Past Accolades

Asheville has been recognized for its splendors by dozens of magazines, Web sites and publications in recent years. Accolades range from the designation by Frommer’s as one of a dozen top travel destinations in the world to recognition for the Asheville area arts community, outdoor adventures, cuisine, organic and vegetarian eats, and much more.

2018

Mission Hospital ranked No. 1 in North Carolina.  What does that mean for you? (March 2018)

2015

Condé Nast Traveler included Asheville among its “America’s Best Beer Cities” round-up. (January 2015)

Asheville appears at #3 on a list of the “Coziest Cities in America” by Elle Décor. (January 2015)

 

2014

Asheville is among Frommer’s’ “Best Places to Go in 2015.” (December 2014)

Yelp ranked Asheville #4 on its list of the “Top 20 Cities to Shop Local for the Holidays.” (November 2014)

Asheville is considered one of “America’s Smartest Cities” by Forbes. (November 2014)

Orbitz.com’s Travel Blog chose taking a scenic drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway as #1 on its list of “Seven Things You Absolutely Must Try in a National Park.” (November 2014)

USA TODAY picked Asheville as one of the 10 best places to see “The Brightest Fall Foliage Around the USA.” (November 2014)

Asheville was featured in a round-up by The Huffington Post on “The 13 Greatest Destination Food Towns in America.” (October 2014)

A just-released National Geographic Travel book named Asheville one of the “World’s Best Cities.” (October 2014)

MusicSchoolCentral.com included Asheville on its list of “The 10 College Towns With the Best Music Scenes in America.” (October 2014)

Asheville is among TravelandLeisure.com’s “Most Romantic Fall Getaways.” (October 2014)

FlipKey.com, the vacation-rental company of TripAdvisor, recognized Asheville on its top-10 list of the “Best Fall East Coast Vacation Spots.” (September 2014)

Livability.com’s second-annual ranking of the 100 best small- to mid-sized cities in the U.S. included Asheville in the #12 slot. (September 2014)

Asheville is considered America’s #1 “Quirkiest Town,” according to TravelandLeisure.com. (August 2014)

USA TODAY selected Asheville as one of the top “Southern Literary Destinations.” (August 2014)

Rhubarb and Curate were recently featured in round-ups of the best restaurants in the South by CNN.com and Food Republic. (August 2014)

In a bracket-style vote, Outside Magazine readers picked Asheville as one of this year’s “Best Towns Ever.” (August 2014)

Readers of Condé Nast Traveler voted Asheville #10 among the “2014 Friendliest Cities in the U.S.” (August 2014)

Asheville was highlighted as one of “America’s Five Best Beer Cities” by Wine Enthusiast. (July 2014)

Real Estate Scorecard recognized Asheville as the “Most Beautiful Place in America to Live and More.” (July 2014)

Asheville was chosen as one of BrideMeetsWedding.com’s “10 Great Honeymoon Locations Within the U.S.,” coming in at #5. (July 2014)

SingleTracks.com listed Asheville among its “10 Beer Towns With a Mountain Biking Problem.” (July 2014)

Livability.com placed Asheville at #4 on its “Top 10 Foodie Cities 2014” round-up. (June 2014)

Departures called Asheville “The Biggest Little Culinary Capital in America.” (June 2014)

Asheville was featured on USA Today’s “Best Summer Weekend Escapes” list, chosen by readers of USA Today and 10Best. (May 2014)

Purina ONE selected Asheville as a “perfect dog-friendly city” after touring the country to find the best place to kick off its 28-Day Challenge. (May 2014)

THRILLIST named Asheville one of the “7 Most Underrated Food Cities in America.” (March 2014)

National Geographic featured Asheville on its editors’ list of the “Best Spring Trips 2014.” (March 2014)

Asheville made SaveOnEnergy.com’s list of the “Top 10 Cities to Visit for Earth Day 2014,” coming in at #5. (March 2014)

Men’s Journal included Black Mountain on its list of the “Best Places to Rent a Summer Home.” (March 2014)

The Omni Grove Park Inn made USA Today’s “10 Best Places: Have a Heart-to-Hearth at These Hotels” list. (February 2014)

MovieMaker designated Asheville as #1 on its 2014 edition of the “Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker.” (January 2014)

Asheville was spotlighted on a list of “Alternative Travel Destinations For 2014” by Men’s Journal. (January 2014)

Forbes Travel Guide Blog featured Asheville as one of its “Five Secret Foodie Cities.” (January 2014)

Asheville was named one of Imbibe Magazine’s “75 People, Places and Flavors That Will Shape the Way You Drink in 2014.” (January 2014)

 

2013

ConventionSouth recognized Asheville as one of its “Best Meeting Sites in the South Readers’ Choice Awards” recipients. (December 2013)

Cúrate was included among OpenTable’s “2013 Diners’ Choice Top 100 Best Restaurants in America.” (December 2013)

Asheville Brewing Company earned a spot (#11) on Travel+Leisure’s list of “America’s Coolest Breweries.”(October 2013)

Asheville topped VegNews‘ round-up of “12 Dreamy Towns for Vegan Living.” (July 2013)

FlipKey listed Asheville Beer Week (May 23-June 1) as one of the nation’s Top Ten Summer Beer Festivals. (May 2013)

Forbes featured Asheville as one of the top 5 Beer Cities to Hit This Summer. (May 2013)

Southern Living magazine named Asheville one of the “Tastiest Towns in the South.” Asheville was recognized for its intrepid casual fare led by a tight-knit group of indie-chefs. (May 2013)

 

