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View Full Version : Laughing heart or sunnybank inn ? Hot Springs.....



Hoofit
03-13-2017, 20:59
Hi fellow wanderers,
I stayed at the 'Sunnybank Inn',back in 2010 and had a great time on a northbound thruhike, cut short by the dreaded Lyme Disease.
Now I am heading back up that way for a shorter hike on the AT, about a week/ten days and I just wandered , if anyone has stayed at the laughing heart recently , or Elmer's for that matter.
Should I give the 'laughing heart' a try?
Any thoughts are most welcome!

Slo-go'en
03-13-2017, 21:26
Tough choice. I've stayed at both, but not recently. Elmer's is nice since it's right in town. Laughing heart is warmer and brighter. I found Elmer's cold and dark, but that could have been the weather and not the fact it's an old, spooky building.

I'll have to toss a coin when I pass through Hot Springs myself sometime in early May this year.

lumberjaime
03-13-2017, 21:36
Do what I did! Zero in Hot Springs, spend night #1 at Elmer's and #2 at Laughing Heart. I found it made for a rich experience of Hot Springs, and I greatly enjoyed my time at both places.

Venchka
03-13-2017, 21:40
The diner is in between the two.
Wayne


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Hoofit
03-13-2017, 23:26
I remember an excellent breakfast diner close to Elmer's...maybe I'll take lumberjaime's advice and stay a night at each !
Variety is the spice of life!

Sandy of PA
03-14-2017, 08:40
The motel in the middle of town is also OK. Close to laundry, diner, and ice cream.

Venchka
03-14-2017, 08:59
The motel in the middle of town is also OK. Close to laundry, diner, and ice cream.

Good call. Avoid the places near the tracks. I thought the trains were coming through the room!
Wayne


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Bansko
03-14-2017, 11:09
The Laughing Heart Lodge is an option also. It's a wonderful place with a full breakfast. Yeah, it's pricier, but you may be able to negotiate a pretty good cash rate (experience talking) and live like a king. Nice place.

AlyontheAT2016
03-14-2017, 19:01
I stayed the night at Laughing Heart and loved it. The owner/manager was friendly and hospitable and pointed my friend and I to some great eats in town. We stopped by Sunnybank later to find some other hikers we'd befriended. We were able to walk right in and never saw anyone. It was a little questionable.

CrumbSnatcher
03-14-2017, 19:03
just don't skip the Diner :)

rafe
03-14-2017, 20:26
I stayed the night at Laughing Heart and loved it. The owner/manager was friendly and hospitable and pointed my friend and I to some great eats in town. We stopped by Sunnybank later to find some other hikers we'd befriended. We were able to walk right in and never saw anyone. It was a little questionable.

Nothing questionable about Sunnybank Inn. They've been around longer than you have. ;)

AlyontheAT2016
03-14-2017, 20:31
Nothing questionable about Sunnybank Inn. They've been around longer than you have. ;)

I meant it was questionable that we were able to walk in without anyone knowing, and without seeing a soul. There was gear just laying out while its owner had gone to eat or resupply. Someone more unscrupulous might have had a field day with that.

Venchka
03-14-2017, 20:55
just don't skip the Diner :)

Amen!
As for unattended gear, it's probably the nicest trail town. Period. I realize that Stuff happens, but hopefully not in Hot Springs.
Wayne


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AlyontheAT2016
03-14-2017, 21:48
Amen!
As for unattended gear, it's probably the nicest trail town. Period. I realize that Stuff happens, but hopefully not in Hot Springs.
Wayne


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Very true. Nothing happened, and I very much enjoyed Hot Springs. There were a few things that happened in Erwin and Damascus however.