Hampton, TN hotel recommendations

[flemdawg1]

My friends and I are planning our fall section hike from Hughes Gap to Hampton. I see alot of folks like Kinkora, but I've never stayed in a hostel and not sure if my freinds and I will like it. Any reccomendations? Or is staying in hotel @ Johnson City the best option?

[bigcranky]

If you're going to stay at hostel once in your hiking life, Kincora should be the one. Seriously.

[Lone Wolf]

stay at a hotel/motel in Elizabethton, 6 miles away or at Braemer Castle in Hampton. it's a hostel but they also have private rooms. call 423-725-3411 for more info

[Lone Wolf]

If you're going to stay at hostel once in your hiking life, Kincora should be the one. Seriously.

i disagree. it's small, musty and far from anything

[Tennessee Viking]

Kincora is small but homey & awesome. Bob is a fun guy and a trail hero, and has all sorts of interesting stories. Plus, if you want to give back to the trail, then Bob can take you out on a maintenance outing.

If not Kincora, Braemar Castle is another good hostel. The owners also run the local grocery.

If you want a hotel, the nearest one is Americourt in Elizabethton. Its about a 5-7 miles from the Hampton Blue Blaze. Plus, I would look at the time you are planning to hike. The fall Nascar race in Bristol will have all hotels booked up in the area for 2 weeks before and well after.

The only reason many don't like hostels is the snoring and the waiting for a shower/bathroom. Then just camp outside or at the trailhead. But being that hotels are rare along the trail, hostels are the next best thing for hikers.

[Awol2003]

Mountain Harbour (866-772-9494) would be another great choice. It is just a few tenths of a mile from the AT in the middle of the section you have planned. They have ample safe parking and Terry does shuttles to both endpoints of your hike. There is a hostel and also B&B rooms for those not comfortable with the hostel.

[Cookerhiker]

...or at Braemer Castle in Hampton. it's a hostel but they also have private rooms. call 423-725-3411 for more info

....If not Kincora, Braemar Castle is another good hostel. The owners also run the local grocery.
....

I had a good experience at Braemer Castle. Even though my stay was in the heart of thruhiking season, I had a private room which I didn't even seek - I guess most of the thrus were at Kinkora. Also made use of the self-service kitchen but there are also restaurants a short walk away. And Sutton the owner gave me an early morning shuttle back to the Trail.

[SmokyMtn Hiker]

Mountain Harbour (866-772-9494) would be another great choice. It is just a few tenths of a mile from the AT in the middle of the section you have planned. They have ample safe parking and Terry does shuttles to both endpoints of your hike. There is a hostel and also B&B rooms for those not comfortable with the hostel.

I parked here and had Terry pick me up at Watauga Lake on my section hike through there, super nice guy. There hostel is very nice, it is located in the loft of the barn but you would never know it when your up there. I recomend them.

[Lybarger]

Kincora is small but homey & awesome. Bob is a fun guy and a trail hero, and has all sorts of interesting stories. Plus, if you want to give back to the trail, then Bob can take you out on a maintenance outing.

Bob is a fun guy..love him.

But, Kincora is getting dirty, not many hikers are pitching in to clean up. The hostel at Neels Gap is dirty too...at least it was during thruhiker season.

[flemdawg1]

[QUOTE=Tennessee Viking;1031073]
If you want a hotel, the nearest one is Americourt in Elizabethton. Its about a 5-7 miles from the Hampton Blue Blaze. Plus, I would look at the time you are planning to hike. The fall Nascar race in Bristol will have all hotels booked up in the area for 2 weeks before and well after.
QUOTE]

Bristol's Fall races are in August. not hiking there until Late October.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/trac...2&seriesId=168

[Kerosene]

I stayed at Braemer Castle as well as Mountain Harbour on my Damascus to Erwin hike in late October 2008. Both of them worked out well for me, although Braemer Castle was nicely different and simply huge with me being the lone occupant that night. I got a ride to the trailhead by Sutton early the next morning.

I ended up hiking 25 miles that day, stopping for lunch at Kincora just to meet Bob, before trying to beat the impending snowstorm, reaching Mountaineer Shelter an hour after sunset with my headlamp reflecting off the falling snow and effectively blinding me.

[Pete Moss]

My vote is for Breamar Castle, Its a hostel, but has private rooms as well and a nice common area as well. Good times there, your friends will like it.

[Lone Wolf]

My friends and I are planning our fall section hike from Hughes Gap to Hampton. I see alot of folks like Kinkora, but I've never stayed in a hostel and not sure if my freinds and I will like it. Any reccomendations? Or is staying in hotel @ Johnson City the best option?

stay at a hotel/motel in Elizabethton, 6 miles away or at Braemer Castle in Hampton. it's a hostel but they also have private rooms. call 423-725-3411 for more info

if you're gonna have a vehicle then i would go to Johnson City where there's tons of motel and restaurant options

[flemdawg1]

if you're gonna have a vehicle then i would go to Johnson City where there's tons of motel and restaurant options

Yeah, we're driving to the area the night before, and probably going to shuttle with Bob Peoples the next morning.

[Praha4]

either Mountain Harbor hostel in Roan Mtn, or Braemer Castle Hostel in Hampton are great choices. I stayed at both on my hike from Erwin to Damascus the first week of June this year.

they serve a FANTASTIC breakfast at the Mountain Harbor hostel, the owners are very nice, and you can stay either in the renovated barn, the R/V, or in the B&B in the house. She also sells a few hiker food items to save u a trip into town.

Sutton Brown owns both the Brown Grocery store, the Brown Hardware Store, and the Braemer Castle hostel in Hampton. He's a great guy, gave me a ride to the trailhead at the lake, he also fixed a broken Easton tent stake for me at no cost, took a new package of JB Weld off the shelf of his hardware store to fix it. (the cap had pulled off the aluminum stake, a common problem with Easton stakes)