Asheville Reboot

The Comeback of Asheville’s Bed & Breakfasts — Inside Bent Creek Lodge’s Recovery

• Brian Hamrick • Season 1 • Episode 10

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After Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, few places were hit harder than Asheville’s small inns and bed & breakfasts.
In this episode of Asheville Reboot, Alex Jarbo sits down with Randy, owner of Bent Creek Lodge
and president of the Asheville Bed & Breakfast Association, to share the remarkable story of how his mountain lodge survived and rebuilt after the storm.

Randy talks about:

  • The chaos of being trapped during the hurricane while hosting guests for a wedding weekend
  • How the community came together as power, internet, and roads were cut off
  • The long journey of recovery across Asheville — from the River Arts District to Biltmore Village
  • The return of tourism along the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • Why 2026 could be the strongest year yet for local hospitality

This is more than a story of survival — it’s about Appalachian resilience, community spirit, and the revival of one of the most beautiful regions in America.

🎧 Tune in to hear how Asheville’s independent lodges like Bent Creek are helping lead the comeback.

🌄 Connect & Learn More

🏡 Engadine Inn & Cabins
Website: www.EngadineInnAndCabins.com

Instagram: @engadineinnandcabins

Facebook: facebook.com/EngadineInnandCabins

YouTube: @EngadineInnAndCabins

🎧 Asheville Reboot Podcast
YouTube: @AshevilleReboot

Substack: ashevillereboot.substack.com

Alex Jarbo:

Alex Jarbo here with another episode of the Asheville Reboot, where we interview local business owners and people that are making a difference post hurricane here in Western North Carolina. Today we are with Randy, who is the owner of Bent Creek Lodge and the president of the Asheville Bed and Breakfast Association. How you doing, Randy?

Randy:

It's a great day here in Asheville.

Alex Jarbo:

Just want to head right into it and just start with your background both. before you purchased your inn, which is where we're interviewing from right now. And then when you purchase your inn. What that looked like and then where we are today.

Randy:

Super. So I have a background in sales management and customer service, with the same company for 30 years. And then I decided to leave corporate America and, instead of working for the man To come here and work for myself. But really and truly. They're still the man, and now I have 15 or 30 and they're called guest because you want the guest to have a great experience and you're always listening to them to find out what can we do better? I think that's just part of my customer service training. Bent Creek Lodge has been here for 27 years and I bought the lodge about seven years ago. We are a 10 room bed and breakfast. and we also have a cabin we can accommodate anywhere from, two people to 30 people for overnight accommodations and a full breakfast.

Alex Jarbo:

We're coming up on one year of the hurricane. Where were you at when the hurricane happened,

Randy:

so I was actually here cooking breakfast. Really? And I stepped out. Did you have a full house? We were half full. Yeah. We were expecting a wedding party of 30 people for that weekend. Oof. And 12 of the wedding guests had already come in. Yeah. And on Thursday night, I said to them, listen, the river's gonna rise. I can get you hotel accommodations two miles from here on higher ground.

Alex Jarbo:

And for people who don't know the French Broad River, which is essentially the lifeblood or at least the main river that cuts through all of this area.

Randy:

is at the bottom of my mountain.

Alex Jarbo:

Yeah.

Randy:

But the river rose 24 feet out of its bank. Yeah. And that cut off the highway. To the business here. And it, also caused landslides. It caused trees to fall over the road. It caused power lines to, to be downed. And so after that hurricane, we had no power. We had no telephone, we had no internet. We were virtually cut off from the world. The guests that were here for a wedding that weekend, we did not get their catering. The wedding cake baker didn't make it. And the guests had decided on Thursday night that they would stay here and ride out the storm. Well, on Friday morning I'm cooking breakfast and just before eight o'clock. 70 mile per hour wind hit and trees all around the lodge just started falling like dominoes. Yeah. You didn't hear it. I mean, it was so quiet But, we had one tree that, that hit, a bird feeder clothes line, and that caused some building damage. We heard that. And so about eight o'clock I went outside on the deck and it's like, holy cow. Look at all the trees that are down. The road, that comes into my neighborhood, was completely covered so that you could not drive on the road. You would literally have to climb over the trees or duck under the trees just to go even a few yards. And so we were cut off by trees on the road. We were cut off by river covering the highway. It was, eerie. because it was quiet. our guests played card games. They put together puzzles. They, ate. we created, food from all the leftovers in the freezer before, thawed out. We were well fed. Oh, we are a bed and breakfast. Yeah. But it was strange that you couldn't go anywhere and you couldn't text.

