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  1. #1
    Registered User Hoofit's Avatar
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    Default Laughing heart or sunnybank inn ? Hot Springs.....

    Hi fellow wanderers,
    I stayed at the 'Sunnybank Inn',back in 2010 and had a great time on a northbound thruhike, cut short by the dreaded Lyme Disease.
    Now I am heading back up that way for a shorter hike on the AT, about a week/ten days and I just wandered , if anyone has stayed at the laughing heart recently , or Elmer's for that matter.
    Should I give the 'laughing heart' a try?
    Any thoughts are most welcome!

  2. #2

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    Tough choice. I've stayed at both, but not recently. Elmer's is nice since it's right in town. Laughing heart is warmer and brighter. I found Elmer's cold and dark, but that could have been the weather and not the fact it's an old, spooky building.

    I'll have to toss a coin when I pass through Hot Springs myself sometime in early May this year.
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  3. #3
    Registered User lumberjaime's Avatar
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    Do what I did! Zero in Hot Springs, spend night #1 at Elmer's and #2 at Laughing Heart. I found it made for a rich experience of Hot Springs, and I greatly enjoyed my time at both places.
    Righeous
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  4. #4
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    The diner is in between the two.
    Wayne


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  5. #5
    Registered User Hoofit's Avatar
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    I remember an excellent breakfast diner close to Elmer's...maybe I'll take lumberjaime's advice and stay a night at each !
    Variety is the spice of life!

  6. #6
    Registered User Sandy of PA's Avatar
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    The motel in the middle of town is also OK. Close to laundry, diner, and ice cream.

  7. #7
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sandy of PA View Post
    The motel in the middle of town is also OK. Close to laundry, diner, and ice cream.
    Good call. Avoid the places near the tracks. I thought the trains were coming through the room!
    Wayne


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  8. #8
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    The Laughing Heart Lodge is an option also. It's a wonderful place with a full breakfast. Yeah, it's pricier, but you may be able to negotiate a pretty good cash rate (experience talking) and live like a king. Nice place.

  9. #9
    Registered User AlyontheAT2016's Avatar
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    I stayed the night at Laughing Heart and loved it. The owner/manager was friendly and hospitable and pointed my friend and I to some great eats in town. We stopped by Sunnybank later to find some other hikers we'd befriended. We were able to walk right in and never saw anyone. It was a little questionable.
    AT '16: 1,378 miles GA-NY

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  10. #10

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    just don't skip the Diner

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlyontheAT2016 View Post
    I stayed the night at Laughing Heart and loved it. The owner/manager was friendly and hospitable and pointed my friend and I to some great eats in town. We stopped by Sunnybank later to find some other hikers we'd befriended. We were able to walk right in and never saw anyone. It was a little questionable.
    Nothing questionable about Sunnybank Inn. They've been around longer than you have.

  12. #12
    Registered User AlyontheAT2016's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rafe View Post
    Nothing questionable about Sunnybank Inn. They've been around longer than you have.
    I meant it was questionable that we were able to walk in without anyone knowing, and without seeing a soul. There was gear just laying out while its owner had gone to eat or resupply. Someone more unscrupulous might have had a field day with that.
    AT '16: 1,378 miles GA-NY

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  13. #13
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CrumbSnatcher View Post
    just don't skip the Diner
    Amen!
    As for unattended gear, it's probably the nicest trail town. Period. I realize that Stuff happens, but hopefully not in Hot Springs.
    Wayne


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  14. #14
    Registered User AlyontheAT2016's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Venchka View Post
    Amen!
    As for unattended gear, it's probably the nicest trail town. Period. I realize that Stuff happens, but hopefully not in Hot Springs.
    Wayne


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    Very true. Nothing happened, and I very much enjoyed Hot Springs. There were a few things that happened in Erwin and Damascus however.
    AT '16: 1,378 miles GA-NY

    trail journal
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