Need your input on Nantahala Village...
 

As you all know, Nantahala Village (NVNC) had new owner/management. They were opened less than a week before we arrived.. which means we were the first customers at NVNC this year.

I personally thought they service was much better than before with minor mishaps such as no water for car wash on Saturday, not enough chairs at the banquet, etc.

Please tell me what issues you might of had @ Nantahala Village so I can pass on the information to the new owner so that they can fix some of the issues for the next year (10th annual DGRR 2014).

Every info will help so don't hesitate to state your issue, improvements that might help, or the good things you saw.

Thanks!

Phil

I found the front office staff quite friendly. When the little lemonade/strawberry juice dispenser thing in the lobby ran dry the lady at the front desk apologized profusely and literally ran and refilled it.

Please tell them that we greatly appreciated the smiles at the front desk. Previous DGRR's the employee's, they just seemed to be there working. . It felt more warm and cozy this year. if that makes any sense.

The grounds keeper/maintenance man was also SUPER helpful as well.

I can't think of a negative yet, but as I reflect and think of things, i'll come back and update this thread. Overall though, this was a super pleasant year in terms of the staff at the village.

Lack of trash cans is the first complaint that comes to mind. The few that were there were overflowing with trash.

I know that one of the employees mentioned that they were looking into paving all the roads at the resort itself, so that would be amazing.

Maybe they could leave the "game room" open, and not lock it up when they close the lodge for the night.

If they're going to open the tennis court etc to parking, then they should put in some kind of stairs from it to the lodge. I don't remember seeing any (maybe I just didn't notice). In fact, stairs / paths connecting all the cabins would be very helpful. with how spread out you are to friends sometimes.

Trash cans 100%

We had a decent experience. Our only complaint was more to do with the age of the cabin than the quality of the experience. You felt drunk walking through the cabin because the whole thing was leaning to the rear... If you tripped, you'd probably stumble through to the back door... lol

The staff was much better than years past.

I thought the owner was great; it was obvious that he found our group very important. He seemed to be at the event the entire time, mingling with the attendees, pouring beer at the bar if someone wanted it, and giving advice on what to do in the area. I was very impressed with him.

My only complaint is something I don't know that he can do anything about, and thats space to put us all. There were more cars at the Microtel than I have ever seen this year, including mine. If we were all able to be in the same place it would make for a more cohesive event, IMO. If anything, I would suggest that he evaluate his existing area and see if he can add more cabins. This kind of falls into the category as what Redozen said about the condition of some of the cabins; if its time to replace them see if you can pack in more.

OH and WIFI would be badass :D

I ate at the restaurant there. I have to say it was super good! I met the owner in there,
He was very accommodating.

I thought the village was improving in service and talked to Constantine for prob 45 min on Wed night and seems to genuinely care about our group he didn't even know there was a pond behind the lodge until recently because it was so overgrown. hopefully we left a good impression behind and our comments will be used to improve everyone's visit in the future.
BTW... the big Kawasaki Vulcan is his bike but he hasn't had a chance to ride the dragon. yet.

I thought the staff & owner was very friendly, accomodating and seemed to go out of their way to please us. Food at 13 Moons was great, and the bar was good as well.

I stayed in a lodge room this year, and had same general complaints as others (i.e., lack of parking space for all, no hose for car washes). As for staying in the lodge rooms, they can stand some updating as well - I had a light fixture that was bare light bulbs (missing lens/cover), and the room was missing a coffee maker even though they stocked the room with coffee. Also, I had no luck getting the wifi to work there. None of these things are show stoppers as far as I'm concerned, since I didn't drive 10+ hours to sit in a room and get on the internet.

I had a positive experience. Staff was caring and accommodating. Bar and restaurant service were great. Meals were of a higher quality than on the Celebrity Cruise i had just taken the week before.

As for the lack of a hose, I will demonstrate Rinseless car wash techniques next year.

my wife just suggested that they add camping spots on site; that would be pretty awesome

Space is always the biggest concern there, but the benefits of having the whole place to ourselves woutweighs that. Food at 13 moons was delicious, but it took 20 minutes to get a waiter lol. As far as lodging space, I am under the impression that some of the nearby cabins are willing to extend similar deals to event guest. Maybe if we had a little more formality with these other cabin owners, it could provide more people with assurance that they get to stay close to the event. I personally would not want to go back to Fontana after being at Nantahala.

Where the hell were you at? I seen the car I sold you but I guess we crossed paths and didn't even know it :-(

As for Nantahala Villiage I thought it was a really nice place. The staff was very pleasant. I'd like to stay there next year but I'm bringing the truck and trailer and no way would it work out.

Vinnie I told you multiple trucks and trailers to the cabins

Ill give them credit for opening on Monday and having new staff I'd say it went fairly well. Next years improvements maybe open a little sooner and trial run everything we had some issues with our cabins appliance (heat broke the first night). All and all I'd day not bad we are starting to out grow the parking ability as well as the capacity of people. Like Nathaniel said maybe the resorts can work as a team on this to help keep us staying in one area.

