A Valentine’s Day Warning

by Bruce Johnson

Valentine’s Day, as many of you know from experience, generally falls early in the week of the February National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows at the Omni-Grove Park Inn overlooking Asheville, NC. As my wife will attest, that has also meant that remembering to buy her even a Valentine’s Day card becomes doubtful for me, as we are then in the midst of setting up the ten meetings rooms and two ballrooms for the conference.

This coming year, however, Valentine’s Day – February 14th – falls on Thursday of Conference Week, the same day of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms pre-conference party and social held that evening. This only happens once every seven years, for in 2020 we have already moved the conference back one week to avoid having Valentine’s Day occur on Friday of the conference.

So, why is this important?

Because the non-Arts and Crafts guests coming to the Grove Park Inn to celebrate Valentine’s Day are going to sell out the hotel’s 510 rooms long before the Arts and Crafts Conference.

At my insistence, the Grove Park Inn does set aside 300 Thursday night rooms specifically for Arts and Crafts attendees, but those are nearly gone. In the past, the remaining 210 rooms in the hotel also are available to us, but this year that number is declining daily as couples are already planning a special Valentine’s Day at the GPI.

And here is what is also happening: many of these couples are also going to take Friday off work and make it a four-day Valentine’s Weekend at the Grove Park Inn.

Which means people who wait too late to call the GPI for a room at the Arts and Crafts Conference – February 15th through the 17th – are going to be told the hotel is sold out.

The solution: Make your reservation now. You can cancel as late as one week before the conference for a full refund.

And everything you need to know to make your decision as already been posted at www.Arts-CraftsConference.com, from each of the speakers to the list of exhibitors to the hourly schedule for each day.

Then, just call the Omni-Grove Park Inn at (828) 252-2711 and let them know you want to come for the 32nd National Arts and Crafts Conference.

Remember, too, you can stay any night before or after the conference for just $136.

And those Valentine’s Day couples? They’re paying $354.

But that’s not stopping them from making their February reservation five months in advance.

So, if you want to have a great time at what the New York Times has called “the most important weekend of the year for Arts and Crafts collectors,” reserve your room now at (828) 252-2711.

And make your partner happy for Valentine’s Day!

Until next time,

“I would have a workshop attached to every school, and one hour a day given up to the teaching of simple decorative arts. It would be a golden hour to the children.” — Oscar Wilde

Bruce