The Vance Toe River Lodge

We’ve stayed here twice, it’s currently called the Blind Squirrel Brewery and Lodge. There are 5 rooms available. I would describe these rooms as rustic. They are all clean. The celling height may be a little low for those taller folks, at least for the two rooms that are on the lower level. What I really love is the family that runs this place. They are so accommodating and very friendly. The Friday/​Saturday night we were here, we were the only guests. The prior time, we were with family and took 4 of the rooms. For Breakfast, you basically have the chef/​owner, cooking for you, usually omelettes, bacon, sausage, tater tots, etc. When we woke, we went into the lodge’s great room, and they had coffee and orange juice available. We were within walking distance of a relative which is why we stayed here. Even if we just wanted to escape from the city, we would love to come here to enjoy the nearby sites.

We had a lovely, 2-​night stay at the lodge. Let me tell you… there’s nothing quite like sleeping upstairs from a brewery when you’re a beer fan. The family that runs the lodge are some of the nicest we’ve ever met. We so appreciated the above and beyond hospitality like keeping the kitchen open late for us as we rushed back from an App State game that went into triple over time, cooked to order breakfast each morning and beer flowing long after closing time!
We were big fans of Blind Squirrel Brewing before and now we’re happy to call ourselves fans of the lodge and restaurant.
One note… We stayed in the River Room and while it was comfortable, clean and welcoming, it’s on the side of the building, so the street light shines right into the windows. I had a little trouble sleeping because the room was so illuminated. My boyfriend, however, slept like a log. So, it may not bother everyone. ;)

This is our 4^th trip to the Lodge and should have written a review sooner. Great time, each time. Wonderful staff, amazing food and love the location. Not far from Banner Elk, Boone and Spruce Pine where there’s plenty of vacation activities. Go do some stuff and head back to the lodge for delicious food and craft beers from their award winning Blind Squirrel Brewery. Check out the deck by the river and RELAX!

We just spent a weekend with the Young family. It was our 10^th visit. The B&B is simple but clean and comfortable. Food is great! The Blind Squirrel Brewery is very good. Really like their IPA.
Will’s breakfast was incredible! French Toast from freshly baked bread, a Greek omelet and fresh fruit. Day two included grits with potatoes — an amazing combination.
If you want to relax and be treated like family, this is the place! We’ll be back in the spring. !

This is a great find! We stopped by on a whim to check out the beer. We found great beer & great people! The Blind Squirrel Brewery is a fantastic up & coming brewery! The amber and the gosa were my favorite! We found out they do a Sunday brunch, so we had to check it out. And boy was it worth it! Everything was delicious. You will regret it if you don’t check it out and try the red velvet cake!

We spent two nights in the hillside yurt and were very impressed with the accommodations. The yurt was pretty nice. It had a made up bed, chair, small dining table, a toilet, and a kitchenette. There was an open area in the yurt where there was a screen to let air circulate. The temperature got down to 50 degrees F one night and we were happy there had been a thick comforter on the bed. A fire pit was directly outside. Showers were 100 ft down the hill and very clean. Our first night we had the wine tasting and tried six different wines and took home a bottle of their Lazy River Wine (peach wine) and Side Porch Sweet (port). For dinner at the Lodge I had a chili hamburger, with potato salad and coleslaw. All the ingredients tasted very fresh. My fiancée and I split a flight of their beers. Breakfast both mornings were superb. It was help yourself to coffee and juice, then a plate of eggs, toast, bacon and fresh cut fruit was brought to us the first morning. On the second day they made omelets to order, and also had the toast and fresh fruit. The Lodge was nice to hang around in while waiting for the wine tasting and had a small shop and area to watch movies. The location was close enough to Grandfather mountain and Linville to have things close by to do. Considering we received this deal through livingsocial I consider it a great bargain and would most definitely stay here again for any trips to the mountains.

This place was awful. We were given a room that smelled strongly of Raid Bug Spray, the shower had mold in it and the sheets were dirty. When we asked for a different room, we were told we could have one but only if we paid a cleaning fee. We couldn’t stay a second night with the smell in the room and were not about to pay extra to move so we didn’t stay the second night. We paid for 2 nights in advance through
so we can’t get our money back unfortunately, but
did ask us to review our stay, so we did. They send it to the owners so they know how they did. Once
sent our review over, we got an angry, threatening phone call from the owner. How ridiculous, I can’t believe someone would run their business in this manner. Not only was the hotel awful, we were threatened, as well. I would never stay here again and I wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy.

We have just gotten back from a vacation where we spent a day doing the zip line canopy tours that is run by the Vance Toe River Lodge. Our zip line guides were Becca and Brett and they were fantastic. We had concerns regarding how well our 10 and 12 year old boys would do as well as how well we would do and we were all a bit apprehensive but the canopy tour turned out to be worth the very expensive price that you have to pay to do it (about 80 dollars per person). This lodge provides lunch before the canopy tour and the lunch was delicious and featured fresh food that was prepared very well.