It’s CRAZY to think that I went to college just a mere 30 minutes away from The Carolina Inn, yet I had never been! During my college years, I only went to Chapel Hill, North Carolina a handful of times (mostly my Freshmen year of college) as I was primarily in my college town of Raleigh, North Carolina. However, when one of my best friends Alanna moved to Chapel Hill within the past year, I knew that I wanted to take the chance to visit the iconic Carolina Inn!!
On my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee!), one of my blogger and Instagram friends over the past 3 years of Liz of @palmettos_and_pineapples (go follow her!!!) has posted a few times about visiting The Carolina Inn. Liz inspired me to make a visit to The Carolina Inn AND further made me want to add it to my *never-ending* bucket list. At the same time, I am so glad that I got to explore a bit of Chapel Hill with Alanna, too. We visited the well-known Sup Dogs on Franklin Street (the University of Kentucky VS University of Tennessee game was on while we were having lunch!), got coffee at Epilogue Books right next door to Sup Dogs, and enjoyed some gorgeous murals along Franklin Street. I had a great time overall!!
The Carolina Inn is owned by Hyatt and costs upwards of $400-$500 to stay at per night (think The Greenbrier in West Virginia pricing). It is located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina: the college town of the well-known University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC). A fun feature of The Carolina Inn is its colors, including its logo of UNC’s trademarked color “Carolina Blue”. The Carolina Inn also has a few restaurants that are a bit pricey to eat at. I considered eating there, but for both Alanna’s and I’s budgets, we opted to do what many come to do that visit The Carolina Inn: come see what it’s ALL about! Luckily for us, we were able to enjoy the gorgeous hotel’s environment without even paying a penny. The halls at The Carolina Inn are gorgeous and filled with cabinets of china that plays homages to its native state of North Carolina, portraits of all of the Presidents (both current and former) of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and gorgeous printed tiled floors. The lobby was stunning, too!
While in Chapel Hill, Alanna and I were able to admire The Carolina Inn at all sides of the street. It is a beautiful hotel, and I hope to be able to visit again when it’s a bit warmer. Needless to say, the winter season makes *just about* everything look and feel a little bit more drab than usual! Alanna’s roommate told us while we were back at Alanna’s house (which is just a short walk away from the iconic North Carolina hotel) that The Carolina Inn hosts fun Friday Night activities for families and community members, including food, games, and live music. They even *indeed* have heaters in the cooler months! I would LOVE to be able to enjoy a Friday night at The Carolina Inn AND take some photos in front of what appeared to be a gorgeous floral display in the warmer months (it was wayyy too cold to take photos outside this time around).
Overall, I feel really grateful that I was able to get some quality time with Alanna and *finally* check seeing The Carolina Inn off of my bucket list!!
XOXO – Katie <3