Most of the time, money spent on political conventions is a big waste. But not in this case, where Charlotte hotels are getting makeovers ahead of the DNC convention next year, and donating their old furniture to charities.

The Charlotte Area Hotel Association (CAHA) has teamed up with a furniture bank –  Crisis Assistance Ministry, to distribute member hotels’ furniture.

The Holiday Inn Charlotte Center City alone has given away six entire floors of furniture this year, including dressers, desks, nightstands and headboards. Maybe that’s why their renovation went so well, and they bagged IHG’s ‘Renovation of the Year’ award.

Holiday Inn Charlotte Center City

The 294-room hotel with 24 suites has a rooftop rotunda above the 15th floor with a sweeping view of the Charlotte skyline, and an outdoor pool and fitness center.  The hotel’s Caffe Siena Restaurant provides Italian cuisine, and there’s also a Concierge Lounge. The Holiday Inn Charlotte Center City offers everything from free WiFi to valet parking.

CAHA and the Crisis Assistance Ministry expect a lot more hotels to hand over all their furniture early next year, when they start sprucing up for the 2012 convention.

It’s not just about furniture, either. These hotels seem to have a soft spot for a whole bunch of charitable causes, from shoes (Samaritan’s Feet) to soap (Global Soap Project) and food (Second Harvest food bank).

In partnership with humanitarian relief agency Samaritan’s Feet, Charlotte’s hotels have engaged in the ‘Leave a Lasting Footprint’ campaign to raise 20,000 pairs of new athletic shoes and $20,000 in cash donations for Samaritan’s Feet worldwide.

The Global Soap Project (GSP) recovers and recycles soap from US hotels that would otherwise end up in landfills. In Charlotte, there’s a central collection point for the soap from all the regional hotels. All the hotels simply drop it off at the Residence Inn Charlotte Uptown on S. Mint Street. Once enough used soap has piled up, it gets shipped to GSP, or they come and pick it up.

They have a similarly well-organized system for dealing with left-over food at all the hotels, which gets donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina after being packaged, labeled and stored at the right temperature.

Photo – Holiday Inn Charlotte Center City

More info: http://www.charlotteareahotels.com/; http://www.crisisassistance.org/

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Seeing as I’m a Florida native (lived in Florida since I was 2, so that totally counts), Fall foliage season is one of those myths we hear about, but never get to see (like snow) unless we take a trip up north of the border. One of my favorite places “up north” is Asheville, North Carolina. It’s small, stuck in the mountains (real! live! mountains!), very laid back, and it has real! live! seasons! For us in Florida, we don’t have a Fall foliage, or really, any sort of massive leaf-color-changing time. Sure, we have a few trees around that change from green to red, but that’s about it.

Seeing the Fall foliage and leaves changing is one of those things every human needs to witness for themselves. Asheville is one of those easy places to get to from all over the east coast, and Asheville is plentiful in hotel rooms.

Biltmore House Fall Foliage, Asheville, North Carolina

Much of the changing leaves can be see within the city limits of Asheville, but a short drive into the mountains reveals vistas of color changes begging to be photographed.

Biltmore Village Inn
Touted as the “closest B&B to Biltmore House, this cottage offers ongoing specials and deals for visitors on romantic getaways. It’s hard to find a negative review of this near-perfect lodging establishment, and when you’re surrounded by the beauty that is Asheville during the Fall foliage season, you want the best.
119 Dodge Street,
Asheville, NC 28803

Holiday Inn Asheville-Biltmore East
An award-winning hotel on the Blue Ridge Parkway with views of the mountains and easy-access to more Fall foliage viewing. Like the name suggests, this hotel is close to the famed Biltmore House where photographers dream of taking their best shots.
1450 Tunnel Rd.
Asheville, NC 28805

Homewood Suites by Hilton
The list of stellar guest reviews speak for themselves at this location. The hotel sits within walking distance of much of downtown Asheville, and the just a short car ride to Biltmore House.
88 Tunnel Road
Asheville, NC 28805

Photo courtesy: Romantic Asheville

Asheville, NC

Today is the first truly chilly day in Atlanta, and this creates excitement for Fall lovers like myself, it’s time to start thinking about planning cabin trips for the fall and winter months – and boy, did I just come across a fantastic one!

It’s called the Round Knob Lodge, and it’s about 30 minutes East of Asheville and about four hours North of Atlanta. This place is amazing! It’s a restored, historic railroad retreat that can sleep up to 24 people. There’s a heated full-sized pool (even in winter! spectacular!), grills, barbecues, two decks and it sits on 15 acres. There’s a lake to go fishing in, dozens of nature trails to hike and more. Inside you’ll find a pool table, foozball, two televisions, board games, a bar and a very large, fully stocked kitchen.

I can’t wait to sit on the screened-in porch, sipping hot chocolate and gazing at the Blue Ridge Mountains. That’s the way to spend New Years!

The Round Knob Lodge is only about 30 minutes from downtown Asheville, an adorable town full of antique shops, coffee shops, quaint stores and restaurants. There’s a very active arts and music scene in Asheville as well, which should be a lot of fun.  And don’t forget about the amazing Biltmore Estate in Asheville!

Why stay in a hotel when you can stay in a cabin like this one?

Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

Photos: SilenceofNight, Brian and Shannon

Cape Pines Motel, Hatteras Island, Outer Banks of North Carolina

“Our rooms are so clean, you would think your MOTHER works here!” claims the Cape Pines Motel. That sounded good to me; cleanliness is always at the top of my list when choosing accommodations. But though the Cape Pines more than lives up to its reputation for being immaculate, I soon discovered that this charming old brick motel had so much more to offer, not the least of which was its gracious owners, Bill and Angie Rapant.

The Rapants purchased the Cape Pines in July of 2006 after years of dreaming of owning their own motel. Both had worked in the hotel industry – Bill most recently as the controller at the Plaza Athenee on Manhattan Island in New York City, which is rated one of America’s finest hotels. With their backgrounds, Bill and Angie know what service and hospitality is all about, and they set out to provide guests with the most enjoyable vacation experience of their lives.

In order to achieve this goal, they gradually remodeled each of the motel’s 29 rooms, upgrading where appropriate, but restoring the original wood floors and classic tongue-in-groove knotty pine walls and ceilings wherever possible. With the addition of custom linens and modern amenities such as mini refrigerators, Read More »