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Tharwood
09-07-2012, 17:20
What are the rumors going around about Uncle Johnnys Hostel? I've herd ther r rumors but what are they..This Hostel is only a few miles from where I live... Do I need to avoid it...if you feel uncomfortable posting ....IM me .thanks

Tharwood
09-07-2012, 17:22
Lol...That's HOSTELS....fat fingers...

Jeff
09-07-2012, 18:06
Since you live close by...I encourage you to visit and see for yourself. Nothing beats firsthand observations.

JohnWayne
09-07-2012, 18:17
Hey! I'm planning on staying there and I don't live right around the corner. I'd sure appreciate it if something ain't right. Thought WB was about giving everyone the heads up?

Pedaling Fool
09-07-2012, 18:19
It's a non-issue; I've stayed there a few times, never had a problem. This use to be a hot topic, but not much anymore, but even then it was a non-issue, just the typical in-fighting amongst different clicks of people, in this case fans of one hostel vs. the other.

Drybones
09-07-2012, 18:27
Stayed there this spring, the place was fine for me, could have done without the nasty mouthed helper that drove us into town. I have virgin ears by no means but this guy was over the top. The wool sock I lost to the drier there was dearly missed later on.

Supreme Being
09-07-2012, 18:51
Hmmm. Reports in the past posts (or a lot of them) say this is a great place.

HikerMom58
09-07-2012, 20:17
My daughter and I stayed there in the summer of 2010. We took one look at the sleeping area for the hikers and decided to pay the extra $ and rent a cabin. ( We had another hiker that went in with us on the cabin) It was much nicer. I would stay in my tent, on the grounds, rather than stay in the "bunk house".The laundry area was not the best but everything else was OK.

The helper that Drybones is speaking of seemed a lil bitter. He prob. tried to clean up his "potty mouth" around us somewhat. I don't doubt what Drybones said about him at all.

The thing that impressed me, the most, was the fact that someone from the hostel was looking out for a woman that we met in the shelter heading north right before Erwin. This lady had some, very apparent, serious things going on. She told us while we were eating lunch, at the shelter, that she wanted to die on the trail. She begged us to stay with her that night in the shelter. We told her we didn't want her to die on the trail...... bless her heart.
The great news is that,
she told us about how someone from Uncle Johnney's gave her a proper backpack etc...& was giving her some much needed help on what to hike with etc... (she didn't have proper gear or anything much) She did have plenty of food tho :) But, not your typical hikers food. She showed up back at the hostel the next day. I was happy to see her in a better place. As soon as she saw me, she goes, "Angel, climbed Mt Everest!!"... "Angel tell eveyone how you climbed Mt. Everest." Nooo, not me. I swear my daughter hiked many,many miles on the AT, never met a single person quite like that.. I go out with her for 10 days... yup, like a magnet. It was a fun time though!! :) Oh yes, and we saw 2 copperheads, on the trail, coming into Uncle Johnney's.:o Good times!!

I want to hike more.....the next area that we will start hiking is in PA, right near Boiling Springs, going North... can't wait! :)

Old Hiker
09-07-2012, 20:53
Stayed there this last attempt - Apr or so 2012. No problems. Smallish room/cabin - no actual TV, but lots of VHS tapes and a tape player to a TV. Electric heater I used the second 0 day as I was waiting on my left foot to stop hurting. Decent outfitting store. Great hiker box. I cleaned out the hiker box as it was pretty nasty. Typical bunkhouse, I thought. Computers in the back of the bunkhouse and I had to walk past a couple of females to get to it. I was worried that I was walking though their part of the bunkhouse, but they assured me I wasn't. Rustic bathhouse. Nice tent area. Uncle Johnny introduced himself when I came in - offered me any help I needed. Lady behind the counter also was very friendly .

3 FREE shuttles per day to Erwin - 3 miles wide - 11 miles long. Grym was the driver - not a potty mouth, just some really bad hiker jokes. Bad as in groaners.

