Mountain Meadows

The carpet was gross, there were bugs on the ceiling, the lighting was dim, the walls looked dingy, and the place smelled odd. The second bedrooms all have twin beds, and the furniture looked like it was from the 60s or 70s. I was afraid to sit on it. It felt like a daily rental for construction workers, and if this is someone's first look at a timeshare presentation, it's a bad one. I'd give it a -10 if I could. Run for the mountains, say no, and get out.

The unit was clean once we finally got inside, and the person who cleaned it worked as fast as possible and did a great job. It's a little dated, but not bad. The furniture wasn't comfortable, though it was in good condition, and the AC and appliances all worked well. The stairwell is steep, so it could be tough if you have knee problems. It's a nice place away from the main drag and a good deal compared with places we've stayed before. We arrived at 4, as the text said, but no one was in the office. Only one person had been assigned to clean all the units, so we waited two hours to get in. I had to wait outside because I couldn't get a signal in the office, in weather around 98 degrees. Not fun.

The location is convenient, close to downtown Gatlingburg, and the hot water was very hot. The bed and pillows were comfortable, and there was a bleach smell when we walked into the room. But cleaning clearly wasn't a priority. It looked like someone had wiped a few things down, yet the floor was filthy and hadn't even been vacuumed. There was food on it, crumbs in the bathroom, dust on the windows and on top of the fridge, where you could write your name. The carpet edges along the walls looked as if they hadn't been vacuumed in decades. The underground parking is awful for anything bigger than a compact car. My husband is a disabled vet, and the four accessible parking spots were rows away from the elevators. The large outdoor tiles looked at least 40 years old, and pulling a suitcase over them was difficult for both of us, especially since I have a broken hip. The hotel looks like it could have been lovely years ago, but it seems unchanged since the 70s. The shower was fitted over the bathtub, and getting into it meant stepping up as if onto a stage. Our room wasn't “cleaned” on time, so we couldn't enter until about 4:45. After driving since 6 a.m., we were tired and wanted to settle in. We exchanged through Diamond Resorts, but won't do that again. Two stars is generous. We'll still make the best of it and enjoy ourselves despite the accommodations.

We waited an hour and 20 minutes for anyone to check us in. The person who eventually arrived sat in her car for another five minutes before going inside. At first, the sign's phone number got us a promise that someone would be there in 20 minutes because the worker had gone home sick, but nobody showed up, so we called again after an hour. We were told check-in was only between 4 and 5 p.m. Our key wasn't in the late box because we were supposed to tell her, even though we weren't late. Then, when I signed a paper, I saw they had charged another $250 on top of the $1,255 we had already paid. Nobody had told me about that. We sat there wishing we'd picked somewhere else. This was a terrible experience, and we won't stay here again.