Grove Park Inn

The Grove Park Inn, now the Omni Grove Park Inn, is a historical resort hotel within the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has a lengthy history of politicians, celebrities, and various influential figures among its guests.

The hotel was built in 1913 and was constructed using granite stones, advertised as possessing “walls five feet thick of granite boulders.” During a keynote address celebrating the opening of the hotel, Secretary of State Willam Jennings Bryan proclaimed that the inn “was built for the ages.”

In the mid-1930s, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald resided in Asheville. As Zelda required more care for her mental health, F. Scott stayed at the inn during this trying period. He occupied rooms 441 and 443, which are now marked with a plaque.

In addition, there are other tributes to F. Scott Fitzgerald in the hotel entrance.

Tragically, Zelda perished when Highland Hospital in Asheville, where she was residing, caught fire. In memory of her, there are various tributes to Zelda around Asheville.

Several old Hollywood stars have also stayed at the Grove Park Inn over time, including the likes of Will Rogers, Debbie Reynolds, Dinah Shore, and more.

Additionally, the Grove Park Inn even has its own ghost story–The Pink Lady. She is purportedly the kind spirit of a young woman who met her demise falling from a hotel balcony in the 1920s. As the lore goes, she is sometimes seen as a pink mist or a full apparition of a woman in a pink ball gown.

The Omni Grove Park Inn is located at 290 Macon Ave., Asheville, North Carolina.

Unknown's avatar

About Annette Bochenek

Dr. Annette Bochenek of Chicago, Illinois, is an avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the Hometowns to Hollywood blog, in which she writes about her trips exploring the legacies and hometowns of Golden Age stars. Annette also hosts the “Hometowns to Hollywood” film series throughout the Chicago area. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and is the president of TCM Backlot’s Chicago chapter. In addition to writing for TCM Backlot, she also writes for Classic Movie Hub, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment