Hi:

Heading down to Asheville in a couple of weeks for a weeklong class, would be psyched for suggestions on the most pleasant (ie least strip-mall infested) part of the city to stay in, nice place to stay, good non-fancy/greasy spoon restaurants, etc. How's the climbing gym there? Worth a visit?
(EDIT: will only have weeknights free, this isn't a climbing trip, sad to say)

Thanks,
David

As far as reasonably prices places to stay there are few option, (airport area, tunnel road)but I would say that there is no place in Asheville that is "strip-mall infested".

For places to eat I would recommend about any downtown restaurant, and the West Asheville(haywood rd and River arts) have some of the best food. Asheville is a smallish town and very easy to find good food.

the gym(climbmax)is small and oriented to bouldering, but of good quality and has some great people that work there and is rarely crowded.

Forget the food, go to the breweries.

For what it's worth, there is a hostel above the LAB (Lexington Ave Brewery) that has rooms for rent for $65 a night, actual rooms. Then there are the bunks for lots less. I stayed in a room over the summer, to avoid the drink and drive when I had a visitor, it was excellent. The name of the place is Sweet Peas, I highly recommend it. It's in downtown, so if you have a class there, you would be set, everything good is within walking distance.


www.sweetpeashostel.com/

Sweet peas hostel is awesome. It was cleaner than many hotels I have experienced

Another +1 for Sweet Peas. I haven't stayed there but have lots of friends who rave about it. There are tons of good places to eat and drink downtown. Ask around and enjoy!

If you can swing out of work early one day, Rumbling Bald is only 45 min away...

I can't give much advice on hotels, but I will tell you that as far as food you should definitely check out Salsa's in downtown. It's a bit on the pricey side, but the food is absolutely incredible and completely worth it.

For great bbq - try 12 bones
great breakfast - try Tupelo Honey, early girl eatery, or Sunny Point.
Awesome Indian - try Chai Pani
Mexican-ish - try Salsas
Awesome view of the blue ridge at sunset - grab a drink at Sky Bar
I could go on forever!

And listen to TC, there are more breweries than you can imagine. The Wedge is nice because it's by the river but there aren't many food options on the spot. Just food trucks (that aren't all that bad). I'm fairly new in town but let me know if I can show you around.

Definitely +1 for the breweries. One of my favorite restaurants is Mayfel's, especially for brunch.
Climbmax is okay. I haven't been in a few years, but I got the impression that it's more boulder-oriented.
Hope you have a good trip!

Thanks a bunch to everyone who wrote in! Even though this thread isn't about climbing, it's still a great example of how awesome Mountain Project can be!

Just a once-again thank you to everyone who wrote in with suggestions...Asheville was really fun and just as folks said, the food and the breweries were excellent, especially Lexington Avenue Brewery. Salsa was also a really great recommendation.

mmmmmm Salsa's. One of my two favorite restaurants anywhere in the world....

Go do the Highland Brewery tour! Also Papas and Beer probably has the best burritos on the east coast. I would also suggest Bon Paul and Sharky's Hostel as well. I remember it being the cheapest hostel when I was looking for a bed in Asheville.