you, but then you’re walking to coffee, then into a boutique, then onto a rooftop patio, then somehow into one of the BEST meals you’ve had in months…all within a few blocks.” – Ashlee Nelson
- “More upmarket than I would have thought.
I enjoyed my time there.” – Brian Glynn - “An artistic enclave with natural beauty, funky charm.” – Jennifer Watson
- “There is a diverse range of venues and offsite offerings for tourists. Customer service was consistent everywhere we went. It’s an easy drive for those local to N.C. and the airport will be easier to navigate when construction is complete. There is a lot of history and transformed buildings. The gastronomy scene is divine with lots of great eats and locally harvested ingredients. It’s easy to get around and I appreciate the intentionality of not having a bunch of chains so attendees can truly have unique experiences.” – Tya Bolton
- “I loved it! Gorgeous scenery; lots to do in the area; compact, easy-to-walk downtown area; easy to get to.” – Michelle Taunton
What really stood out about Asheville?
- “The people and hospitality—by far. I work with venues all over the country, and a lot of them feel transactional…even when they’re nice. This was the complete opposite. Explore Asheville and every venue we stepped into care about the planner, the group and how the whole experience comes together. As an event planner, that level of trust and peace of mind is everything!” – Ashlee Nelson
- “I was impressed with the quality of the hotels we visited. I was concerned that there would not be incentive-quality options, but I now know that is not the case.” – Brian Glynn
- “The variety of hotel product, the artistic community.” – Jennifer Watson
- “As a planner who has produced events there in past years, what the clients enjoyed most, and still stands true today are: the connection to outdoors/ nature; experiencing local culture; a diverse range of venue brands and price points; and the meaningful amenities Explore Asheville provides, such as connecting us to other resources, providing grants, VIP welcome amenities, pens, postcards, etc.” – Tya Bolton
- “A nice variety of properties, from high-end resorts like the Inn at Biltmore Estate and the Omni Grove Park Inn to mid-range properties like the Embassy Suites with the brand’s new aesthetic. And the food! So much phenomenal food everywhere we ate. Who would expect an Embassy Suites to have a Michelin-recommended restaurant?! And who knew the Asheville hotels have so many wonderful rooftop event spaces?!” – Michelle Taunton
What was the highlight of the trip?
- “Staying at the Biltmore Estate—it’s just iconic in the way people expect it to be. You pull up and immediately feel like you’ve arrived somewhere special. The scale, the grounds, the history; it’s grand and SO special. It also feels considered and consistent, which is what you want at that level. And then the final dinner at Luminosa was the perfect contrast to that. More intimate, a little more modern, incredible food and seamless service. It didn’t feel overdone, but at the same time what stood out was the execution!” – Ashlee Nelson
- “Touring the Biltmore House (mansion).” – Brian Glynn
- “Seeing the hotel sales managers and CVB reps in person that I’ve worked with for years.” – Jennifer Watson
- “I’ve been wanting to go The Spa at Omni for years, and couldn’t get in there even when I had a group in-house. To be able to finally see what the rave is all about and experience that was definitely something I was looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. I also genuinely enjoyed seeing properties I’ve not previously been exposed to.” – Tya Bolton
- “The massage at the Omni Grove Park Inn—a spa treatment there has always been on my bucket list—and the tour of the Biltmore Estate.” – Michelle Taunton
Which offsite venues do you think would be a good fit?
- “Posana was so good. It would be such an easy yes for one of my founder dinners. Intimate, elevated and everything is gluten-free! I also loved The Draftsman arcade below the Restoration Hotel. It’s such a fun, unexpected option for a group of executives! Bowling, old-school arcade games and the coolest vibes? What more could you want?! And then the Omni Grove Park Inn Spa for a luxury team experience… I mean, come on!” – Ashlee Nelson
- “Biltmore House. It’s a must-see, and to have the chance to privatize a small part of it for a group event would be special.” – Brian Glynn
- “Fitz and the Wolfe is a really cool spot with unique setups and vibes in each room. It would give us an opportunity to create different experiences in each room: live band upstairs, chill vibe in one room downstairs and Instagrammable moments in the speakeasy room. Guests would also enjoy Biltmore House for the lavish history and aesthetics. For smaller groups, The Restoration’s game room gives guests the opportunity to play while enjoying cocktails and light bites.” – Tya Bolton
- “I loved the venue at the Biltmore Estate that was in the converted barn. That space just felt so special. And I like the speakeasy at Fitz and the Wolfe for a really unique space. I loved the entrance through the coat closet.” – Michelle Taunton
Planner's Perspective on Asheville Meetings
Laura Simkins, VP and COO, AFAR Media
Meetings Today: What is AFAR Media?
Laura Simkins: We’re a travel media company with a website and magazine, and we do events. We’ve been in business over 17 years now, with a focus on experiential travel; getting into the heart of a destination and experiencing it in a meaningful way—not just sort of checklist tourism—and also how travel can be a force for good, such as sustainable travel and how we can support the communities that we visit.
What type of program are you holding in Asheville?
Asheville has long been a partner of ours, and we hosted our company meeting event there in March. Once a year, we gather everybody in one location, we meet for a little bit, and then we reserve quite a bit of time to experience the destination as well. So, Asheville was definitely on our radar.
We brought 50 people to Grand Bohemian Lodge Asheville, who broke out into smaller groups to explore the unique things Asheville has to offer. We had a large group activity on Biltmore Estate and then subdivided into smaller groups for a house tour, visited the winery and took part in activities such as falconry. [Explore Asheville] also helped us plan some evening events.
We went to YMI Cultural Center, which is one of the oldest Black cultural centers in the U.S. We catered dinner onsite at fish-fry restaurant Good Hot Fish, and then they brought in live music because, obviously, the music scene in Asheville is rich. We also did a dine-around in small groups to experience all the different food that’s in the area. It’s a chance for people to get to know each other in a little more-intimate setting, rather than just all the big group stuff.
Why did you select Asheville for your meeting?
There are so many good reasons to pick Asheville. For us, because we do split our time between meetings and getting out, it is what the community really has to offer, being in this gorgeous mountain setting and the outdoor opportunities for us to get out and spend some time outside the meeting room.
They have a really rich arts community and a rich food scene, so some of our breakout activities are going to be centered on going into the River Arts District, and [Explore Asheville] has provided a list of several new Michelin-recognized restaurants that we tried as well.
You were originally going to hold this event in 2025, but Hurricane Helene greatly impacted the destination in September 2024, forcing you to postpone. How was it working with Explore Asheville to facilitate that?
They've just been amazing. We were really only a few months out from when this meeting was supposed to take place when that happened, and [Explore Asheville President & CEO] Vic Isley herself got involved and was helping us try to source new venues. They really put out a lot of feelers and did some research for us, but where we were at the moment, it didn't work out; everybody was very understanding of the circumstances, and we’re very committed to Asheville, so they knew we’d be back.
So, we committed to them that if we couldn't do it in 2025, we're going to plan to do it in 2026, and their team has been great, helping me come up with some of the activities. We relied on their expertise to really help us make the most of our time there.
Why is Asheville a great destination for meetings?
Asheville is maybe not top of mind for some people; it's a little bit of a smaller destination than, say, some of the bigger cities. But I actually think that's what makes it appealing to us; really getting into a place where there are so many opportunities to do some unique things in the community in terms of our activities, or even just being in this really beautiful area with the mountains and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's spectacular and really special in that regard.
Connection