Alex Jarbo:

Yeah.'cause we didn't have the cell phone towers

Randy:

So now Asheville's coming up on the one year milestone. Yeah. And we're not calling it an anniversary. No. Yeah. It's not a celebration. it's a journey. It, it's a process of revival. It is a process of renewal and Appalachian spirit. Businesses have struggled for the last, 12 months, because of a decline in tourism. Mm-hmm. And because people were afraid to come back to Asheville, they didn't wanna be in the way. Now as we get to this one year milestone, Asheville is incredibly revived. 90% of the businesses that were affected by the hurricane are back in business. Artist, which were devastated along the French Broad River Art District. Even though those buildings have not been rehabilitated, those artists have gone in with other art studios. They've gone into mall spaces, they've gone into hotel lobbies, and they are very proud to be displaying their art and welcoming tourists back into the area. So we're very lucky in that regard.

Alex Jarbo:

Do you feel like next year is gonna be better than this year?

Randy:

Absolutely. Yeah. the experts that track hurricane damaged areas, talk about taking three to five years to have a complete recovery. Right? Asheville is ahead of the curve. Asheville has a lot of problems'cause we had major flooding in the River Arts district. We had major flooding in Chimney rock, in Lake Lore. and other areas. Biltmore Village. Those areas are gonna take two or three more years before those buildings are cleaned and rehabilitated. But you're seeing such vibrance, like the Corner Kitchen opened about four weeks ago. Yeah. That's in Biltmore Village, the Bohemian Hotel, and one of my favorite restaurants. The Red Stag. Yep. It's a beautiful bar and restaurant in that hotel, and we're glad to send our guest there. The Biltmore Estate opened about four or five weeks after the initial storm, and that's kind of the engine that drives Asheville. Yep. You know, people come to Asheville for the art, for the great food, for the beer, the cocktails, the Biltmore Estate. And so all these small businesses are coming back online and it's a very vibrant, revival. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the nation's largest national park system. We are either number one in visitors or we share that with Yellowstone. And every year it kind of goes back and forth. So the Blue Ridge Parkway brings a lot of business and tourists to Asheville. Luckily for us here at Bent Creek Lodge, the Parkway has reopened in the last three to six weeks. All the way from the folk Arts center to mile marker 4 69. That's the end of the parkway, near the Tennessee, national Forest. So we have 85 continuous miles of restaurants, lodging, the, cradle of forestry and other little towns that visitors can come to and experience. And as more of the parkway opens, they'll be even better for all of North Carolina to have that continuous highway and park system back online. Yeah. It is a good thing for Asheville. We've had a lot of contractors and people, working on the parkway to clear trees, to repair mudslides and actually to repair the road surface, in many areas. You can stop at restaurants and lodging facilities along the parkway. You can stop at the small towns. They're supported by the parkway. And we're very happy that tourists are coming back in droves and visiting. If you're on the parkway at the North Carolina Arboretum entrance, stop off and stay here at Vent Creek Lodge.

Alex Jarbo:

I love it. So, Randy, if people wanted to find Bent Creek Lodge, and your property, you do weddings, smaller weddings here as well?

Randy:

We do,

Alex Jarbo:

yeah.

Randy:

We do elopements For, two people that just want to get away and have an easy but lovely wedding. And we do weddings for 20 and 30 people with a seated dinner. it is always lovely. To have people come to the lodge and experience these beautiful mountains and to have an outdoor wedding, it's just spectacular.

Alex Jarbo:

Yeah. I appreciate your time, Randy. Where can people, what's the URL, for Bent Creek?

Randy:

Yeah. Bent Creek Lodge is online. Yep. At Bent Creek NC Dot com.

Alex Jarbo:

I appreciate everyone tuning in for another episode. And if you guys want to check out Bent Creek Lodge, go ahead and check out the URL and I will see everyone on the next episode. Thanks.

Randy:

Thanks everybody. Bye.