Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromHeather S

  Date: 07/23/2023

  1 star
  Checked into Old Papa Bear Lodge 7/15/23. Upon check in, found A/C in the third floor where 2 bedrooms were, was broken--was 85 degrees. After multiple calls over days, with assurances that repair man would be sent--that was finally done on Monday evening, 7/17/23 after I called again. Wednesday evening, 7/19/23-running water stopped. Had a slow trickle or come on intermittently over the next 3 days. A repair man was sent Thursday, 7/20/23-the water was on at that time, but he stated he was surprised it was on at all, would get further help to fix. No one else came. The water continued to be on for brief periods of time, never consistently. By Friday evening, 7/21/23-water completely off, never came back on. We checked out AM of 7/22/23-unable to cook, shower, do laundry, or even flush toilets. I called again at check out to ensure they were aware the water still wasn't on--was offered a $600 discount. In addition to the AC and water issue we noted: false advertisement of the view--no view of mountains at all due to the tall trees-fine, but don't advertise as mountain view. Advertised as fully stocked house--we had 9 towels for 11 people initially, no wash cloths, no kitchen towels/sponge, no broom, 5 forks/spoons for 11 people, limited dishware overall to cook/eat with. Check in--noted that upstairs windows had been left opened--seemed like A/C was known to be broken before we arrived and that was an attempt to cool things off. Light bulbs were out, dirty fixtures, broken/missing light shades, bugs and cobwebs everywhere, dryer vent was so clogged it was a fire risk, had to clean out ourselves, yard trash outside, dishes were dirty with bugs in cabinets, broken microwave door, broken fridge shelves, duct taped fridge front, broken glass on deck under the picnic table, broken rocking chairs outside. Waited average 20 minutes to talk to anyone at office which was in Gatlinburg--20-30 minutes away. No follow up on any of the issues we reported. Zero star rating.

• Review fromGreg T

  Date: 06/28/2023

  1 star
  My husband and I were on our honeymoon and paid for three nights at seclusion cabin… $863.21… we had a medical emergency and had to go back home before checking in the cabin… we called the office that morning before checking in and they said they would save the reservations for one year… when we called back they denied they ever said… it would of been nice if they would of worked with us.

• Review fromEmily H

  Date: 06/12/2023

  1 star
  Wish we could give negative stars. My sister and her family booked a room with these people, and the online would only let her make a partial payment. She CALLED and was told she could pay the remaining balance in cash on checkin. She called to let them know they would be checking in late between 11-12 pm. She was NEVER told the office closed at 10 pm. Upon arrival they found the office closed, and were told a full payment must be made ONLINE before they could check in. She told them she had cash , because she was told she could pay in cash. She asked since she had paid a partial payment online, if they could checkin, and she would come in the morning to finish paying with cash. They were denied checkin after being lied to several times, and they had to go find a motel. Spending even more money since a deposit had already been made on this cabin. Called monday to see if they would resolve this matter since they were lied to multiple times. We were told a manager was busy and would call back. They never did. We called today, and the manager would not even pick up the phone. She just told the girl answering the phone it was all our fault, and there was nothing they could do. They refused to accept that whomever we talked to gave us the wrong information. They want to charge us for a cabin we never got to check in to. Absolute horrible service! Avoid this company at all cost!

• Review fromScott D

  Date: 06/09/2023

  1 star
  This place will take your deposit if you do not rebook within a year. Not a year from your arrival date a year from when you cancel. They give you no notice and just take your deposit. You can not get a manager to ever call you back and the employees on the phones are extremely rude. I was even hung up on by one employee because she was yelling at me and when I yelled back she said she didn’t have to listen to me I was told I had a year to rebook. They told me they would go back and listen to the calls and let me know but of course they never call you back. Also wish I would have looked at the reviews before I even booked because there are a lot of pictures on line of a lot of garbage and a lot of hazardous maintenance issues. Please review everything you can about this place before you book so that they don’t take $900 from you and your family and your vacation
  Thanks for ruining one families vacation
  Please don’t let yourself be next !!!!!!!

• Review fromKiy J

  Date: 05/31/2023

  1 star
  This place has scammed me out of money because of their wrongdoing!! What makes you think I have money to give away?

