A lovely, renovated railroad depot (end of a line), with a variety of rooms, including a caboose…read moreyou can stay in. It is tastefully furnished, with comfortable beds and a great common room. It's garden is beautiful, and well worth a wander around (and along Potts Creek). The general store opposite has a great restaurant (the ribs were excellent) and we caught a live band the night we were there which was great fun. The roads around are a blast to drive too. What more could you want from a road trip stop!

The Caboose was very nice, clean, easy access, and quiet. It has an outside sitting area with table…read moreand chairs just a few feet from Potts Creek. The common room in the main building was full of area lore and photographs. There is a comfortable sitting area, and well stocked snack area with fresh fruits, muffins, cold cereals, cookies, and various drinks including sodas, juices, milk and coffee. The only thing I would recommend is taking a cooler with ice if you like to have cold drinks and the like in your room. There wasn't a small dorm fridge in the caboose when we stayed. For what the stay costs, I would expect one, rooms that cost a third as much almost always have one, and a microwave. The staff were very pleasant, and very easy to get ahold of when needed. The main building and caboose are within walking distance of the Paint Bank General Store, Swinging Bridge Restaurant and Tingler's Mill. Just a little note for those not familiar with a caboose, they are small. Room is limited and quarters are tight. I expected this and planned for it, so it wasn't an unexpected issue for me.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this hotel! I think this is quite possibly my most favorite place I have ever stayed…read moreat and I have traveled to 11 countries and all over the US. I have stayed at lots of all inclusive resorts and this room was by far the prettiest and most comfortable. The attention to detail starting from the restaurant to the furniture boutique and upstairs to the hotel is amazing! We dined in the restaurant and had outstanding service from Caroline and the food was equally as outstanding. The menu is chock full of creative and interesting flavors and food combinations. We ordered 5 appetizers to share and loved every single one of them. Again, be open minded because this menu truly is creative. The furniture boutique has stunning pieces of Scandinavian/MCM style furniture all locally made in Roanoke with some serious attention to craftsmanship. These same items can be found upstairs in the boutique hotel. It was fun that you are allowed to have a glass of wine and chill in the lobby area next to the restaurant which is oh-so-comfortably decorated in their gorgeous furniture. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful my room was. It was decorated so stylishly with absolutely not a touch of elegance overlooked. Stunning lighting fixtures, gorgeous textures, a comfortable sitting area, and lovely pieces of wooden furniture. The hardwood floors are simply to die for. They were my favorite part of the room. The bed was the single most comfortable bed I have ever stayed on in a hotel setting. It was like sleeping on a cloud surrounded in a hug from fairy wings. There is a communal area with snacks, couches and other places to gather or entertain a group. I really really really hope all future guests do their part to keep this place beautiful so that it remains a luxurious place to stay in the heart of downtown Roanoke. What an absolute gem. It feels like a betrayal to the amazing people who put their heart and soul into this hotel and restaurant to have a complaint. However, if I had one tiny suggestion to make, please put a table or a shelf or something in the bathroom. There is literally zero place to spread out toiletries and makeup. I used a towel on the floor to spread out my makeup in the morning. Not really a deal-breaker, but it's just a suggestion. And also to patrons, bring a hair dryer if you are going to use one. I did not find one in the room, but perhaps it was in a drawer or tucked away someplace I did not happen to see. Also, bring a sleep mask. This was definitely more on the light and bright side of hotel rooms, so morning came a bit earlier than I was expecting.

My family have been firemen since I can remember and my…read morehusband and I are always looking for different & eclectic places to stay away from the traditional hotel experience. All the history and nostalgia in the building is palpable as soon as you walk in and take the beautiful wood spiral staircase to the second floor. There is an elevator also. The historic brass fire poles are still in existence, along with the creaky hardwood floors and georgous exposed brick. We stayed in room 6. Beautiful room with all the furniture from the Nordic furniture shop downstairs. Very tempting to buy a couch from the showroom downstairs! We ate at the restaurant, Stock downstairs. It was amazing, but keep in mind it is directly below room 6 and they don't close until around 11pm on the weekends and they stay about an hour after that to clean up. So you still may hear music and them moving chairs around while they clean up. We also stayed on a Friday night and some skateboarders decided to practice in the parking garage next door around 11:30 at night, but you are staying in the city so you have to expect things like that. Bathroom is beautiful with great water pressure in the shower. There is also a huge area to hang out in on the second floor if you need more space. If you like non-traditional hotel experiences, then add this one to your bucket list. 10-4!

