Entry No. 38 — the Asheville file — filed under: speakeasy
The NuWray Hotel
The NuWray has been renting rooms on Burnsville's town square since 1833, which makes it North Carolina's oldest continuously operating hotel and, at nearly two centuries, a building with considerably more past than plumbing — though James and Amanda Keith's 2021-2025 restoration finally fixed the plumbing. Elvis reportedly came back more than once, Jimmy Carter dined here, and in the 1970s innkeeper Rush Wray woke the whole house with a bell at eight sharp. The old basement laundry is now The Washroom, a bar where the original steam-powered agitator holds court, the laundry sinks chill the ice, and the bar top is salvaged bedroom ceiling; Roland's Bar pours seasonally on the deck of the smokehouse that once cured thousands of hams. When Hurricane Helene cut Burnsville off in 2024, the Keiths fed 250-300 neighbors a day with World Central Kitchen before getting back to reopening. The ghost stories are local oral tradition; the bourbon list downstairs is documented.
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The story
Ginseng trader Bacchus Smith ran an eight-room log tavern here before Yancey County existed, and the hotel dates itself to 1833 — the basis of its claim as North Carolina's oldest continuously operating hotel. Garrett Deweese Ray bought it in 1867 and expanded it into Ray's Hotel, locally 'The Old Ray'; in 1915 his daughter Julia and her husband William Brian Wray added a west wing, running water, and electricity, then renamed it with a pun: the NuWray. Under Julia the dining room got nationally famous for family-style 'southernboard' dinners built on hams cured in the on-site smokehouse by Will Roland, chef here for more than forty years. Elvis Presley stayed; so did O. Henry, and Thomas Wolfe spent a night in 1929 during a murder trial.
The Wray children, Annie Wray Bennett and Rush Wray, carried it through the 1980s and onto the National Register in 1982; a 1993 sale took it out of the family, and by the time James and Amanda Keith paid $1.5 million for it in October 2021, the building had live knob-and-tube wiring and load-bearing walls with no studs in them. Their restoration ran to 2025 — a 55-foot steel beam went in, the upstairs log walls stayed exposed, and plexiglass panels now window into 1800s wallpaper.
It nearly reopened in 2024; Helene tore the new sign off that September and cut Burnsville off. The unfinished hotel became the town's hub anyway — sandwiches made by phone light the first night, then, with World Central Kitchen, 250 to 300 people fed a day for more than a month while the veranda served as the missing-persons board. It reopened in May 2025 with The Old Ray dining room, The Washroom — a bourbon bar in the basement laundry, the original steam-powered agitator presiding — and Roland's Bar on the smokehouse deck, named for the man who cured the hams.
What it's like
Burnsville's town square is small enough that the NuWray reads as its fourth wall, and everything happens inside the one building. Check-in is house-scaled, upstairs hallways show bare log walls, and dinner means The Old Ray, which serves Friday and Saturday 4 to 8 p.m., walk-ins only — come early or wait. Afterward you take the stairs down to The Washroom (Friday-Saturday 6-11, also Monday 5-10) and let someone talk you along the bourbon list beside the 19th-century laundry agitator; in season, Roland's Bar holds the smokehouse deck on weekends. Mornings, the Carriage House behind the hotel does coffee and pastries from 7 a.m. It is a 45-50 minute drive back to Asheville on mountain roads, which is the standing argument for booking a room.
The move: Book a Friday-night room, walk into The Old Ray when dinner starts at 4 (no reservations, first-come), then take the stairs down to The Washroom at 6 and let the bourbon list and the 1800s laundry machine carry you to 11.
📍 Before you go About 45-50 minutes north of Asheville via US-19. The Old Ray restaurant serves dinner Fri-Sat 4-8pm only, walk-ins only; The Washroom opens Mon 5-10pm and Fri-Sat 6-11pm; Roland's Bar is outdoor and seasonal (Fri-Sat 5-10, Sun 12-6). Carriage House Sundries behind the hotel covers coffee-through-dinner Wed-Sun. Rooms at nuwray.com or (828) 678-7070.
- 📍 Burnsville
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 102 Town Square, Burnsville, NC 28714
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Forge by Vikings Don't Cry — Mars Hill sits directly on the US-19 run to Burnsville, so a 2-3 hour afternoon at the coal forge lands you at the town square right as The Old Ray opens at 4.
- Zadie's Market at the Old Marshall Jail — The other great Appalachian building-brought-back story within an hour — a 1905 jail turned art hotel and riverside bar, likewise flooded by Helene and likewise rebuilt, which makes for an unusually pointed two-day comparison.
- Wild Abundance — The Barnardsville campus is on the way back down, so an earth-skills class one day pairs neatly with a night in a hotel that predates most of the skills being taught.
More weird in Asheville
Good to know
How far is it from Asheville, and is the drive difficult?
About 45 to 50 minutes north via US-19 to 102 Town Square, Burnsville. It's ordinary mountain highway rather than gravel, but it's dark and curving on the way home — which, combined with a bourbon bar open to 11 p.m., is the case for staying the night.
Do I need a dinner reservation?
You can't get one. The Old Ray serves dinner Friday and Saturday only, 4 to 8 p.m., walk-ins only, first-come first-served — so arriving at 4 rather than 7 is the whole strategy. Rooms are the thing you book: nuwray.com or (828) 678-7070. The restaurant line is (828) 678-7072.
What's open when? I don't want to drive up and find one bar running.
The Washroom opens Monday 5-10 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 6-11 p.m. Roland's Bar on the smokehouse deck is outdoor and seasonal, Friday-Saturday 5-10 and Sunday 12-6, with food until 9 on Friday and Saturday. Carriage House Sundries behind the hotel covers coffee through dinner Wednesday-Sunday 7 a.m.-10 p.m., with café-only mornings Monday and Tuesday. A Friday or Saturday overnight is the only way to catch all of it.
Is this actually a haunted hotel?
The ghost stories are local oral tradition, not anything the hotel documents or sells tours around. What is documented is the building: a log core from before the county existed, a National Register listing from 1982, exposed log walls upstairs, and 1800s wallpaper under plexiglass. Come for the verifiable half and let the rest be atmosphere.
Did Helene affect it, and is Burnsville worth the trip now?
Helene hit on September 27, 2024, isolating the town and delaying the reopening; the hotel spent that period feeding 250-300 people a day with World Central Kitchen and housing rescue crews and FEMA staff. Everything reopened in May 2025. The town square around it is compact and walkable, so plan on the hotel being most of the evening rather than one stop among many.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · ourstate.com · citizen-times.com · savingplaces.org
📷 We made a card for this one on Instagram →
last checked: 2026-08-25