Asheville ยท Grove Park
The Omni Grove Park Inn
Fred Seely built E. W. Grove's 1913 resort from local boulders with no architect; staff and guests tell of the 'Pink Lady' near Room 545.
- Built
- 1913Built as a resort hotel in under a year; opened July 12, 1913 per Omni (the NR nomination gives a July 1, 1913 grand opening). The original Main Inn is joined by the later Sammons and Vanderbilt wings.
- Style
- Arts and Crafts / rustic native-stone resort
- Architect
- Fred L. Seely (E. W. Grove's son-in-law, who designed and built it without an architect or contractor)
- Type
- Resort
- Area
- Grove Park
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member
The story
Pharmaceutical maker Edwin Wiley Grove (Bromo-Quinine) built the inn on Sunset Mountain and entrusted its design to his son-in-law Fred Seely, a former newspaperman who built it of local boulders without an architect or contractor. It opened in July 1913 with Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan as keynote speaker at the opening banquet. A major renovation followed in 1955, and the inn was listed on the National Register in 1973. After Hurricane Helene in September 2024 it closed and reopened in phases, with the historic Main Inn reopening November 15, 2024.
The ghost story
Staff and guests report the 'Pink Lady,' said to be a young woman who fell from the fifth floor of the Palm Court atrium in the 1920s and is seen as a pink mist or a woman in a pink gown. Lore ties her to Room 545, and she is blamed for lights and air conditioners switching on and off.
Source: www.visitnc.com
Good to know
- Parking: on-site paid
- Elevator
- Pets welcome
- Address: 290 Macon Avenue, Asheville, NC 28804
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.