A teeny tiny airport in Roanoke. You don't want to be there any longer than you have to be, because…read morethere is nothing to do there, and not too many food options. The good thing about this airport is that there were zero people in the security line when I was there on a weekday morning. I just walked right in and was done within minutes. Once you're past security, there is one restaurant / coffee shop, and a sundry store. The rest is pretty much just gates and seating and a pair of restrooms. There is a lactation station next to the women's restroom, which is nice to see. I was going to sit on the floor and do some stretching, but the carpet is not the cleanest! I guess it's fine for stepping on, but I didn't want to sit on it.

Roanoke regional airport is a small regional airport that serves the cities of Roanoke and…read moreBlacksburg, Virginia. The cities are also served by Amtrak, but better to fly in. It was my first time at this airport on a March 2026 trip. I initially flew into DCA airport and took an Amtrak to Roanoke to save money. To get home, I decided to fly out of Roanoke. It was a 15 minute drive from Tanglewood Mall/Roanoke where my hotel was via Uber. I had an 6am flight out of ROA and was up at 3:45am to check out of my hotel and at the airport by 4:25am. At the airport, foot traffic that morning was light and I quickly went through TSA security, although at the time, the 2026 government shutdown was in full affect. Still is. The wait through security was longer than I expected, especially at 4:45am on a Monday morning. Thankfully, I had to wait just about 15 extra minutes before everyone was processed and we were off to our gates for the morning flights out of ROA. The airport itself is rather small, boasting at most 6 gates for out bound and inbound flights. ROA currently serves Delta, American, United, and Allegiant airlines with various destinations on the central and eastern time zones. I had enough time to get through security that I got myself breakfast that morning at one of their small airport shops. For the most part though, it was nice to have this airport near Roanoke and not have to Amtrak it back to Washington DC or Baltimore to fly home. While it can be cost prohibitive to fly in and out of Roanoke, the fact that it's here for convenience makes it worth it especially the time commitments. ROA airport is a cute little regional airport that serves southwest Virginia. Nothing else like it! The overall experience at the Roanoke-Blacksburg regional airport was typically good and okay. I actually had time that morning, so I just sat in the ticketing area for 15 minutes before going through the tsa security checkpoint. It's always nice having the Pre check when going through that each time. It sucked when I had to wait in line when even the tsa pre check line was delayed and merged with the regular line. Ugh, the temporary standstill was blah but eventually it moved and everyone got processed. The airport itself was small enough so you can probably get to the airport within 1 hour of departure and still make it on time, but things had to be perfectly timed for that to happen. The restaurants at ROA airport were good and decent. Not much variety though, but if you are there for a morning flight, you have limited options here. If I ever fly in or out of ROA airport in the future, I may want to visit the airport bar and discover what they have. The airport itself is very clean and the airport arrival departure info is updated as frequently as it needs to be. Travel can be chaotic, but for me at ROA airport in March 2026. For the most part though, I made my experience at the airport to the best of my ability. Got to my gate with plenty of time and had time to pick up breakfast and still had time for the restroom before boarding. Small regional airports are cool like that. ROA airport is the ideal airport to fly in and out of if you need to be in the southwest Virginia area. It can be competitive with other larger airports in the area, but if you need peace of mind or a flexible schedule, you can consider ROA airport as your final destination. Roanoke-Blacksburg regional airport sits near the city of Roanoke, Virginia. Its physical address is 5212 Aviation Drive NW in Roanoke. Access to the airport is limited. Only ticketed passengers can have access to the departure gates after passing thru the tsa checkpoints. Although the traveling public has access to the ticketing lobby, its activity is limited to those who have a legitimate reason for being at the airport terminal. As far as parking goes, there are parking garages nearby for those who need parking and cellphone parking lots for people picking up their friends or family arriving into ROA airport. If you are like me, there is public transportation to and from the ROA airport. Take route 25 from the airport and it'll take you to the third street bus terminal, where you will transfer to your final destination. And there's always Uber and Lyft services at the airport for your convenience. And so, if you love flying and need to be in the Roanoke, Virginia area, consider the hometown airport for your travel needs. 5.0 stars for the overall experience. Support local! A+

