We had a great stay at Studio Lex over the weekend, and I would recommend this place to anyone looking to stay right in the middle of the downtown Asheville action. You can walk to the best that downtown has to offer in 5-10 minutes. The condo is nice and modern, with huge tall ceilings, a well-appointed kitchen, a good bathroom with soaker tub, and giant windows that let in the best morning light (if you want to raise the blinds). The view isn't spectacular from the condo windows, but you do get some mountain views, and you're downtown, so if you want views, stay on the mountain or in a high-rise hotel.

This area is close to a lot of bars and restaurants, so the nightlife can and will be noticeable. If you're in early at night, or the noise bothers you, there's a white noise machine that drowns it all out. We were there with our 3 month old and the noise was not really a problem. He slept through the night the whole time we were there. We got there around midnight on Thursday night, and there was some club music reverberating through the condo from below, but when we told Melissa the next day, she made a call, and the late-night music never returned.

Parking (normally the bane of my Asheville experience) was a breeze, as there are two huge parking decks right across the street. We used the car twice all weekend: to go hiking, and to go to Sierra Nevada in Mills River (totally recommended by the way). We walked everywhere else with ease.

Melissa was a great host and checked in via email to make sure we had everything we needed, but she was not at all intrusive. We couldn't get the fireplace working, and when we told Melissa, she sent someone over, who although they weren't able to get it working, was very kind and even gave us a 6 pack of local beer as a way to apologize.

I've been coming to Asheville since the late 80's and this was definitely one of my better stays in the city, thanks to this fantastic condo. Overall, we had a great experience and would definitely stay here again.

Pros: highly walkable location, fun, modern apartment, easy to get in and out, felt like a local, wonderful host
Cons: some nightlife noise, pillows (bring your own)