Contact: Kinsay Norris, Marketing Director
Phone: 828-264-1299

Mountain lodge caters to contemporary tastes

July 2007

By: Sara Pitzer

          Don't let the name Lazy Bear Lodge, or the location, the Valle Crucis mountain community in Western North Carolina, fool you. This is not an old-timey mountain lodge with rickety furniture, dim rooms and the head of a dead animal over the fireplace.

          This is a newly built bed-and-breakfast, filled with light and furnished with hand-made furniture and antiques. And the head over the fireplace is an almost abstract metal sculpture of a moose head - a smiling nod to tradition.

          Each guest room has either a claw-foot tub or jetted spa and a separate shower. The Black Bear Room, on the first floor, is fully outfitted to accomodate people with physical limitations.

         A massage room signals the innkeepers' contemporary attitude, too.

         The lodge is new. Anne and Mark Winkelman have been innkeepers just two years. They got into it, after corporate lives, partly because they both love to cook. As guests discover the place, Anne's over-the-top breakfasts and Mark's Saturday night dinners win raves. You must arrange in advance for the dinner.

          The location offers mountain views in all directions, with plenty of porches and windows to enjoy them.

          According to an old bromide, if you want to know what a facility is really like, talk to the help. So here's the last

word, from their assistant, Sarah Branum, who recently finished graduate school at Appalachian State University.

"These are terrific innkeepers. Everything just goes above and beyond with little touches athat make this place special."

Lazy Bear Lodge

315 Lazy Bear Trail

Vilas, NC 28692

828-963-9201

www.lazy-bear-lodge.com

Innkeepers: Anne and Mark Winkelman

Open: Year-round

Rooms: Five, each with private bath, TV, radio-CD player and gas fireplace and stove

Rates: $145-$160, depending on room. Rates include full breakfast. Ask about special discounts.

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