The inn is a large, gorgeous, and meticulously clean Victorian-style home. A combination of…read moreantiques, dolls made by Linda Salyers in her workshop behind the inn, Amish quilts, and French country- and Victorian-style furnishings fill the parlor, the bedrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, and the upstairs sitting room. Even the recently remodeled bathrooms are decorated down to last detail and include soap, toiletries, and towels. But don't let the classic décor fool you, the inn also boasts complimentary Wi-Fi and some of the rooms have flat-screen televisions. Each stay includes complimentary snacks in each bedroom, non-alcoholic beverages available from the kitchen refrigerator, coffee, tea, and a wonderful breakfast made by Linda Salyers every morning. My breakfast consisted of a bottomless coffee cup, orange juice, French toast made with fresh apples in a casserole dish (think homemade apple pie with thick bread instead of crust!) and a wonderful breakfast quiche. If you find yourself headed to or through the Blacksburg/Christiansburg area of Virginia, the Ivycrest Inn Bed and Breakfast is a must-stay property.

The Tour of Naples is a full immersion experience!…read more It starts off with a toast and the restaurant folks are excellent hosts. We learned how to make the Negroni cocktail and they took time to teach the flaming orange. Including a lot of interesting history and information about the spirits. The instruction on making the pizza and cocktail was so thorough that we felt like we really did something, while we learned in action. Worth the time and money. *they did ask if anyone is dry, but not sure what they offer in lieu of the cocktails or wine.

We went on a food tour of downtown Roanoke. Our guide was Ned. I thought the whole tour was run…read morevery well (I've been on about 5 other food tours) and saw that Ned was in contact with the next restaurant each time so that they were ready for us. Ned provided us with great information about the history of the town, the railroad (although some of that was incorrect as he kept saying Raleigh instead of Norfolk as it pertained to the railroad and it kept saying that one of the railway companies "left" when in fact, they were merged. Maybe this wouldn't have mattered so much except someone in our group was very familiar with the railroad) But Ned was very personable and you could tell he loved history and as we do too we really enjoyed his tour. The food on the tour was fairly varied and unique to the town (a must!) and it was great to hear the back story of the ownership of the restaurants. (I was a little worried when at the first two restaurants we were served seafood dishes, a seafood bisque and shrimp and grits as one person in our group doesn't really like seafood and I think this is a risky choice for a tour. Also at Chocolate Paper we were given two mediocre Asher chocolates to try instead of some of their more expensive and more delicious Debrands chocolates.) One person in our group thought there wasn't enough food and thought another restaurant or two should be added. I tend to agree when compared to the cost of this tour against other tours I've taken. Had the cost been a little lower I think the amount of food would've been fine. All in all, a great tour though. Ned really was a great guide, I hope he leads more tours, I really learned a lot!

I have visited many libraries in my life, and I can proudly say that the Vinton Library has been…read moreone of my favorites of them all. After having been selected as number 4 of Yelp's Top 50 most prolific Elites of 2025, a year when I also was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Photographer of the Year Award at their Yelpies 2025 Award Ceremony, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, and where last year I was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Yelper of the Year Award, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and businesses, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And "The Vinton Library" in Vinton, Virginia, is a perfect example. Located in the heart of Vinton's Downtown Historic District, the Vinton Library, a branch of the Roanoke County Public Library system, is a modern public library with a wide selection of books, audiobooks, games, and DVDs, plus amenities like free Wi-Fi, public computers, printers, study rooms, a Digi Lab, mobile printing services, study areas, two meeting rooms, a conference room, a drive-through for book pick-ups and drop-offs, an upstairs balcony with outdoor tables and chairs, and a coffee shop that is currently closed. This library also hosts regular community activities, which can be tracked via their online official events calendar. One of the first things I admire about this library is it's prime location with a walkable, small-town atmosphere. Conveniently located near Vinton's government buildings, the U.S. Post Office, shops, restaurants, a barbershop, the Vinton's Chamber of Commerce, the Vinton's Farmer's Market, and The Hive Business Incubation Center (which offers offices, expert advice, and resources for entrepreneurs), among others, this library easily accessible via private autos as well as via public transportation and has an ample complimentary parking lot as well as a bus stop right on the side. Another thing I highly admire about this library is its architectural Modern design. It is beautiful from any angle you look at it. Its simple front landscape is complemented by a narrow walkway that seems to lead you from the sidewalk, around the front of the the building, and right into the very inviting entrance. If you arrive too early you have some benches along the way where you can wait. The interior design is a two story open space surrounded by floor to ceiling windows that not only bring in the light but one can see the beautiful blue sky with white clouds as well as the mountains in the background as one walks around the library. And the most important quality of them all that I admire about this library is its friendly staff, welcoming atmosphere, and resources for all ages. It is an inclusive library, a welcoming, accessible space that provides resources, services, policies catering to all community members, regardless of background, ability, or identity.