Staff was very friendly and tried to be as helpful as possible. My wife and I did have couple of hiccups with our room. It was a fireplace suite with hot tub (that's how I bribe her to come geek out - plus I kinda like it too :-)). When we checked in, the room had not been cleaned yet. I was a little surprised someone had been there before us since we were the first guests, but whatever. I picked up the phone to inform the front desk, but it did not work. No biggie, it's not a far walk. As soon as I walked into the lobby, she looks at me before I can say a word and starts apologizing, saying she just got another call and didn't realize. Cleaning lady was down in 5 minutes, and room was cleaned in 30.
Our biggest issue was that the outdoor fireplace by the hot tub failed. They sent maintenance down and it was worked on all day saturday. Eventually, the guy walked back in and said the problem was not fixable. We were bummed because that was the one fireplace we wanted to use. We got in the hot tub anyway (which was over chlorinated, but that's better than the alternative). I was hoping for some kind of discount on the room since the greatest feature didn't work but none was given. I didn't complain too much about that since we already had a great rate.
Only other things I can think of was the WiFi didn't work, and our shower had no shower liner. Aside from those things, the staff was very friendly, the food was fantastic, and I did hear the owner talking to the yard cleanup crew behind our suite, explaining why he was being so picky about the quality of work, and how people pay good money to stay there and shouldn't look at muddy ditches and such... he cared, and it showed.

Did I mention the food was fantastic? It really was... I think next year will be even better.

I know you were there when I saw your car at the dam but never saw you wandering around either. Whats up with bringing the 8? after all this time I thought you would have had the FC out and about by now. Coming back next year?
I sold the 8 to Brian back in the summer it just didn't do it as a good DD for me at the time but I miss having a rotary as DD still.

I don't care where it's at...I just hope I can make it next year! I haven't been since 2011! :(

I did talk to Brian at the end of the Dragon and he said you were there. I was gonna trailer the track car to the hotel and cousin drive the 8 but I was kinda apprehensive because of cost and not knowing about space. I'm definitely coming next year with the black FC.

I would like to have better stocking of toilet paper and towels. We had 1 extra roll of toilet paper for a cabin with 1 K and 3 Q beds.

Overall though, I was fairly happy, especially considering they had been open for a week. Some kinks are hard to work out without having people actually staying there (basically a lot of the maintenance type stuff).

As stated before, the staff was very friendly and helpful. I mentioned the ice machine was inop and they got someone in to work on it. Not like in the past.
I stay in the lodge every year and my biggest complaint is no refrigerators in the room. Wouldn't cost them alot to do that. Need to fix the WIFI. The modem was in my room and I never could get on. We do need more parking. They need to have everything open for us. I don't believe the store across the street ever opened. I guess they still own it.
Other than that, no problems.

Might be a good idea if the coffee bar/ sandwich shop next to the pavilion could be open during the "banquet" so hot drinks could be available, since it's colder than a witch's...well, it's always cold.

Better Internet access.

I believe the coffee bar is owned by someone else. I've overheard the employees before talking about their main restaurant in Bryson City. NV has nothing to do with either of these.

That's probably the case, but then why not simply suggest that the lodge itself run the coffee bar... They offered breakfast this year at the lodge.

It would also be nice if the cafe thing took credit cards. Carrying cash around is obnoxious.

Well at least for NVNC guests, they can charge it to your room/cabin.

I thought they did a great job. The only things were: Trash cans would've been a little more of a plus. That and bathroom towels after hand wash. Also, reading the itinerary I knew it said dinner then banquet...but I always understood that a banquet had food lol. So maybe call it just a raffle or if the hotel wants to make extra cash have something available? I was more than ready to buy something to eat halfway through.

Other than that, it was a great weekend. I'm surprised they put up with what we dished out. Would love to go there again.

You and me both...actually where I met you for the first time.

Sounds like the raffle/awards/banquet is running strong at 2+ hours from what I've read. Awesome for prizes but maybe food or drinks available for sale there?

Make it good cause I plan to be there for the 10 year.

for realz? Talk Mark and Kevin into coming too, LOL

Yes. I'm *gasp* 40 next year and this is my birthday present from the wifey. Free pass. Couldn't go 2012 for family health crapola, conflicts, 2013 was a bust, but the 10 year 2014...I'm in. Probably won't be in a rotary but I'm still going and mooching rides.

I don't offer one of my rotaries to just anyone, but I am going to offer it to you 'Nice Guy Eddie'. Fly to Bham, hang out, take my MB (just don't wreck it), and caravan with us to DGRR 2014. I'll take the Cosmo up there next year..
I'll also take you to couple of cool places in Bham.

If I drive your MB, I'll probably be the slowest driver out there for fear of anything going wrong...I'll be that guy in the right lane doing a solid 55.