We just stayed at the Haywood Park Hotel in downtown Asheville (suite 406) and overall enjoyed it. We booked the Master King Suite (their middle level option) and it was very spacious and well furnished. The decor is masculine and traditional in style--understated browns and beiges. It had a nice tray ceiling and chandelier. Our room was on the 4th floor with a view of the city with the mountains in the distance. The mattress was comfortable and I liked the sitting area with full size sofa, chair and ottoman. The room had a keurig coffee maker (Love!) with half & half, rather than the powdered stuff some hotels provide. The in-room safe was large enough to fit a Macbook Air and iPad as well as some other small items. The marble bathroom is really large and I liked the separate sit-down vanity area where I could do my make-up while my husband was steaming up the other room. The bathroom also had lightly scented Gilchrist & Soames shampoo, conditioner, lotion and bath gel. The room had free wifi as well as plenty of plugs for charging iphones, etc. There are flat screen TVs in the main room (in view of both the sitting area and the bed) as well as a small one in the bathroom. A negative with the room was the street noise--it didn't bother us too much. The main areas of the hotel are a bit dated and reflect the history of the building--former department store. The hotel is located in the heart of downtown and close walking distance to lots of great shops, art galleries, restaurants, etc.

Stand out restaurants that were nearby:
Early Girl - Very good homestyle cooking--good place for breakfast
Tupelo Honey - Love this casual restaurant with southern style menu--good place for lunch
Chorizo - Latin/mexican food with some of the best margaritas I've had (I'm extremely picky about my margaritas)--good place for lunch or dinner
Modesto - Italian with a nice outdoor seating area; I had the hanger steak (which was a well seasoned steak/seafood combo and my hubby loved his specialty pizza)

I was impressed with the number of non-chain restaurants in Asheville. I liked that most bought organic produce locally. The restaurants tended to have some vegetarian options, which was good for my husband.

In addition to the great downtown area, we visited Biltmore Village and Biltmore Estate. Biltmore Village is a quaint collection of shops, eateries, and art galleries and is a fun place to walk around. Biltmore Estate is not-to-be-missed. The mansion is amazing and the property has lots of other cool stuff--great restaurants, winery, gardens, etc. You can easily spend a day there.

If you plan a visit, be sure to check on festivals and special events in the Asheville area. They have a lot of fun stuff scheduled. Summer and fall are great times to plan visits. The temperatures tend to be more mild in the summer than many other places (mid 70s) and the fall has beautiful scenery when the leaves are changing color.

I originally booked this hotel because it was dog-friendly and in the heart of downtown Asheville. What I discovered was a breathtaking suite with a friendly, professional staff at a reasonable price.

Things I enjoyed about this hotel:
+ Staff: I arrived at the hotel after camping for two days. I was a sight for sore eye. And yet the staff was very kind and courteous. Also, some places seem "dog-tolerant." Haywood Park is dog-friendly. Staff members stopped to pet my dog and even brought treats for her.
+ Location: You're within walking distance of dozens of nice restaurants and shops.
+ Atmosphere: The hotel is a converted department store. The rooms are not your average cookie cutter cells.
+ Room quality: Everything was ship-shape clean. The bed was super comfortable.

We stayed in the Haywood Park Hotel for an overnight on our way across the state. We live two hours from Asheville and often visit just for fun. We have stayed twice in one other hotel and in a very upscale condo all of which were downtown. The Haywood has become our new favorite. The room was enormous for the money, clean, the front desk was helpful and friendly (thanks to them we discovered the good breakfast at the Mediterranian Grill), the turn down service was very nice as was the person who did it, we loved the touch of the announcement of which floor we are on and the location can't be beat. The only issue I had was that I could not get the shower head to adjust to the spray I wanted. I got clean anyway.
We look forward to staying there again on our next getaway.

This is an excellent hotel -- the service is great, location couldn't be better and what a wonderful experience to stay in a building that used to be a department store.