2012

Wedge Brewing earned a spot on the “Best Beers of 2012” list by CNN’s Eatocracy blog, which gave a shout out to Wedge’s Vadim Bora Russian Imperial Stout. (December 2012)

Asheville became America’s first Green Dining Destination as the 16th area restaurant earned its Green Restaurant Certification. (November 2012)

Fodor’s named Asheville as a Best Destination for Fall Foliage in a feature on the TODAY Show. (September 2012)

Readers of Condé Nast Traveler ranked the Spa at the Inn on Biltmore Estate as one of the top 75 spas on the U.S. mainland. (June 2012)

Outside magazine and American Rivers named Asheville among America’s best river towns. (June 2012)

Readers of Conde Nast Traveler ranked the Spa at the Inn on Biltmore Estate as one of the top 75 spas on the U.S. mainland. (June 2012)

Asheville maintained its “Beer City USA” reign, tying with Grand Rapids, Mich. in the fourth year of an online poll posted on Examiner.com. (May 2012)

Asheville won the 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards on About.com for Most Romantic Place in the USA and Canada. (April 2012)

 

2011

Users of TripAdvisor.com pick three Asheville B&Bs among the Top 25 in the U.S. The Reynolds Mansion (#2), Biltmore Village Inn (#8) and 1900 Inn on Montford (#20) all take top honors.

TripAdvisor.com lists Asheville as one of its “15 Destinations on the Rise.” (December 2011)

Zagat.com included Firestorm Cafe & Books in a list of the “10 Coolest Independent Coffee Shops Across the US.”

Condé Nast Traveler‘s annual Reader’s Choice Awards Poll chose two Asheville properties among the best in the nation. The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa was rated a Top U.S. Resort, and the Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville was rated at Top U.S. Hotel.

Asheville is named “Best Place to Start a Fall Foliage Tour” by Livabiliy.com (October 2011)

The editors of Prevention magazine and Fitbie rank Asheville as the #5 best U.S. city for weight loss, thanks to a wide variety of options for finding farm fresh food choices. (October 2011)

Asheville comes in at #10 in TripAdvisor.com’s Travelers’ Choice Awards for top food and wine destinations in the U.S. (October 2011)

Good Morning America featured Asheville as one of its “Most Beautiful Places in America.” (August 2011)

DogFriendly.com released its list of “Top 10 Resort Areas to Visit with your Dog” in the U.S. and named Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway as #2. (August 2011)

Yoga Journal magazine includes Asheville in its list of “10 Fantastically Yoga-Friendly Towns.” (August 2011)

Asheville again rises to the top of AmericanStyle magazine’s Top 25 Small City Arts Destinations, narrowly beating Santa Fe in the annual readers’ poll. (May 2011)

Online poll on Examiner.com: “Asheville, BeerCity USA 2011 makes it a three-pete” Asheville won with more than 46% of the vote and significant support from outside North Carolina. (May 2011)

Livability lists McCormick Field, the home of the Asheville Tourists, as one of the top 10 minor league stadiums. (March 2011)

The Donald Ross-designed course at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa makes the reader-nominated list of “125 Top Golf Resorts.” (April 2011)

Fodors.com names Asheville as one of the “21 Places We’re Going in 2011,” highlighting the city’s food and drink scene and its artsy vibe. (January 2011)

The Traveler’s Choice Awards on TripAdvisor.com named the Residences at Biltmore the #23 hotel in the nation. (January 2011)
2010

TripAdvisor.com: Asheville was named #1 place to view fall foilage in 2010. (September 2010)White House Statement: During President Obama’s spring vacation in Asheville, White House spokeswoman Moira Mack issued the following statement, “The president first visited the Asheville area during the campaign, and he liked it so much that he vowed to take his family there. The president and first lady are planning to spend a quiet weekend enjoying some of the many things this beautiful part of the country has to offer.” (April 2010)

Online Poll Posted on Examiner.com: Asheville holds onto its title as Beer City USA. (May 2010)

AmericanStyle.com: Asheville was ranked the number one small city (population under 100,000) for the arts in their annual “Top 25 Arts Destinations” reader’s poll. (May 2010)

Livability.com: Ranked Asheville one of their 10 most surprisingly vibrant food cities. (April 2010)

Sherman’s Travel: Named Asheville as one of its top 10 spring getaways. (March 2010)

Golf Magazine: The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa’s Donald Ross designed golf course was honored as a new gold medal winner in the 12^th edition of their Premier Resorts ranking. More than 6,000 readers cast votes on Golf.com to determine the winners. (March 2010)

TopRetirements.com: Asheville was rated number one in TopRetirement.com’s list of the most popular retirement towns for 2010. (February 2010)

RateBeer.com: This craft beer aficionado Web site named several Asheville area restaurants, breweries and craft beer stores in their annual RateBeer Best 2010. (January 2010)

Bruisin’ Ales – Number three best beer retailer worldwide
The Thirsty Monk – Number 41 Beer Bar
Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria – Number 27 Beer Restaurant
Mellow Mushroom – Number 41 Beer Restaurant
Highland Brewing – Number 26 Brewery to Visit
Wedge Brewery – Number 43 Brewpub

Southern Living: In the magazine’s “Best of the South Travel Awards,” Asheville’s Little Pigs BBQ placed second in the best barbecue in North Carolina category. (January 2010)

Points North: The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa made Point’s North list of the editorial staff’s top 10 favorite resorts in the Southeast and the Caribbean isles. (January 2010)

Travel+Leisure: Asheville’s Inn on Biltmore Estate and Richmond Hill Inn were named in the magazine’s “500 Best Hotels” list. (January 2010)