Best Western Plus River Escape Inn & Suites — Hotel in Dillsboro

Location - This little gem is easy to access from 74, Great Smoky Mountain Highway, from both directions. It's 20 minutes from Bryson City where you find the GSM Railroad, 40 minutes from the glorious views of Fontana Dam and 15 minutes from Cherokee where there's an access to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Don't snooze on Dillsboro (location of the hotel) and Sylva either! Both towns are gorgeous, filled with history and charm and situated right on the Tuckesegee River.

Hotel- It's not new and it doesn't look new. If you're looking for a new hotel, keep looking. This hotel is lovely. We visited with friends who live near by in the public sitting areas. They're comfortable and well decorated. It wasn't quite cool enough for the double fireplaces to be lit while we were there. There's plenty of seating for breakfast inside with a great view of the river, or take your coffee and meal outside to the deck that overlooks the river! It's gorgeous and peaceful! There are tables, chairs, rockers and umbrellas on the long deck that runs the length of the hotel on the riverfront. There are two fire pits, one at each end of the deck.

Amenities - In addition to the outdoor living areas, amenities include a small, but sufficient gym space. It was clean and well-lit. Clean towe6are provided there in a cabinet. There's a TV in there to watch while you walk the treadmill. The indoor pool space is large and lovely with large windows that overlook the river. There is a pool and a heated Jacuzzi. The pool has an assist lift at one end. Around the pool, there are chaise loungers and table and chair sets. There are two bathrooms and a cabinet with extra towels and a hamper. The pool stays open until 10 pm.

Breakfast is usual fare, with lots of options to suit different diets.

Room- We had my dad with us. He requires handicap access. We were delighted to get an accessible room with two queens on the river side of the hotel! As other reviews have said, pay the little extra to get the river side. It's more than worth it! Our room has a balcony with two chairs and a table that overlooked the river. The fresh air and the view were wonderful! The balcony door had a smaller side door that also opened. The window opened and had a screen. We slept to the sounds of the river all night. There is a quarry road across the river. We were there during the week and dump trucks started traveling that road around 6. It didn't bother us, as the sound was muffled by the waterfall sounds of the river. That trucks may not run on the weekends.

The in-room fridge and microwave worked great. The beds were comfy and came with two soft and two firm pillows.

The accessible bathroom had a roll-in shower with bench and a handheld shower head. The shower head had multiple settings, including pulsating/massage. Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were in-shower dispensers. There were a couple of bars of soap, a makeup remover towelette, shower cap, etc, also in the bathroom. Bring your own toothpaste and mouth wash, as they were not provided.

We didn't utilize daily housekeeping, but the front desk supplied us with plenty of towels, etc. If you want daily housekeeping, let the front desk know by 8:30 am on the day of.

Staff- The river location is obviously a very attractive feature of this hotel, but I have to say the staff there are just as much value as the gorgeous river! Marissa, Gabe and Valeria at the front desk were helpful and friendly. Marissa was my first communication with the hotel (by phone). She was so helpful and friendly, it made me hopeful that was the kind of customer service we'd receive at the hotel and we were not disappointed! Two different ladies provided breakfast service while we were there. They were both cheerful, greeting everyone with a smile, while they worked busily to keep the food and drink stations full and clean. I also had friendly interactions with several housekeeping team members. Everyone was friendly and courteous. It just adds so much pleasantness to a stay when the staff...

What a beautiful, placid, serene place to stay for a night or better for several days! We had a big room with two queen beds on the ground floor, whose veranda glass door opened onto the rear courtyard of the hotel adjacent to and overlooking the Tuckasegee River. Other guests were fly fishing for trout in the river, and their catch was impressive (but I have no clue what they actually caught[and released]). The breakfast fare was standard, but good and fresh and food that was supposed to be cold was, in fact, cold; unlike other hotels, there was sufficient room in the seating area for 30 people or more. The property looks like it's near a quarry, but there was no noise (rather the sight was impressive because it is up on the mountain on the other side of the river). It's out of the way, so no shopping areas to walk to nearby, but being out of the way it was very, very quiet. The room was nice and clean, and the shower was larger than normal (great for a big guy like me). We stayed for only one night, but wish we had made reservations for our entire stay near Cherokee (which is less than 30 minutes away). It's only 30 minutes to Bryson City where the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is located -- a beautiful drive to get there, so don't worry about having to find a room in (crowded) Bryson City: stay here! Very comfortable bed, with lots of pillows of two sizes and two levels of firmness. Perfect for us old folks! The free Wi-Fi was very easy to connect to and setup for use (unlike many which require complicated logon scenarios); but, in addition, they actually had an actual Ethernet CAT-5 cable at the desk in the room, so you can bypass all the Wi-Fi setup nonsense and just plug directly into the internet! That's simply outstanding! The rooms on the higher floors would have an even better view of the river, but we were happy to be on the ground floor. We had bought some wine earlier in our trip, so we opened a bottle and sat on the riverside veranda and talked with other guests there, who highlighted some of the sites and vistas they had visited earlier in their trip. What a wonderful, hidden hideaway facility to visit when in the Cherokee or Bryson City or Sylva area! Too bad it's no longer a secret. We plan to return here as often as possible. UPDATE: We have returned to see the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 in Andrews, NC, staying here of course, and everything is just as nice as it was before (read above). Great staff and wonderful service people. They kept the free breakfast going in the morning until everyone was finished, not cutting it off at the scheduled time. We didn't get a riverside first floor room this time, but the room was just as big and nice. There is plenty of room in the breakfast area for three large families to bring in food from outside and eat there. The pool is inside, very clean, and there is a spa next to it in the same building. The building shades the walking and seating areas behind, next to the river, from the Sun in the afternoon, so it's a perfect place to sip your favorite beverage and meet folks. This is still a...

I give this location a full 5 stars, not because it is the most popular vacation destination in the world but for the exact opposite. It is a great well known to the regional locals as a quiet slow paced hide away spot to sit and watch the river roll by and the kayakers play. There is not a lot of traffic to make your head stir yet they have all the great craft business and shops you would hope to find on vaccation. There are a few craft brew pubs in the area and much to do outdoors. Great Smokey Mountain Railway passes through and there are river guides in the area to take you out to play on the water at whatever pace you desire. I sit here in silence as the sun beats down on my face and the cool breeze refreshes my soul. The birds compete to outsing the river. Maybe this is why the hotel staff is so friendly, pleasant and attentive. Every person we have encountered on site has been genuinely friendly and helpfull. Our room was spotlessly clean well stocked and spacious. There is small closet safe , ironing board and iron, hair drier , coffee pot , refridgerator, etc....along with all the other amenities you would expect from a full service hotel. Pool, bussiness center, work out room, etc... all on location. It also has spacious lobby with seating/dinning area where you can enjoy a full hot cooked breakfast to get you started in the morning. We didn't find anything out of place or disturbing at this location. This is a great place to pop open a bottle of wine and enjoy some hand crafted chocolates from a local chocolateer unwind by the fire pit while watching the river race away to its final destination.

Hiking, biking, golfing, fishing ,bird watching, wildlife, viewing, motorcycling, cruising, tubing, waterfall hunting , shopping, kayaking, rafting, eating, camping site seeing , wine tasting, live local music, meeting people, shaking hands and having real life face to face conversations. Even gambling if that's your thing. There is so much to do and see I have edited repeatedly and now going to stop and let you just explore for yourself. What is your pleasure? It is all right here within 15-30min drive away or...