Mike,
Hot Springs is just over the mountain from our home...been camping there for years. Nice campground, beautiful hikes, and nice warm spring fed hot tubs at the resort. The French Broad river is nice, but it’s hard to time it for fishing, as it stays muddy most of the time.
This B and B really made it a wonderful stay.
However, the mountains and BR parkway up from Brevard to Cashiers and Highlands is absolutely stunning. Granite domes, trout streams everywhere, countless waterfalls, and a dense canopy of a temperate rainforest that abounds with growth and life.
The best part is.... nowhere near the crowds of the Smokies.
You can’t go wrong with either place, but my vote is for the higher elevation mountains, near Cashiers.