The Lodges at the Great Smoky Mountains

The Lodges worked well for us overall, and I’d stay again. It’s close to Pigeon Forge’s main attractions without being right in the middle of the crowds. We booked through our Capital Vacations accounts. The beds were nice but a bit firm, so as a side sleeper I had to sleep on my back. Construction was underway for an expansion, though no work was happening while we were there. Our balcony looked out on the unfinished area, but seeing the Island ferris wheel was really cool. The road up to the Lodges needs repairs, with two manholes sticking up enough to watch for, especially since leaves hid one and the other looked nearly level as we drove out. At check-in, the printed WiFi details were wrong. The person at the desk insisted the password was right even though the network listed didn’t exist, and told us to try others. Two other networks failed before a third worked. Our fire alarm sounded for two minutes the next morning, then stopped. I reported it, and she said she’d check with her supervisor about having maintenance look at it. We also noticed a faint propane smell, mostly in the living room by the gas fireplace. They said they might check it, but I don’t know if anyone did, and the smell stayed through our visit. The alarm didn’t sound again. Some pots were dirty when I took them out to cook. We weren’t offered an apology or compensation for any of this. When I called about checking in early, about an hour before check-in, the woman who answered wasn’t very friendly. She said she’d called but no one answered. I was busy then, didn’t recognize the missed number, and she left no voicemail. She wanted to confirm the phone number and seemed put out that it was mine rather than my husband’s, even though both our names were on the account. He was the primary, but I handle our travel plans, and that’s never been a problem elsewhere. In the end she had called to say we could check in, and a voicemail would have been helpful.