When it comes to hotel architecture, everyone's a critic.

Some appreciate the style of the new structures rising in downtown Asheville, which is enjoying a hotel building boom that will spawn at least a half-dozen hotels in or near the city's core by the end of the decade. Others are less charitable.

John Penley, a political activist and photojournalist, is one of those who's not fond of the latest batch of hotels — and he's not shy about it.

"Could anyone tell me the reason all these new hotels being built in Asheville all look alike and are some of the most unattractive, totally ugly models of architecture that I have ever seen?" Penley said.

In a lively Facebook discussion on downtown hotels, several local residents mentioned the AC Hotel, which recently opened on the site of an old parking deck that had become a real eyesore.

While the sleek, modern hotel is a vast improvement over a chipped, faded parking deck, some questioned its architectural details, which include an unusual green color on the upper levels and some decorative touches that hearken back to the city's art deco buildings of the 1920s.

Some locals also wonder what the oversight process is for hotel approval.

Another new hotel generating attention is the 12-story Cambria Hotel being built by Tony Fraga, head of the FIRC Group, of Asheville and Coconut Grove, Florida.

A reddish-ocher color on the exterior of the middle floors really makes the place stand out, while the top is a fairly tame tan.

The AC Hotel, a project of McKibbon Hospitality, which has offices in Gainesville, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida, is an eye-grabbing melange of modern styling with some art deco touches.

Karen Tessier, who runs a marketing firm in Asheville, finds the AC Hotel "stately but whimsical," with windows, openings and cornices that "invite people in."

"The building is a nice scale, not so big, completing the corner, and the spaces inside are lovely," Tessier said. "The AC feels eclectic and artsy, and its architecture seems to respect our past while suggesting our future. It feels like it belongs."

But critics say it tries a little too hard.

"It’s got too much going on, from an architectural point of view," said Jane Mathews, an Asheville architect who is also a member of the city's architectural review board for the River Arts District. "There are a lot of things happening on the different sides of the building, and it's not as integrated, architecturally, as I would've like to have seen."

But, ask a different architect, and you get a different opinion.

Retired Asheville architect John D. Rogers described the AC Hotel as "not bad at all."

"It's got that big, generous canopy out front, which is very inviting, and I think that dark color works," he said. "It might be the best of the group."

Why the green?

As far as that dark green color choice, Lauren Bowles, director of communications for McKibbon Hospitality, noted that "Asheville’s downtown really features an eclectic mix of colors and design styles, and we feel like the new hotel complements the city nicely."

"In addition, our team met with the city’s Technical Review Committee and Design Review Committee many times regarding the hotel’s design," she said.

McKibbon Hospitality very intentionally included some art deco touches, and they researched nearby buildings to try to make it fit in with Asheville's eclectic mix. McKibbon's AC Hotel is its fourth hotel in Asheville, joining the Aloft Asheville Downtown, Courtyard Asheville and SpringHill Suites.

Chairman John McKibbon said earlier this summer they're not trying to re-create an art deco hotel with the AC Hotel or their project to convert the former BB&T Building into The Arras, a condo/hotel development that will transform the 19-story tower, Asheville's tallest building. But they did want to acknowledge the city's history and that style's importance.

Erik Rowen, vice president of development for McKibbon, said the company conducted an extensive review of downtown architecture and talked to dozens of locals, including design specialists, before drawing up plans for the Arras. Renderings show a modern design of glass and metal, with some stone touches.

The upscale Arras, with 128 hotel rooms, two restaurants and 54 condos ranging in price from $600,000-$1.7 million, will dominate the skyline.

Sylva native David Schulman, who now lives in Arizona, said the Arras can only be an improvement, architecturally.

"Any new hotel architecture is far better than the old BB&T structure that we lived with in ugliness for decades," Schulman said. "I think the different looks are great and add variety to the new emerging downtown skyline."

Consider context, and building materials

Weaverville resident Hobey Ford, a professional puppeteer and puppet maker, said historical context is important when considering Asheville's mix of architectural styles.

"Let's remember Asheville died in the '70s and was reborn," Ford said. "Controlled growth would be wiser, but at least our city is thriving."

Overall, though, he says, "None of the new hotels are special or relate to our mountain landscape."

Critics often point out the new hotels have a "generic" look, lumping in new buildings such as the Hyatt Place on Haywood Street, and the Hilton Garden Inn, on the east side of downtown.

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Rogers and Mathews agree that chains do tend to build variations on a theme.

"They have a brand, and they build pretty much the same thing in every city," Rogers said.

The generic trend started with the Aloft Hotel on Biltmore Avenue, another McKibbon project, which has boxy, bland upper floors that drew a lot of disparagement early on. For the record, Rogers likes the Aloft, which opened in 2012. He finds it particularly inviting on the lower levels — and he even likes the neon roof awning.

The architects say one problem with the new hotels is simply the building techniques of a modern world. Just about all of them use a product called EIFS, or Exterior Insulation Foam System, often pronounced "ee-fus." A lightweight polystyrene material that's relatively inexpensive, EIFS comes in panels and is applied to the exterior of buildings.

Workers usually add a faux stucco finish, which tends to look the same on most buildings.

Limestone or polished granite it's not.

What is the oversight?

As far as oversight on all this, Asheville does have a Downtown Design Review program that, as the city's website states, "seeks to encourage building renovation and new development within the downtown area in a manner that will encourage visual harmony, enhance historic integrity, and encourage creative design solutions."

But it has some obvious limitations.

"It's a mandatory review process, but it has voluntary compliance," said Alan Glines, a city of Asheville planner who works with the Downtown Design Review board. "They have to do the design review process, but they need not be compelled to follow the recommendations of the committee if they meet the city's (Unified Development Ordinance) requirements for a new building."

