Iconic North Carolina Hotel To Be Torn Down

If you've ever driven through downtown Raleigh chances are you've seen the Holiday Inn. If you've seen it you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. And if you haven't you're probably wondering why on earth I'm talking about a Holiday Inn. It's the shape of the building that makes this hotel, with a history dating back over half a century, well "iconic".

You see the hotel has the shape of an octagon. (Though don't quote me on that I'm not entirely sure it has 8 sides. But you get the gist of it). And it's stood proudly in downtown Raleigh just as the Capitol Records building does in downtown Los Angeles. Ok, so it doesn't have quite the prominence of that building. But still, if you grew up in or around Raleigh I guarantee you know about the Holiday Inn. While I didn't grow up in the North Carolina capital city, I did grow up visiting often. And I attended NC State University only a mile from this icon.

It was actually on a visit prior to my freshman year that I stayed in the hotel. In fact, I can still see that room in my head. (It was a big weekend in my life so most of the memories of that weekend are engrained forever).  But as so many older buildings in our state have before, the Holiday Inn will be demolished soon to make way for new development. We've known about those plans for a while (and honestly I thought it may have already happened). The date has not been officially announced but after March the hotel is not available to book online insinuating the end is near.

I told my family last night, that while this isn't our go-to hotel in the area anymore, perhaps we need to go one last time. (I got to a LOT of sporting events in Raleigh so we often stay overnight). The Raleigh skyline like that of Charlotte and other cities is ever-changing, but it will truly never be the same when the iconic North Carolina Holiday Inn hotel gets demolished. RIP old friend. RIP.

Looking for that perfect, relaxing getaway in North Carolina? While there are certainly plenty of major hotels and places to visit, you may be looking for a different type of vacation. Perhaps one that is a little more relaxed, but still with lots of luxury and personalized service and experiences. If this sounds like what you're craving you may want to try a stay at a boutique hotel. These smaller hotels can provide that little something extra that larger places just can't. And luckily for you, you won't have to go far to experience the best of the best. A waterfront North Carolina boutique hotel was named the best in the country by USA Today.

But that's not all. Two other hotels in North Carolina also made the top 5 of the USAToday 10Best list. And no matter what part of the state you reside in one of these three hotels is close enough for a quick weekend giveaway. One is located in the Smoky Mountains, the other the Outer Banks, and the third in an unsuspecting North Carolina city. These three hotels were awarded this honor along with hotels in Dillon Montana, Eugene Oregon, New Orleans, Chicago, and LA among others. And it's pretty impressive that with stiff competition from major cities not only did a North Carolina boutique hotel top this list, but 3 of 10 winners were in the state.

But how is a hotel named one of the "10 best"? USA Today conducts these rankings in a variety of categories monthly. Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. From there 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Then USA Today readers can vote once per category, per day. And the top 10 become the "10 best". Learn more about the three North Carolina boutique hotels that received this award below. View the full USA Today 10 Best list of boutique hotels here.

Would you have guessed this hotel reminiscent of a European castle is located in Winston-Salem, NC? Originally built as a private home the Graylyn was once the second largest privately owned home in North Carolina. Today it is an 85-room hotel and conference center situated on 55 acres.

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Named the best boutique hotel in America (for the second straight year!) is the Beaufort Hotel. Located on the Crystal Coast of the Southern Outer Banks this 133-room hotel feels like a resort.

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