Vinton's library is a nice building that looks relatively new. As with many libraries, it feels…read moremore like a community center than a place you'd go to read a book, which is fine for my needs. There was not a huge amount of general seating. There was an outdoor balcony which might be nice on a better weather day.

The Loft is a quaint, two-bedroom (a master bedroom and a loft bedroom), one-and-a-half bath…read moreapartment with a full kitchen. Lots of exposed wood and brick - with sections of the few plaster walls intentionally chipped away / weathered / aged to further showcase brick - succeed in creating a somewhat rustic atmosphere. The owner has kept the place in great condition. My only complaint was that the claw foot bathtub had a tendency to leak regardless of how the shower head was turned. The location is right in downtown Bedford, where the town's restaurants, shops, and grocery store are all within easy access. The price is good for what you get, although I don't know how it compares to other housing in town. I would stay here again. As an aside, Bedford itself is a nice example of "small-town America." It has quiet, intimate streets, great for wandering, with several shops and a few restaurants; pretty, old red brick buildings; and there are even several military markers around a classic courthouse. When I was there, signs and assorted ads noted upcoming festivals and other town and regional events that seemed like great fun. The people are very welcoming. There's also easy access to various regional sights, including hiking, lake activities, and the National D-Day Memorial. I stayed in Bedford for two days and had a very relaxing time. I'd recommend it for a quiet weekend away, long or otherwise.

Gorgeous accommodation with all the things you need for a comfortable stay in a historic building…read more I highly recommend the Loft for a couple to 3 people. Cozy, rustic, beautiful craftsmanship, and history.

The Roanoke Public Library is a wonderful resource for the community. Located in the Downtown…read moreRoanoke area, in a building that went through renovation from the original, it maintains the classical relaxed look, yet at the same time, it has those modern touches that has kept it up with the times. It now has a Virginia Room where people can do research on the history of Roanoke, among other things. And around this area it has meeting rooms where one can reserve to do research or to meet. Besides the traditional bookcases with books, the library has an extensive computer area located in the Darryl G. & Young-Ja Howery Mezzanine, as well as a cellphone charging station. I tried charging my cellphone there with the cords provided and a notice came up on my phone that this cord was too slow to charge my phone and to try to use another one because with this one it would take 8 hours to do so. This is one of the reasons I only gave this library a 4 star rating. The intention to provide modern services was there but not the execution. I brought it to the attention of the librarian to see if it could be corrected for the future with better charger cords, or even better, with devices where you can rest the cellphone on them and they would automatically charge the phone. I'm sure that after the Library Director reads this review he will follow-up because he is a very knowledgeable individual and wonderful human being. The librarians here are all very friendly and helpful. In the basement of the library the Blue Ridge Literacy is located. This is a place where among other this they teach English for free to immigrants new to the area. A reality that I can not leave behind is that many of the homeless of our community frequent the library during the day as a refuge to keep cool in the Summer and Warm in the Winter. Something that the library could do is have a station with booklets and information to help these write a resume, and look for and apply for a job using the computers. It could also offer workshops in one of the meeting rooms to teach and develop the skills needed for them to overcome the adversities that lead them to be homeless. Throughout the years the library has played very important roles in the community, and through creative thinking and innovation, it can find new ways in the future to meet the community's need head on.

Great little library with really helpful librarians. The book selection isn't huge but you can…read moreorder from any of the libraries and get it sent to this one