DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville Downtown

Great service

Location

Lovation

Excellent staff - extremely helpful

My husband and I checked into this hotel on 1/17/2026 somewhere between 8:00-8:30 PM. We only booked the hotel for one night and had planned to extend our stay if we had a good experience. Where do I start? Okay, first let me disclose that we are an African American couple and we have Hilton Diamond status. We travel a lot and have stayed in a lot of hotels within the Hilton network inside and outside of the USA. This is the first time that we have ever felt so discriminated against because of our ethnicity.

Upon check-in, the young white lady who checked my husband in was very cold and unfriendly. She never acknowledged his Hilton Diamond status, nor did she offer an upgrade which we found odd. Anytime we stay at certain hotels (Canopy, Conrad, Curio, Doubletree, Graduate, LXR, NoMad, Signia, Tapestry, & Waldorf Astoria) within the Hilton network, we are automatically given an upgraded room and thanked for our Hilton status. They were not at capacity so that excuse can’t be used. Even if the Hilton brand hotel does not offer free upgrades, we are thanked for our Hilton status and given a bag with water and sometimes snacks depending on the Hilton brand hotel. Nevertheless, she asked my husband if he wanted water to which he replied yes and she gave him water without even putting the water in a bag. Lastly, she told him that he couldn’t park in spots 1-4 when we saw other guests parking in those spots. They weren’t handicapped spots so
I was confused by that.

Next, we put our luggage in the room and went down to the bar area to order food. Our food took forever to come out. When we first got to the bar, we weren’t greeted right away. However, I noticed that each time a white person or couple came up, there was so much enthusiasm towards them. They were acknowledged right away. There was an older white lady who came and sat at the bar near us, and she was so nice to us. She also noticed everything as we did. So, this was confirmation that none of this was in our head. From the time that we first got there, there was this Asian looking guy (employee) who was just sitting at the bar. Finally, instead of him acknowledging our presence, he had Kelly come take our order. She didn’t seem overly enthused to help us, but she did. There was a white guy with a long white beard who came over to the bar, and he acknowledged all the white patrons and checked on them but never looked our way nor acknowledged us. I thought that was very disgusting of him. He continued this same behavior the entire time we were at the bar.

Also, the person who was cooking in the kitchen came out of the kitchen to the bar area while making our cheeseburgers I’m assuming and had 2 slices of cheese in each hand slapping them together while talking to Kelly. The worker did not have gloves on and was talking over the cheese spraying God knows what germs while talking. Kelly overheard me say something about the cheese and she said she would have the burgers made over without the cheese. I never asked for the burger to be made over, I asked for no cheese after I saw what I saw. She brought the burgers out. They were overcooked. My burger was ordered without tomatoes and onion because I have a slight allergy to fresh tomatoes. Neither of our burgers had the housemade sauce that was advertised to come on the burger. I didn’t complain because Kelly seemed irritated and I just wanted to get back to my room. Besides if I would have said something, I would have been labeled a mad black woman.

NONE of the white employees (not just the bar employees) were friendly towards us or acknowledged us. They truly treated us like we were invisible. From what I saw, this hotel lacks diversity in its staff. I totally blame upper management for this and the way the white employees behaved. I had reservations about coming to Asheville because of the mindset of towns like this in the USA. The racism here was blatant. The sweet white patron who treated us better than the staff members, I pray God blesses her tremendously because she made the experience tolerable because of her kindness. She was not from Asheville nor the state of NC which is most likely why she wasn’t being a racist jerk.

Nevertheless, we chose to not extend our stay and we went ahead and checked out of this hotel after one night. This experience left a bad impression to the point where we decided the reputation of Asheville not being welcoming to African Americans was true. For that reason we got on the interstate and made the 3 and 1/2 hour drive back home. Again, I blame management for the employees behavior. The employees can only feel comfortable enough to do this because management has allowed it. If you are African American, stay at your own risk. It’s sad because the rooms are nice and the beds are comfortable. Definitely, waiting patiently on that Hilton survey.

Lynn working the front desk was so nice and welcoming! The hotel was nice and clean!!

It was comfortable and close
To everything we wanted to do

From the moment we checked-in, I have to say that the receptionist, I think her name was "Lynn," was extremely friendly and accommodating. Her pleasant demeanor was the difference for me. I wish every receptionist working there had her pleasantness. Housekeeping staff were very pleasant.

The location was convenient to the Biltmore House. The View was excellent!!

I like the location. The ability to walk to the downtown area was great. As, well as access to dining was great. The breakfast was great; it was priced right for the great omelets.

Very clean, friendly staff