Great Smoky Mtn Cabin: 4 Acres, 3 Mi to Gatlinburg

Reviews

• Not A Cabin Experience

  3/5

  Honestly if you are going to the smokies to spend time at a cabin and just rest this one isn’t for you. Although the outside looks like a cabin the inside is very much out of date and what appears to have been a duplex at one time. The driveway is steep and the loose gravel are the cause to need 4 wheel drive. This rental is close to town but in a quiet area. Rental is clean for the most part but is due a deep cleaning. If you are just looking for a place to sleep and not hang out this is for uou.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Michelle, the right vacation home is everything, and we're disappointed if this wasn't the one for you. We followed up with the homeowner after reading your feedback, and they wanted to share the following:
  - We're very glad you and your children found my Great Smoky Mountains Getaway restful and convenient to all Gatlinburg has to offer.
  - As stated in the listing, 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive is highly recommended to access the property safely. We're sorry to hear that caught you off guard.
  - We ensure the listing photos are accurate so guests can determine before booking if our cabin suits their preferences.
  - We're glad you found the cabin clean. We'll ensure it's cleaned thoroughly for our future guests.
  Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback.

• The steep Drive way

  3/5

  When we arrived at the property (30 minutes before check in) and was making our way up the long steep drive there was a tree over the drive way preventing us from making it the rest of the way up. Contacted the property owner about the tree, she wanted to know if we could just walk the rest of the way up. That was not possible as we had my elderly mother with us. She said she would get someone on getting the tree removed. So we headed into town to waste several hours on waiting for the tree to be removed. It took 3 hours for the tree to be removed. The property owner offered us no compensation for our inconveniences. We did find that there was some dusting of the shades in the dining and living room that needed to be done as well as the light fixtures over the kitchen sink needed to be cleaned. We did have a wonderful time despite the beginning of our trip.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Family Christmas Vacation

  4/5

  We had a group of 7 people and had no problems with sleeping arrangements. Two king size beds and 4 twin over full size bunk beds. The two kitchens was a little weird but if cooking a lot of food it helps. Two refrigerators also was nice. Only issue was the game system had its cord locked up in bottom of the cabinet so couldn’t play it.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Maintenance Issues

  3/5

  First of all the driveway is no joke. The owner should really consider lights along the steep and curvy driveway. Secondly, because of the driveway they should have had maintenance or a landscaper with a leaf blower clear it and the porches and the fire pit area prior to guest arrival. The left side of the unit had no hot water because there was an issue with a brand new hot water heater that was installed by an unqualified maintenance man. We had two days of hot water on the left side. So that meant 6 adults and 4 kids had to share one shower all week. The owner needs to take more time and put more into owning this property instead of leaving it to 3rd parties to handle everything. And email was the only line of communication with her. Also there’s a block on the thermostats and it was quite hot for our week and we couldn’t turn the air down last 70. That was inconvenient. And the game table does not work. The kids were pretty disappointed. This place has a lot of potential. Just needs a little more attention and effort put into it.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Rebecca, we want our guests to rest easy when they stay with us, and we're sorry that you experienced some issues during your trip. We followed up with the homeowner after reading your feedback, and they wanted to share the following:
  - I have gone to great lengths, including posting photos of the driveway and the parking area on the listing to advise incoming guests of the driveway. The driveway is well established, 45 years old, wide enough for two cars to pass each other, and it is and will always remain graveled.
  - I regularly blow the leaves on the property, and around the immediate area of the home, such as at the fire pit; however, blowing the leaves before every guest is not a possibility. Right now, I am blowing leaves on the property about every three weeks and will maintain this schedule until the first of the year, when hopefully all the leaves will finally have fallen off the trees.
  - The pre-arrival inspection of the home discovered the water heater was leaking water from the top valve, and it had to be replaced. I hired a plumber to install a new water heater and removed the old heater. There are two heaters, one for each side of the home, and the heater on the right side was working perfectly.
  - As soon as you informed me of an issue with the heater, I immediately contacted the plumber, and he returned to the home to complete the repair and restore the hot water to the left side. When you emailed that there still wasn’t hot water on the left side, I contacted a different maintenance worker, and they resolved the issue and restored the hot water to the left side of the property.
  - I promptly responded to each communication and got maintenance men on-site the same day to address the issues as they unfolded.
  - The game table was also checked in the pre-inspection of the home. The table was working at that time. I never heard from your group about the game table; I would've been happy to instruct you on how to operate it.
  Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!

• Great House, Terrible Communication

  3/5

  This was a very nice house to stay in for a group of ten people, great size and it was clean and the beds were nice and comfy. However, I never once was able to get in touch with the property owner. The morning of our trip, I still hadn't received any check in information or instructions, and I couldn't get a hold of Evolve Vacation Rentals (who the listing is through) or the property owner themselves, because the phone number in the listing doesn't work. I finally had to get on the phone with VRBO help and they were able to get a hold of the property owner another way and forward me the check in information, but it was stressful having to be on the phone all morning while driving to the house and if I wouldn't have reached out, we would have had no idea how to get in or anything. Additionally, it is listed on the very bottom of the FAQs but it should be listed first thing, you literally CANNOT access the house without a four wheel drive. Luckily, we had two four wheel drives within our group of cars and we could shuttle people up the long steep driveway, but our other SUV would not make it at all, and we again couldn't get a hold of the property owner to ask about alternative parking. The driveway is way too long to walk too, so you have to have at least one four wheel drive in your group to take things up to the house, even if some people do park somewhere else. We ended up having to park in a church parking lot nearby and we didn't even hear back from Evolve until the next afternoon on if this was allowed or if they had somewhere else for us to park. The house itself was nice, I just wish the check in process and the communication were better.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Rachel, thanks for taking the time to review your stay. After reading your feedback, the homeowner wanted to share the following:
  We truly apologize that the correct phone number was not provided in the pre-stay information. We have since made the necessary corrections. We also encourage our guests to thoroughly review the listing before booking to ensure our cabin suits their needs. Thanks again for sharing your feedback!