Miss Janet in Erwin as well for a bonus.

moocow
09-07-2012, 21:00
I know the rumor that was spead down the trail this year, but seeing as everyone outside my hiking bubble seemed to have a great time there I don't think it would be right to criticize what may not be true.

moocow
09-07-2012, 21:01
I do want to add, from personal experience, they say they take cards but best be ready with cash.

10-K
09-08-2012, 07:41
There's nothing "wrong" with UJ's as far as a systemic problem.

The vibe puts some people off... To me, UJ has a similar vibe to the hostel in Glencliff. Functional, most of what you need, a bit dirty, and more rough around the edges. I wouldn't want to hike in with my family and stay at either really.

It's not like the hostel in Dahlonega or Bear's Den which are more upscale for lack of a better word.

Fortunately, the Holiday Inn is a short walk up the road if you need to upgrade.

But, UJ's isn't a 'bad' place - with the caveat that is true everywhere: Whoever is running the place makes all the difference.

Cookerhiker
09-08-2012, 09:34
When I section-hiked through the area, I stayed at the Best Southern motel upon the recommendation of a thruhiker. Reasonable hiker rates, close enough to town to walk to places, free shuttle back to the trail. That hike occurred in '05 (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=97361) but they're still listed in the Companion.

10-K
09-08-2012, 10:03
I went Best Southern two weeks ago updating information for the 2013 companion and their rates haven't changed in three years.

This year they stop offering shuttles.

RED-DOG
09-08-2012, 11:04
I have stayed their on all three of my Thru's and i had a great time each time i stayed their, i had such a great i even went back and stayed their when i wasn't hiking, its one of the best HOSTELS on the entire AT, this is a non-issue. RED-DOG ( Flip-Flop 96 & GA-ME 06 & GA-ME 2012 ).

chief
09-08-2012, 14:31
There have been a lot of vindictive rumors about UJ over the years. Guess what, he's still in business and in the Companion. Give it a rest and write a book or something.

Moose2001
09-08-2012, 14:35
Rumors about something are always flying up and down the trail. 99% of them always turn out to be untrue. Check it out for yourself. If you don't like it, or the vibe, there are plenty of hotels in Erwin you can stay at.

Bronk
09-09-2012, 00:16
Uncle Johnny's is the first thing you see when you step off the trail...couldn't be a better location. The fact that he's been in business for as long as he has says something...look at all the complaints hostel owners have...he's put up with it for a long time, and a lot of the complaints probably stem from him being tired of putting up with it. First thing he told me when I stepped off the trail was "don't steal the toilet paper out of the bathrooms...I sell it in my store for 32 cents a roll, and if you can't afford that just let me know and I'll give you a roll...but when you take it from the bathroom my customers don't have any to use. Here's a bike if you want to ride it into town, but I don't allow it out after dark and there won't be any more shuttles until the morning. Make yourself at home and you can pay off your tab in the morning, I'm going home, have a good nite." And you'd probably be pretty annoyed if somebody used the payphone on your porch to call your competition for a ride to their establishment.

silverscuba22
09-09-2012, 01:00
i stayed there this year for a few days... kind of funny i broke my ankle on a slackpack from jonnnys.... i ended up stayed there for 7 or 8 days becuase of the ankle... grym was really really nice, helped me out took me to get mt ankle xrayed amde sure i had a seat when the crazy rush to the van happened for the shuttles..... now after 7 or 8 days teh hiker jokes were getting VERY VERY old. but i had a good time, well as good as you can will a broken ankle limping around.... its not a super nice place, but its not bad. i would stay there again

topat2011
09-09-2012, 04:44
You can go back 10 years and read the same stories about Uncle Johnnys. I also ended up their in 2011 with an injury. Stayed 5 days. I don't understand all the problems people seem to have there. He has a sign right on the porch explaining what goes on and when it goes on. I could not believe how many hikers came off the trail and acted annoyed that they had to read this sign to figure the place out. They even thought that I should have been some kind of info station and explain everything to them. A place cannot run a free shuttle to town everytime someone wants to go. Wait for the posted time or pay. It's usually the " Cheap Hiker Trash " expecting a handout at every turn in the trail that cause these problems in the first place.
By the way. Had a great stay at Uncle Johnnys