Put North Carolina On Your 2023 Travel List With These Seven Stylish Mountain Hotels

Time for a road trip! From its craggy mountains, charming towns, to a dynamic craft beer scene, North Carolina boasts a long list of reasons to explore the state. Next year, that list gets longer with the addition of seven new or newly renovated hotels lending splash to the state’s growing clutch of contemporary hotels. Most of these properties sit in or near the wildly popular town of Asheville.

Here’s your guide to the “must stays” of 2023 in The Tar Heel State.

Mirror Hotel, Marshall

Opening early 2023, from Asheville Glamping comes a set of 18 “invisible” cabin suites featuring architectural mirrors that reflect the surrounding nature. In addition to hotel-style amenities, the property will outfit the outdoor space with a large deck, grill and pizza oven, fire pit, hot tub and other indulgences. The owners plan to extend the concept to other destinations. Those interested in booking a stay need to join the email list.

The Flat Iron Hotel, Asheville

Coming Spring 2023, Indigo Road Hospitality Group plans to open this 71-room inn as an adaptive reuse of the Flatiron Building from the Roaring ʼ20s, an era that sparked a remarkable building boom in Asheville. The eight-story, wedge-shaped hotel will include a restaurant with wood-burning oven and craft cocktail bar and rooftop bar.

Rhode’s Motor Lodge, Boone

Opening late Spring / early Summer of 2023, the old Greene’s Motel, which dates to the 1950s, is being stylishly transformed to open as Rhode’s Motor Lodge by Loden Hospitality whose properties include Raleigh’s retro-chic Longleaf Hotel and the quaint Guest House. With an outdoorsy design and laid-back vibe, the 53-room property aims its appeal at family adventurers, outdoor enthusiasts and casual travelers. Plans include a restaurant, bar and outdoor gathering space for locals as well as travelers.

Zelda Dearest, Asheville

Opening Summer 2023 and centering on the restoration of three historic homes in the South Slope neighborhood, the 20 room hotel pays homage to Zelda Fitzgerald and husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. Being developed by Atlanta-based Hatteras Sky in partnership with the Fitzgerald estate, Zelda Dearest will include 20 rooms, outdoor spaces, and food and beverage service from notable local chef Jacob Sessoms. F. Scott Fitzgerald spent two summers in Asheville while his wife was hospitalized in Highland Hospital, a sanitarium where she died in a 1948 fire.

The Radical, Asheville

Opening Summer 2023 and also from Hatteras Sky, this 70-room hotel transforms a vacant warehouse in the River Arts District. It promises retro-luxury interiors, a spacious lawn and outdoor courtyards plus a Jacob Sessoms-led food and beverage program to include a restaurant, coffee lounge, cocktail bar and rooftop bar.

Cataloochee Ranch, Maggie Valley

Opening Fall 2023, this well-loved rustic retreat bordering Great Smoky Mountains National Park will reopen with redesigned interior spaces and new wrap-around terraces where guests can dine and enjoy the warmth from a newly converted two-sided fireplace. Other changes are designed to enhance the views from atop mile-high Fie Top Mountain and allow more natural light to stream into the stone and timber structure, which first opened for overnight stays in 1939. While the lodge has been closed, owners David and Annie Colquitt have continued to offer horseback rides, including lunch excursions to The Swag, their all-inclusive Relais & Châteaux property nearby.

NuWray Hotel, Burnsville

Opening in late 2023, North Carolina’s oldest continuously operating hotel, will begin a new chapter after a full-scale restoration of the 16,500-square-foot Colonial-style inn. In addition to the structural work, James and Amanda Keith are rescuing artifacts and collecting narratives from a history that dates to 1833. Once a stagecoach stop on the way to Asheville, the hotel boasts a guest list that includes Mark Twain, Elvis Presley, Christopher Reeve and Jimmy Carter. The NuWray, located about 20 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway, will offer as many as 24 rooms and suites.