ashe

The airport is a waste of money, always has been. There isn't enough business at the airport to warrant a hotel. There wouldn't be enough in the next 10 years. There will never be enough business at that airport to warrant an airport motel.

The Holiday Inn's not doing 90% either.....nor is the Days Inn, Highlander might be not sure but it only has what 6 rooms, maybe 8. The county has way to many beds. Not just between those 4 but then you count in all the cabins, beds and breakfast etc. There simply isn't enough traffic to keep them at near capacity. As for the well to do at one point that's what the lodge at Jefferson Landing was to fill. It doesn't boast a 90% occupancy either.

There is a new 40 unit property going up in Blowing Rock, but in announcing that the owner said that their was a seasonal need, and in the high season it might work out but there is not a year round need. A 40 unit property that might be closed 3-4 months a year or more is a large investment for a potentially small return. The problem with a 40 unit property is that the cost will be high to maintain it. That is a problem also with the properties in Ashe County. Nation's Inn and Days Inn I think have 48 rooms each, I think the Holiday Inn has a similar amount. Some of the properties in Wilkes and Boone have a hundred rooms. More rooms means a lower price point in order to make a profit.

Baymont in Boone recently became a Holiday Inn. It's not unusual to rebrand hotels.

Nation's Inn was doing well this year before the flooding/rain in June. June was pretty brutal for it and for most of the properties in the county. (Including cabins and beds and breakfast places). I do hope things improve for the county.

There is always room for improvement but the rooms are nicer than they were five years ago. As older properties there are of course issues as with any older property. Many new ones have problems as well. Keep in mind under its previous ownership Nation's Inn was largely a tax shelter and was never intended to make a profit, and they neglected maintenance for years that is more costly to do now. Both the Nation's Inn and Days' Inn had new roofs put on this year. Thankfully before that terrible June rain.

Only a fool would build another motel/hotel in Ashe right now, or someone with very deep pockets prepared to lose money for the first 3-5 years. Once the 4 lane is all finished then that might be a different story. It will depend on how much traffic the county gets then. I'm not sure it's going to be a savior for the county. It's kinda like going into the restaurant business in the county, we get them every year some of them turn over almost every year or every other and a new sucker opens up at the same location.....if a restaurant has failed 3 times at the same location it's a bad location.

Jr, people with private planes aren’t staying at Nations Inn. They like much higher quality, inclusive destinations. People behind a project like this bring their customers with them. They don’t rely on what the local chamber of commerce can drag across the county line.

I thought the hotel was going to be in down town West Jefferson.

I have a quite a bit of experience, more than you might think. Watauga's last year might have done that but so far this year is a good bit weaker. Watauga mostly gets that when one or more of the properties rent rooms on an extended basis to college students, something regularly done the last couple of years, however as ASU has built more dorms that need has diminished causing more of a glut.

Ashe properties are not coming close to 90%, they aren't even coming to 75% occupancy average. In fact in June they struggled to get above 50% which one might could blame on the flooding and hopefully that was the issue and things return more to usual.

As I said already, no one is buying the state park! Although, it would be an awesome site for this project.

So the State Park just purchased Elk Shoals to expand the park land. You are telling me that now the park will be sold? Not buying it.

This news got out a little earlier but I am not surprised that it did. The smart people on the board of this project are persons within the county that have means if you follow my drift. Did any of you notice that the governor was in town a couple weeks ago? It was not by chance.

Jr, what’s your experience in the hospitality industry? Watauga lodging stays at about 90% booked, which is considered max capacity. Ashe doesn’t have a hotel I would let my dog stay in, and no one wants to stay in Wilkes.

I’m sure that if a group of investors are considering such a project, they’ve looked at all the data and have a plan that will create their own customer base. If they are going after the private jet crowd, those customers will go anywhere if the destination meets their standards. I’ve seen it plenty of times before. Smarter people than you are behind this plan.

There is a Helicopter business that's suppose to open summer 2019 (High Country Helicopters) but I've not heard anything more firm.

Another hotel would not survive here at this time. There simply isn't enough business for the ones already here. I wouldn't expect another motel/hotel to be built before the road construction is completed and traffic patterns adjust. There is currently a glut of rooms between Wilkes, Watauga and Ashe when you figure in the hotels, motels, beds and breakfast, cabins etc.

Oh god, no one is buying the state park. It kills me how the rumor mill gets started in this county

There have been rumblings that the state wanted to close Mt Jefferson and part of New river for years.

The State owns the park. Your troll card is weak.

A fried that works in the courthouse told me adeveloper is trying to by the new river park to build a distillery and hotel he has a group of investers already and they have been catering the commisioners to expand the airport to open charter flites so they can flie in rich customers how can any won by a state park

How can we stop the park from being sold!