Tru by Hilton Asheville Blue Ridge Parkway — Hotel in Asheville

My wife and I have never stayed at a Tru property and decided to give this location a try. We were in town celebrating the weekend between our birthdays and looking for a go-to hotel for visits when our son starts at UNC-A in the fall. We also have Biltmore season passes this year and will be coming to town quite a bit. We booked one night, with the possibility of staying a second night.

We read the reviews and decided this looked like a good value for the rate. We understand that this is not a luxury hotel and there will be some lower quality items (bed, sheets, towels, etc) and experiences. We travel quite a lot, but we are both teachers, so value matters.

Pros: Friendly and diverse staff. A lot of cool/comfortable places to sit in the lobby. Liked the pool table and lounge area. Breakfast was pretty good (love the automatic pancake maker). The entire property was very clean. The modern boho décor was appealing.

Cons: Remote key never worked. I banged my shin on the corner of the bed so many times it bruised and bled (the rooms are small, as described in other reviews). The shower door swings out into the bathroom and drips leaving the floor soaked after showers, a REALLY poor design. Very, and I mean VERY thin walls. You will hear EVERYTHING.

On Friday evening we brought food back to the room to eat and watch a movie. We have two teenage boys and dogs at home, so quiet and alone time is RARE! Multiple dogs in the room above us were running all over the place and barking NON STOP. After about an hour of the stampede we called the front desk. They investigated and discovered the guests were not in the room. We were notified that the guests had been contacted and would be back in 30 minutes. Two hours later the barking finally stopped being constant. The dogs continued to bark on and off throughout the night, waking us up regularly. A very poor night's sleep. This is obviously not the fault of the property, other than poor planning for what part of the property should be dog friendly rooms. After a good breakfast we decided to try to stay another night. We were going to ask if the guests above us were staying again to possibly request a room change. We were going to stop at the front desk and extend our stay when we went out for the day, but changed our minds quickly. There was NO HOT WATER for a shower. It was miserable. We quickly packed and made a reservation with another chain for our second night in Asheville.

We had high hopes for this property, but this was not a great first experience. With that being said, we might still try this property again due to the...

My review is based mostly on Hilton's customer service policies as a company, which amount to the single worst customer service experience I've had in my life. The Hilton phone-receptionist was weirdly standoffish, evasive, unhelpful, and almost confrontational. I'd booked the wrong hotel as a mistake and asked to cancel the booking before having checked in. I was told I may not cancel, and that I'd be assessed the full charge for the multiple-night stay regardless of whether or not I ever checked in. Refunds before the actual stay were common before COVID, and standard now. There was ample availability at the hotel for these dates, so it's not as if my cancellation would've cost the hotel a booking. They could've offered me a credit at a Hilton property for a later date, agreed to transfer my booking to another Hilton property, or even assessed me a cancellation fee. These options would've been fine, and would've required no sacrifice on the part of Hilton whatsoever. Their reasoning was that I'd booked at a reduced rate for which cancellation or exchange wasn't offered. This was inadvertent on my part, and I don't recall this detail ever being disclosed. In addition, the rate was by no means below market. This is a two-star hotel, and I could've booked a three-star nearby at the same rate, at their standard, advertised price. For what it's worth, they could see on their end that I was a regular customer and didn't seem to matter in the slightest. To never do business with Hilton as a company again is an easy decision as a result of this experience.

As for Tru in Asheville, the in-person staff was friendly and the space was clean. The room is small, the windows don't open, the a/c unit is loud, there is no place to unload a suitcase and store clothes, no closet... the hotel is best for a quick overnight stay. A multi-night stay is best done elsewhere. Regardless of the quality of the in-person experience at Tru in Asheville, Hilton is a company I'd never consider again, and feel strongly enough to share this opinion whenever it could make...

This hotel is seems very new and is situated right off Hwy 40 between Asheville and Black Mountain. It was the perfect location for us for our logistical plans. The hotel room, and hotel were spotless, the beds comfortable with the amenities you would expect from a Tru hotel. There was a baseball travel team at the hotel while we were there but we never heard them so that is a plus for the rooms soundproofing. The hotel is also very pet friendly, with dog waste stations.

The highlight of the stay was the staff, from the front desk to the breakfast staff and housekeeping, everyone was extremely pleasant and helpful. In fact, one of the front desk employees, Katie May, and her co-worker (sorry can’t remember her name), took the extra effort to write down all the nearby dog-friendly parks in the area that were still open/reopened from the hurricane damage. That is above and beyond customer service, and our family, including our pup, felt very welcomed.

We ate a restaurant less than a mile from the hotel that was reasonably priced and tasty. The hotel restaurant at the Hilton next door had great reviews but we just weren’t hungry for a big meal.

Speaking of meals, the breakfast was solid. Had omelets, sausage, yogurt, oatmeal and a pancake maker. Nothing extravagant but everything you would need.

I wanted to add that the area is still struggling and rebuilding from the hurricane damage. The staff at EVERY place we have been do that sustained damage is so extremely grateful to have business, this included restaurants in downtown Asheville.

Although we only stayed one night here, I am glad we did and would happily stay here again when back in the area. If you want a clean, pet-friendly, welcoming hotel near Asheville, please check them out.

Also, we had zero issues with power or water outages. They really have done a great job getting the infrastructure up and running and clearing debris from the hurricane.

PS — this is the only photo we had — clearly our pup thought the beds were great!!

And there is a great Mountain View from the front...