The UDO does mandate some basic aesthetic requirements, especially to make the ground floor more appealing and pedestrian friendly, and it has window requirements for upper floors. It also requires a "step-back" for taller buildings so they don't have the same imposing, one-dimensional facade all the way up, Glines said.

"The Downtown Asheville Design Guidelines do not dictate styles, but rather suggest a variety of choices for achieving design compatibility within the downtown area," the city's website states.

Much of this does come down to "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Glines said, noting that even architects disagree on what's appealing. Nearly all agree that the downtown is not a museum, though.

"It's a living, breathing place, and buildings should be of their time," Glines said. "We have buildings that were built in the 1920s, but we're in 2017 now, so buildings should be of the time."

Asheville native Honor Moor says it's important to appreciate that the new buildings, like structures throughout time, come with positives and negatives. For example, she likes the parking deck attached to the Aloft Hotel downtown, and she appreciates that the new structures all try to be welcoming to pedestrians with ground level shops and restaurants.

Developers also have to be practical.

"To try and build at the level of expense to perfectly match the old stone and brick would cost a fortune," Moor said, adding that she does wish the hotels would spend a little more on windows, which can be "the tell-tale sign of cheapness."

Moor also pointed out that some of our existing hotels downtown that are a bit older, such as the Renaissance, are fairly utilitarian designs, too.

"People forget that they were just used to those buildings," she said.

Generic buildings through the decades?

So yes, the Hilton Garden, Marriott, the AC Hotel, the Cambria, they're going to share some characteristics, and you could say they all look a little generic.

But Rogers raises an interesting point about genericism — it's been going on for decades. The gorgeous art deco Kress drug store and the Woolworth Walk buildings, just a block apart downtown?

"They were the generic buildings of their day," Rogers said. "Every town in the South had a Kress building."

The imposing, all-brick Battery Park Hotel, which towers over the north end of the Grove Arcade and is now apartments for the elderly?

"It is a generic hotel building of its day," Rogers said.

Some beg to differ, though, including Candler native Cheryl L. Wolfe, who now lives in Chicago and weighed in via Facebook.

"These (new) buildings don't catch my eye with architectural details — definitely no warmth or charm, in my opinion," she said. "It's like the difference between IKEA and hand-crafted furniture — one won't stand the test of time."

Asheville resident Jerry Tillotson says to just give it all time.

"I think all these different architectural designs are exhilarating — a little of the old, mixed in with the cutting edge modern," he said. "In 50 years, the newly designed buildings will be considered 'classic.'"

Downtown hotels built or planned from 2009-2018

The Parisian, 68 Patton Ave — $11 million project, 61 rooms, five-seven stories, by MRK Property Development of Miami Beach, Florida, and Charlotte. Renovation and addition to former Bank of America building. Estimated opening, summer 2019.

Hotel Arras, West Pack Square — $46 million project, 128 rooms (plus 54 condominiums and meeting space), 19 stories, by McKibbon Hospitality of Gainesville, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. Overhaul of the BB&T building, the region’s tallest building. To open in 2018. Includes 61-space parking deck.

Embassy Suites, 192 Haywood St.— $24 million project, 185 rooms, eight stories, by Parks Hospitality Group of Raleigh. Site of the former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. Includes a 200-space parking deck. City denied permit. Case is now in litigation.

Element, 31 College Place — No value available. 100 rooms, seven stories, by Himanshu Karvir. Estimated to open by spring 2019. Extended-stay Marriott brand hotel planned for site previously occupied by office park.

Cambria Hotel — $24 million project., 136 rooms, 12 stories, by FIRC Group of Asheville and Coconut Grove, Florida. Corner of Battery Park and Page avenues. To open fall 2017. Includes 117-space parking deck. Site of former Kosta's menswear building.

AC Hotel Asheville — $24 million project, 10 Broadway St. 132 rooms, plus meeting space, nine stories, by McKibbon Hospitality of Gainesville, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. Marriott hotel will include 336-space parking deck with public access. Opened August 2017. Formerly a private parking garage.

Asheville Foundry Inn — More than $4.3 million project, 90 rooms, up to five stories, by Encore Lodging of Charleston, South Carolina. At Market, South Spruce and Eagle streets. Plans to use three existing buildings at 35 Eagle, 51 South Market and 42 South Spruce streets to build the Hilton Curio hotel. No estimated completion date.

Hilton Garden Inn Asheville Downtown — $8.2 million project, 140 rooms, six stories, by Quality Oil Company of Winston-Salem. Opened August, 2016 on a 2.4-acre site with City Centre office building at corner of College and South Charlotte streets. The two buildings share a 254-space parking deck. Former TK Tripps restaurant site.

Hyatt Place Asheville/Downtown — $14 million project, 140 rooms, seven stories by Parks Hospitality Group of Raleigh. Opened March, 2016, at the corner of Montford Avenue and Haywood Street. Site of the former Three Brothers Restaurant.

The Windsor Boutique Hotel — $825,000 project, 14 suites with kitchens, three stories. Renovation of low-rent, long-term hotel. Finished October, 2015. At 36 Broadway St.

Aloft Asheville Downtown — $14 million project, 115 rooms, six stories, by Mckibbon Hospitality of Gainesville, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. Opened August 2012. Has 116 spaces in shared parking garage with city. At 51 Biltmore Ave.

Hotel Indigo Asheville Downtown — $17 million project, 100 rooms (plus 12 condominiums), 13 stories, by Hospitality Lodging Investors II of York, Pennsylvania. 151 Haywood St. Opened November 2009. Formerly home of Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.