• Review fromBriana C

  Date: 05/04/2023

  1 star
  After driving 9 hours, I was told that the cabin wasn't ready. That it was still being cleaned. Check in was supposed to be at 4 p.m. Once in the cabin my group had to pretty much clean the cabin. We had to wash the sheets on the bed before we could sleep on them. A few people in the group went to purchase new sheets from Walmart. We had to sweep and mop the place. One of the bathrooms had black worms in the shower. there was roaches on the counter in the kitchen. There were no towels. We were going to grill, but there was no propane. The office finally had someone to bring the propane. After paying $6,500 for the trip, we did not get to use the indoor pool, nor did we get to use the hot tubs. Most of the remotes were without batteries. The thermostat on the lower level did not work so it was cold. There were 2 stoves only one worked. The sliding door did not lock so we had to find wood to lock the door with. The screen would stay on the slide doors. Some of the knobs was falling off as well. The only compensation that was offered was $500 for the cleaning. Nothing for not being able to utilize the amenities. This was by far the worst trip/experience.

• Review fromMarcia Y

  Date: 04/02/2023

  1 star
  The one star was to get attention! I am currently in a cabin that I’m still waiting on maintenance to show up for my broken oven, we cook here and my food is going to waste as well spending more on eating out, empty alcohol bottles left in porch in hot tub, hammock broke, one bed not made dirty dishes in cabinets I can go on!! I will be reaching out to a general manager and demanding some compensation or I will take to court . These pictures I have as well as with the chat support staff will be plenty for me to seek some type of compensation. Oh and fyi they call luxury cabins the blankets are worn and old and not a dresser or closet in this cabin ( I know not important ) but maybe before calling something a luxury cabin with tin on the ceilings it’s a little far fetched !

• Review fromSara I

  Date: 03/27/2023

  1 star
  Buyer beware! If you are planning a family reunion, please, please, please read their cancellation policy regarding refunding deposits. We planned a year in advance, we were all in... and, sadly, two people lost jobs, one has had to separate from his family due to work in a different state, one is dying of cancer, another family member's mother passed away, and due to the economy, some of us simply cannot afford to go now. We cancelled a good 5 months in advance. The resort has a waiting list and is able to schedule others in the cabins we are no longer able to use. But, the refund policy is solid - NO EXCEPTIONS! NONE! NADA! Our family is out thousands of dollars. Of course they said we could reschedule without a penalty up to a year. Ha! I know that I will NEVER go there. NEVER. I will also NEVER, ever, ever recommend The Cabins of the Smoky Mountains due to its outrageously unfair non-refundable deposit cancellation policy. By the way, I could absolutely understand keeping a small amount of the deposit, but ALL of it? No Way! Even cruise lines refund if cancelled by a certain date before departure. Even airlines will "bend" their policies for certain reasons. But not the greedy and unfeeling people of the Cabins of the Smoky Mountains! They are cheating people out of money and are probably jumping for joy that we had to cancel. I wonder if they get a bonus for that?
  If you want to go to the Smoky Mountains, you may want to consider the TN State Parks cabins as they have a reasonable cancellation policy: Group Reservations with meeting/conference space (10 or more rooms and meeting/conference space)
  45+ days prior to scheduled day of arrival: 100% refund of deposit
  30 – 44 days prior to scheduled day of arrival: 50% refund of deposit
  29 days or less prior to scheduled day of arrival: NO REFUND https://tnstateparks.com/about/policies

• Review fromKe G

  Date: 03/17/2023

  1 star
  The cabin they rented us was not in any condition to be rented. It was dirty throughout. The dishes and dishwasher were disgusting. No heat. The fireplace didn't have gas. We literally froze our first night. Then the next day we had to purchase our own heater. Furniture had food all over it and burn marks from cigarettes. Bugs. No comforters on the beds. I can go on and on. Then they had the nerve to only want to give me a partial refund for the dump they rented me. I would definitely recommend calling to find out all the details before renting from this company. The get zero stars from me. I do not recommend.

• Review fromEmma J

  Date: 03/16/2023

  1 star
  DO NOT STAY HERE. They DO NOT clean their cabins apparently. We checked in virtually at 5 PM. Upon entering the cabin, it looked okay. But the bedroom had sheets wadded up in a ball with a random woman’s top on top. The kitchen was dirty with food grease all over the counter. Soiled wet towels in the washer. Dirty unusable hot tub. We called, they sent a tech out to fix the issues of the dirty cabin. We return at 9 PM to the same state, only to find that the tech dropped off a set of clean sheets and towels. Touched nothing else. We called the front desk again. STEVEN gave us the answer of “every lodge is closed and we do not have linens available for you. - And to add to the answer of the soiled linens was: “I don’t care what you do with the linens, throw them outside, out of sight out of mind.” THAT IS THIS RESORTS CUSTOMER SERVICE. So yes, stay here if you want to pay $184 a night ,if you’re lucky for the low price to sleep on a sleeper mattress with only a top sheet on your first night. But don’t worry, they will compensate you after your entire stay. Pictures below for the cleanliness that we were greeted with.