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where to stay in smokie mountains near dollywood?

partgypsy

Ideal_Rock
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Nov 7, 2004
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Hey all I am planning a stay to visit Dollywood and hopefully hike in the Smokie Mountains. We are thinking of booking through dollywood (star crest resorts) the cabins, but didn't know if anyone would have any other recommendations for cabins to stay at?

We would like to be near Dollywood and but also have a pretty view of the mountains. A hot tub wouldn't hurt as well.
Seems like there are a number of resorts as well as individual cabins to the point I am confused.
 
No one? Well I had put a deposit on a cabin that was affiliated with Dollywood, but the perk they offered (a particular ticket combo) we weren't going to use anyways (buying a different ticket) so I ended up reserving a different cabin that's slightly less expensive but still nice. Both places sounded like they have nice views, but aren't particularly secluded. Myself I think that if I were going myself or my husband I would pick a more secluded place, but my close to 80 dad is driving and we are coming with the kids so just as well not driving on steep obscure roads this time around. Hopefully it will still feel relatively private.
 
Hi!

My husband and I stopped in Gatlinburg TN a few years ago. We stayed at The Park Vista Hotel near downtown.

The hotel was great. If you want the views of the mountains and to be right in the mix, this is a option for you. Totally unobstructed views, every room has a balcony, so have that serenity and peace--but you have the ease of staying at a resort. The grounds, atop the mountain, mind you, have chairs set out for taking in the majesty of the view. When I was looking it up, I noticed that it's now a "Double Tree" hotel, so you'd probably have even better accommodations than we had, because I don't think it was Hilton owned when we stayed. There is a pool, water slide and hot tub. The food was alright, but being so centrally located, you have some pretty main stream restaurants you can choose from, too.

I do have to say, however, that when we checked in and got to our room, there was a notice/flyer from the hotel cautioning guests on what to do if wildlife approached the room. A big thing was bears, which was okay by me...but they made a special point of mentioning the spiders, asking if you found one to please "return it to nature". I was grossed out, major fear of spiders right here :errrr: . But, when we got home, I did notice that a spider had webbed itself into the outside mirror of my car...so sick, I think I had a full on melt down outside the CVS when I saw it--it was HUGE. I killed it. Oh well.

The drive up to the grounds of the hotel is kind of scary...it feels like a straight incline, very steep. We saw people walking it a couple of times and I just couldn't imagine how bad their legs must be burning!

You're right downtown Gatlinburg, which is fun. It's very, very touristy. The shops are full of trinkets, candies, tee-shirts. The aquarium is awesome, you should stop by. Basically, the whole town (when we were there in 2008 I believe) was run by Ripley's Believe It Or Not...everything attraction-wise was one of theirs.

If you have time, and it's a serious drive on the backroads, there is also a petting zoo--can't remember where exactly or a name but you can find the flyers in the attraction stands basically everywhere, sorry--but it has a Zonkey, which was hysterical and very animated....oh, and a bagillion kangaroo's running a muck, too. It was like Dr. Doolittle's Farm. If we ever go back, I will hunt that place down. I really, really liked it. And, seriously, the drive out isn't so bad, there are a lot of little roadside stands where they cut crystals and rocks and whatnot, which is worth a walk through.
 
OMG Gypsy this is my FAVORITE AREA! Pigeon Forge is fun, but it's what surrounds it that's best! There are cabin rentals available not too far outside of Pigeon Forge. I'll try to get the name of ours for you. They have heart shaped jacuzzis in the cabins and we had bears at the back door!

MAKE SURE you go to Cade's Cove which is about 20 or so mins away. It is a historical land preserve and you will see houses built by settlers and deer so close you can touch them and bears and coyotes and foxes and all kinds of birds!
 
Stayed at a Marriott (courtyard) in Gatlinburg 10 years ago. Hotel was nice, but this was 10 years ago.

FYI - Don't bring an expensive purse to Dollywood. You get wet on almost every ride.
 
Here is the view from the room... It's up in the mountains above the Smoky Mountain National Park.

DSC02345.JPG
 
Nice picture of the view!

Thanks for the feedback! I vacillated and then went back to the one that is affiliated with Dollywood. So lodging is set. However if we enjoy our time we definitely would be open for ideas for next time.
Yes I love to hear ideas about what is worth visiting. We are going to get tickets so we will spend 3 days doing Dollywood/splash park, but then we will have one free day. Personally I'd like to go somewhere scenic I can walk (Cades cove sounds interesting!) but we might do at least 1 other activity, like zip lining or something for the kids.
I'd love to hear suggestions of good places/trail that are scenic, or must do activities.
I wish we could do some gem mining too :Up_to_something: , but as we are there for only 4 days, probably won't have time.
 
I did gem mining and ended up with a lovely 4 ct citrine and a 3 ct garnet. I'm sure it's all a set up sort of thing, but it was fun anyways...

We did some great hikes while we were there. Cades Cove is really lovely, so I would recommend seeing it. We also did Chimney Tops (Pretty intense hike, not for people who aren't in somewhat decent shape. Not that you aren't, but i'm just saying...) There are tone of hiking trails around there, and everywhere has beautiful mountain views.
 
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