Top 10 Biltmore House Hotels

The hotel is everything you would expect from a Hilton and more. The staff is helpful and accommodating. James greeted us with a warm smile at the front desk. He made sure our requests were honored. Then Jim offered to help with our luggage. He overheard me request for more hangers. He took it upon himself to look in storage and was able too rustle up a few more for us. So nice to see two employees doing their best to make a customer happy. It makes for a pleasant stay.

Over the phone, I booked a “Big Dance Weekend Package” that was to include 2 nights, tickets to all the dance events, 2 breakfasts and parking. After booking the package, the agent insisted that I needed to purchase 2 dance tickets for an extra $278 total. Even though I pointed out that the website stated that the tickets were included, she was insistent. Not wanting to miss out initially, I made the purchase. A few days later, I called back to again question the need for the tickets and a different agent confirmed that the 2 tickets were not needed and she submitted a credit card refund. After a week, no refund. I called back again and went through the same conversation. They confirmed that the refund had not been issued and they offered no explanation but did apologize. They again promised a refund but it took another week for the refund to actually show up. If I had not bothered to call them -twice- I would have been overcharged and they would have done nothing. Upon checkin, we got our 2 electronic keys and neither worked. Fortunately, a hotel employee happened to be in the hallway and he let us in. I walked back down, explained the issue and the attendant re-programmed the same keys. Result: no joy. I called down and they sent someone up with 2 brand new keys that finally worked. Why they didn’t just give me 2 brand new keys the first time is a mystery. At the breakfast buffet, in the waiting area to be seated, both tanks of coffee had run out. Instead of bringing 2 new tanks and replacing the empty ones, the staff chose to take the 2 empty tanks away, presumably to fill up, and left nothing for the guests. It took 20 minutes for the replacement tanks to arrive. How hard is it to replenish coffee in a customer-friendly way? These types of missteps are common at common hotels. GPI is not a common hotel. They should not be commanding premium prices for everyday performance. The hotel does offer a unique charm, atmosphere and experience that can be found in very few places. But the expectations they are setting are not always met.

Impeccable hotel, absolutely five-star rating