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  1. #1
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    Default RE: Gooder Grove hostel Franklin, NC

    The owner, Zen, got a load of negative comments mostly from people who were never there. For the sake of fairness and balance I wish to tell my own, objective and impartial, experience in that place.
    I stayed there two nights in July 2022. The owner picked me up from the road crossing as scheduled. At the hostel, he asked me to leave the hiking shoes outside, as many hostel owners do. Nothing unusual. The hostel has a basement section and the upper (main) floor. In the basement is the bunk room, a private room, shower/bathroom, the laundry room and a small common area with a basic kitchin. The main floor has more private rooms, a fully loaded kitchin, a large common area with a TV, books, magazines, games and the private quarters. I stayed in the private room in the basement as it was nice and cool downstairs. My interactions with Zen were mostly over the morning coffee. We had some interesting conversations; he's into Eastern philosophy and martial arts. He told me that he opened the hostel in memory of his late father, he told me that he loves the hiking culture and the hiking community. When was time to leave, he took me and another hiker from Germany back to the trail. After some small talk and pictures, we proceeded with our hike. The place was spotless clean, the bed large and comfortable, and the charge for a private room was more than fair. The hostel is within walking distance to all the town's amenities: the supermarket, the outfitter, the restaurants, the brewery, etc.
    I'm sorry for Guillaume's experience. As I was not there, I will not comment but every event that involves more than one person has, as we all know, at least two versions. I wish for the hiking community the the Gooder Grove Hostel stays open; the town of Franklin needs a real hiker hostel.
    May peace be upon us and Happy New Year to all.

  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by stephanD View Post
    Zen, got a load of negative comments mostly from people who were never there.
    How do you know they 'were never there"?
    Teej

    "[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by TJ aka Teej View Post
    How do you know they 'were never there"?
    You have a point. I agree. "Never" is not the best choice of word. So let me rephrase. Most negative comments came from individuals who (A) made their opinions based of what they read on social media, for what it worth. (B) Took the OP at face value and, as said earlier, when more than one person is involved there's at minimum two versions to each event/incident and (C) both. I'm not contesting the veracity of the OP, I just wanted to tell my own experiences, that's all. Let's not forget that, contrary to hotels/motels, in a AT hostel, you are a guest in someone's' home. A paying guest, aii right, but still a guest, and if one does not like the rules of the house, they are free to go somewhere else.

  4. #4

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    Hi there, just wanted to stop in and clear up the matter as I stumbled across this tread accidentally. In regards to the situation with Guillaume, I actually witnessed most of the incident and posted a follow-up comment in response to his original post. I had to reach out to the administration for this site to have the thread frozen, but we agreed to let the post stand in hopes that others would see my comment and realize the truth. Attached below are screenshots of my comment. Sadly, it is somewhat buried beneath all of the other inflammatory ones, but still it stands.

    Screenshot_20230212_070623.png Screenshot_20230212_070645.png

  5. #5

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    Hi Stephan! Thank you so much for posting this! I stumbled across this accidentally, but showed your comments to Zen. He was very pleased to hear your thoughts. If you don't mind my asking, what trail name did you go by when you stayed at Gooder's Grove? In regards to the hostel, we are still open and going strong! About to launch a new website and have recently integrated an online reservation system. There have been many great changes taking shape for this season, and we are more excited than ever to keep serving the AT hiking community.

    Thanks again!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by waffleswalks View Post
    Hi Stephan! Thank you so much for posting this! I stumbled across this accidentally, but showed your comments to Zen. He was very pleased to hear your thoughts. If you don't mind my asking, what trail name did you go by when you stayed at Gooder's Grove? In regards to the hostel, we are still open and going strong! About to launch a new website and have recently integrated an online reservation system. There have been many great changes taking shape for this season, and we are more excited than ever to keep serving the AT hiking community.

    Thanks again!
    Hi. I go by "Stephan", no trail name yet. I do section hikes every summer in July - August, and I stayed at Zen's house last summer two nights on a section hike from Amicalola to Damascus (made it to 19E Mountain Harbour). He may remember me, It was me and another young lady from Germany. Franklin is my second favorite hiker's town ( must give the first place to Hot Springs) and a hiker's hostel there is a great asset to the AT community. Happy to hear you are doing well and good luck.

  7. #7
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    Default

    I understand that Zen Gooder passed away last night?

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOW View Post
    I understand that Zen Gooder passed away last night?
    The website says the hostel is ‘closed until further notice’, but no mention of why.

  9. #9
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gpburdelljr View Post
    The website says the hostel is ‘closed until further notice’, but no mention of why.
    There are several posts saying he passed away last night, including from Miss Janet.
    https://www.facebook.com/cgooder/pos...qynVFY1argYjXl
    https://www.facebook.com/themissjane...bzpCRSNQbzrvol

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  11. #11
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    This's so so sad. I hope i'm not being too intrusive for asking what happened? He looked well younger than his age and well fit, but look can be deceiving. May he rest in peace. He will be missed not only to his family and loved ones but to the entire AT community.

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