Smoky Mountain ResortRental Guest Reviews

business/leisure

we stayed here as we have in the past which is a perfect jump off spot for my business. will definitely stay again have no complaints

Construction and aged accomodations

We are IHG members and were never made aware of the construction. Our accommodation location and shape of the room was unacceptable at best

It's a fine place if you know what your getting into.

I'm not the kind of reviewer to blast a place based on one thing. However, the shortcomings that affect my review kept surfacing throughout our stay. IHG has many different types of properties,and we have stayed in many of the different types. Some are standard hotel rooms, some are all suites, some are extended stay, etc., but they all have the same typical IHG hotel experience you can depend on. We book with IHG brands because of the points, and the consistency when booking and staying. When looking for a place in Gatlinburg, it was automatic for me to book here. IHG has so many different brands, and we never stayed at a club vacation property before. I did a little search on the "club vacations" brand and there is nothing about what they are, everything you read is completely ambiguous. I am going to school everyone on what the branding means and hopefully you'll be able to book here with the understanding that they are not a typical hotel. The "Club Vacations" brand is a timeshare property that does not get enough business as a timeshare, so they book out to regular folks who land on their web page though the standard IHG interface. This is neither good or bad, but the problem I have is they just don't tell you. And while I'm on my soapbox, I must question the tactics that timeshare salespeople employ. If timeshares are so great, why do they have to sell them so HARD? When we booked, we requested a creek side room on the top floor. We always book well in advance, so that our requests can be granted. We request a top floor because we are light sleepers who retire early every night and any movement above us keeps us up. Our first clue that something was amiss was the email we received a few days before arriving telling us top floors are reserved for club members. When I booked, the site said the deposit would be lost if we cancelled. I'm ok with that but they charged the entire stay to my card, not just the deposit. No one could tell us if we cancelled, would we lose it all? ----- By the way, we had a small child running laps above us until after midnight every night of our stay! We arrived late after a long drive, and all we wanted was to settle in to our room. We check in, get our room keys, and get the typical check in experience. We are then directed across the room to another guy to get our "parking pass". This is mearly a cheesy ploy to get you in front of a salesperson. He was nice and friendly at first trying to get us a deal on a dinner show, and then it comes out.....the catch. They wanted us to go to a three hour presentation on the club benefits in order to save $90 on tickets. I politely said no thanks and the pitch continued. It took quite a few firm declines until he released our pass which was being held hostage the whole time. Ok - up in the room, we open a binder on the coffee table which has all the rules in it about how to leave the room. They want you to clean, wash towels, take out the trash, the list goes on. There is a threat about charging your card on file if any of these things are not done. Assuming this only applies to timeshare owners, we inquire about it. It should come as no surprise that we didn't get a straight answer. Oh by the way, we find out in the wonderful binder that there are no toiletries or housekeeping included in the room. Not a big deal for us, but again, it would have been nice to know upfront! They urge you to park on L2 in the garage. Wanna know why? It's the only level decorated and the sales office is located there. We were only in Gatlinburg for a few days but we saw dozens of different sales people going in and out of that office in that time. In conclusion - the room was nice, and Gatlinburg is wonderful. If you have kids, the entertainment area seems nice. If I were prepared for the shenanigans perpetrated by the club people, it wouldn't have been so bad. Buyer beware!

Great Staff and Location!

The hotel is neat and clean with great staff! The location is great for all adventures in the National Park, and within walking distance to many local attractions and restaurants. The Villa concept is great - everything you need.

Great location, service and cleanliness.

As always we are very pleased when we go to the Gatlinburg location, the location is amazing, the service has always been exceptional and we can count on the cleanliness of the room.

Awesome Mountain Get-Away

We felt right at home while staying at the Holiday Inn Vacation Club in Gatlinburg! The Hotel was beautiful and the new Holiday Inn Express connected to the Vacation Club was beautiful as well. Our kids loved the new pool area complete with waterslides! The hotel is in walking distance to anything you would want! It was just an awesome place to stay for the four nights we were there! We loved it so much, we plan on returning next summer as well!

Nice location and space, service could be better.

Our family of 5 (3 older teens) enjoyed the spaciousness of the two bedrooms and one pull-out couch. It is nice to have a washing machine and dryer to do laundry after hiking each day. It is nice having a full kitchen, as well. This location is off the main street of downtown Gatlinburg. We had a room with a creek and mountain view, which was quiet EXCEPT at 5 am when the trash was emptied each day. Convenient to many restaurants, to walking downtown, and for driving to Smoky Mountain National Park for daily hikes and exploration. Service was adequate, but a bit slower and less professional than we are used to. The resort is currently still under construction, so looks unfinished and there are many construction items and persons around the grounds and parking lots. We are used to recycling and found the one recycling facility on the 6th floor to be inconvenient. Perhaps the resort could consider a recycling can on each floor? Or in each room? There was no water cooler available in the workout room, and we were told to try next door at the Holiday Inn Hotel. We recommend that this resort invests in a water cooler for the workout room, or for travelers to refill water bottles in a common area, such as the lobby. Also, a Keurig is available in the main lobby, but bring your own coffee pods! Overall, the space and location is worth the price that we paid. Service and resort amenities have room for improvement.

Nice villa with balcony

Our family of four enjoyed our one night stay at the villa. It was clean and spacious. I enjoyed the rocking chairs on the balcony with a nice view of the mountains. It is conveniently located in Gatlinburg with an easy walk to the main shopping and restaurant area. We did not use the pools or waterpark, but they looked very nicely done. Any staff members I rode in the elevator with were very pleasant, asking how our stay was. I really appreciated this, even from the maintenance crew!

Construction everywhere

For the price very poor quality of room, pool, and amenities. Construction was everywhere. Would not recommend this resort to anyone. The only plus was that this resort was walking distance to downtown Gatlinburg. We looked around at other hotels and resorts in the area and discovered just about everyone of them had a indoor water park to it. When you go to do your own research in finding a place to stay look around real good because there are a lot of other places nicer than this one.

poor value

high price - no housecleaning (not mentioned anywhere) small pool