I personally wouldn’t recommend staying here. I’ve stayed in hostels before, and know what to expect when it comes to sharing spaces with strangers. This was definitely not what my partner and I were expecting when we booked, and there were a lot of issues we experienced.
First, our check-in time was 3pm; we were expecting to arrive around 6pm, given that we were traveling a little late in the day. The co-host Mikel informed us at 5pm, the day OF check-in—what would have been 2 hours AFTER check-in— that the campground was hosting a jiu jitsu tournament the next morning at 9am, and said there might be trouble with parking. It was pretty inconsiderate, given that this seemed like it had been planned in advance, to wait to tell us about this the day of our reservation; we should have been informed beforehand, in case we wanted to cancel our reservation and check options elsewhere. It just felt really shady that we weren’t told about it until so late. When I asked if we would have trouble leaving in the morning to explore Asheville, we were told that it wouldn’t be an issue. However, when the time came to leave, it was extremely difficult and cars were parked right behind us in the very narrow parking strip.
Second, the atmosphere was not lovely. Don’t get me wrong. The campground is beautiful, and obviously, the hosts have put a lot of thought into it. But while they gave us a fair warning about the elderly neighbor with confederate flags in his yard (and there were quite a few), it was the other houses surrounding that were the main problems. (I’m not sure, but these very well could also be part of Bobby and Amanda’s property, and ~not~ their neighbors, in which case, the issue is even more troubling.) The entire campground has signs expressing that quiet hours start at 10pm. Our first night there, at 3am, we heard screaming and hollering like people on the property/the neighbors to the side were just partying as loud as possible. I have no idea if it was the hosts—if so, unbelievable—or if they have other neighbors on the side who get rowdy; if it’s neighbors, it would have been nice to know about that in advance too. Especially because the second night we stayed, the same people were shooting off guns into the woods; this was going on RIGHT next to the campground. Like, come on…. besides that, the campground is right next to a busy road. Between the constant sounds of cars and trucks barreling by, and the gunshots and partying neighbors, my partner and I didn’t sleep at all when we were there. It was a shame, given that we expected a little more of the scenic ambience we were expecting from the photos and description.
Three, yes- at a hostel/community style place, we expect to see other people. That wasn’t an issue! What was really uncomfortable was that, A) one of the tournament-goers (an adult male) started randomly wandering around behind the garage spaces near the tents where we were staying… just kind of snooping around and checking the place out. This happened when we were about to change, too, so it was really creepy. and B) on our second day, there was someone who was lingering in the common space that the bathroom is in. This guy was passed out on the couch that you must walk by to access the bathrooms, all slumped out that morning. Hours later, he was still there but awake and seemingly drunk/hungover, with a pizza box by his feet. And he just watched us… Hours after that, at the end of the day, he was still in the same spot and passed out again. Have no idea who he was, but he seemed like he might have been a passerby; what was creepy about it was that we had to walk by him every time we wanted to use the bathroom, in a small enclosed space, and the way he kind of eerily watched us when he was awake. He seemed out of it, but the staring was intense and weird.
All in all, it just felt like a misleading place and I think next time, we’ll know better and spend a little extra for a nicer spot.