The Omni Grove Park Inn

Sunset Terrace is one of the hotel’s most popular restaurants with its stunning mountain views. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner daily, and we hear that steaks are a menu favorite. (Staff recommend making a reservation.)

Two larger-than-life fireplaces are found on each side of the Great Hall. Guests can relax in one of the rocking chairs with a cocktail from the Great Hall Bar or a sweet treat from The Pink Pig.

Every year around Christmas, The Omni Grove Park Inn hosts the National Gingerbread Competition. If you can’t visit then, the resort keeps the first, second and third place winners on display year-round in the Vanderbilt Atrium.

Club floor rooms are available only for guests 21 and over and offer a spacious seating area, a separate whirlpool tub and shower, and spa garden views. Stays on the club floor include a complimentary continental breakfast and evening cocktails in the Club Lounge, plus access to the spa fitness center.

Executive junior suites in the hotel’s Vanderbilt Wing are about 1,000 square feet and feature large living areas with a dining room, a separate bedroom and a wraparound balcony. Each suite has a theme that honors the history of Asheville and the inn. We toured the George Masa suite, which recognizes the famed photographer and conservationist who put Smoky Mountain National Park on the map. George Masa once worked in the hotel’s laundry room; some of his original work hangs on the suite’s walls.

The resort’s 50,000-square-foot sports complex features indoor and outdoor tennis courts, indoor pickleball courts, an indoor pool and a fitness center with a rotating schedule of exercise classes. Pingpong tables, a pool table and skee ball machines are free for guests and especially appreciated by those traveling with kids.

Seely Pavilion is the resort’s newest event space featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic mountain views. The venue holds up to 300 guests.

The resort’s pub-like restaurant EDISON is named for Thomas Edison, who visited the inn regularly. Open weekday evenings and weekends, the open-air setup offers some of the resort’s best views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and elevated, farm-to-table fare with a Southern spin.

You don’t have to leave the resort’s property for a hike. Sunset Trail is a short out-and-back trail that takes you up to Sunset Mountain. It’s an easy trek for all ages and abilities.