Southeastern US Road Trip
Andaz Savannah
Embassy Suites Charleston Historic District
Anderson Ocean Club and Spa
Country Inn & Suites Asheville Outlet Mall
The final stop on our road trip was built around a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. This was also the only opportunity we had to utilize the two free night certificates I’d earned via spending on my US Bank Radisson Rewards credit card.
Location
The hotel is on Brevard Road which is a very busy divided highway. The Asheville Outlet Mall is just across the street and there are numerous similar hotels nearby. Its main attraction for us was that it was close to the interstate and just 6.6 miles away from the Biltmore. Right next door to the hotel is a grocery and a gas station and there are numerous restaurants in the area.
We arrived after driving up from Myrtle Beach. My friend unloaded the car while I went to check in. While I grant that a Monday afternoon is not a typically busy time, I bet I waited ten minutes for someone to realize I was waiting to check in. There was just one desk clerk and he’d been engaged with helping to replace pillows in all the rooms. Nothing wrong with that but a sign or something at the front would have been nice. I didn’t know if the clerk had been injured or gotten sick or what was happening! But we were checked in with no issues and we were given a sheet of paper offering discounts at local restaurants, which was a nice touch.
Note that when using these free night certs online you must make a separate reservation for each certificate. I don’t know if you can call and combine them into a single reservation or not but it sure would be nice to be able to enter more than one certificate at a time.
Also note that this trip occurred before the Radisson Rewards program in America was split out into Radisson Rewards Americas (for North, South and Central America) and Radisson Rewards (for the rest of the world) so it’s possible things have changed since our stay.
COVID Protocols
This was our only stay in North Carolina on this trip in May 2021 and we found that COVID protocols in the hotel were much stricter than we’d found in Georgia and especially in South Carolina. Masks in the common areas were expected but when it came time for breakfast, the signs indicated only one person in the designated area at a time and plastic gloves had to be worn as well. That seemed like overkill to me for pre-packaged cereal, milk, yogurt, etc. but whatever. All dining had to be done in one’s own room.
We were assigned a room on the second floor almost to the end of the hallway. There was one centrally-located elevator that we only used when taking the luggage between floors as there was an open stairway between the first and second floors right in the middle of the lobby and another stairwell at the end of the building.
Guest Room
We’d ordered a 2-Queen room and it was basic but clean. Between the two beds was a single night stand and there was a chair in the far corner. The night stand had 3 AC outlets and 2 USB ports, which was great.
Across from the beds was a chest with the TV on top and a mini-fridge inside as a desk with a very comfortable office-type chair. There were an additional 4 AC outlets and 2 USB ports on/near the desk. Again, kudos for that!
There was a small closet between the beds and the bathroom.
The bathroom had a single sink on one side with a counter top that ran the length of the room. The toilet was in the center. The hair dryer was the same model as the one we’d had at Embassy Suites in Charleston but it worked much better.
And the shower/tub was on the other side. Of all our stops on this trip the showerhead here was tops. It was both moveable and the spray could be adjusted to be quite strong.
The toiletries were made specifically for Country Inns & Suites. They were just fine for our two-night stay.
Common Areas
Pool
The pool was still closed for the season during our visit. I’m lucky I snapped this photo when I did as it was drained shortly thereafter!
Gym
There’s also a tiny gym. Three cardio machines and one universal set. Enough to work up a sweat.
In the end
It’s not fancy but that’s not what we needed for our brief visit. It was a solid use of our free night certificates, especially since several cities we visited did not even have any Radissons at all. It was convenient to our destination and easy to find.
2B Traveling 
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