New River Arts District hotel aims to boost Asheville recovery

The real question in Asheville’s River Arts District is whether a new hotel marks a true rebuilding step after Helene or just another niche lodging play. Artful Way, a 27-room apartment-style hotel at 31 Artful Way, opened for public tours May 5 with a design built for longer stays, not quick overnight visits.

Hotel representatives said that is the point. They want guests to linger in the district and spend more at nearby studios, restaurants and music venues that are still working back from the storm. Ken Floyd, who is part of the hotel’s hospitality group, said the property puts visitors in the middle of the district’s activity, with a brewery, The Grey Eagle and nearby shops all within walking distance. He said the hotel and The Grey Eagle are already discussing future partnerships.

That strategy fits the economics of the River Arts District right now. In September 2025, WLOS reported that average revenue in the district was still down 50% even after a 30% growth spurt since Helene. The same report said 400 of the 700 artists who were in the RAD before the storm had returned to exhibiting, while more than 100 displaced artists and 350-plus artists with items for sale took part in the RAD Resilience event. Artful Way is arriving into that kind of recovery market, where the neighborhood is active again but far from fully restored.

The broader visitor economy helps explain why local leaders see the hotel as more than a single business opening. Explore Asheville’s 2024 report says Buncombe County drew $2.65 billion in direct visitor spending despite Helene, and the travel and hospitality industry employed 18,377 people. Lodging accounted for $784 million of that spending, while food and beverage brought in $718 million. Explore Asheville also says tourism represented 20% of Buncombe County’s GDP in 2023 and that visitor spending grew 35-fold from just over $82 million in 1983 to nearly $3 billion in 2023.

Vic Isley of Explore Asheville said Asheville and Buncombe County are rebounding faster than some other disaster-hit places. In March, hotel occupancy reached 62% in February, up 11 points from a year earlier and four points above 2019. By Sept. 22, Explore Asheville said about 90% of the Asheville area was open and ready and nearly 30,000 people in Buncombe County earned their living through tourism. In that context, Artful Way is making a clear bet: if the River Arts District can keep visitors in the neighborhood longer, the money can flow not just to one hotel, but back to the artists, businesses and venues that define it.