This was our third stay at Wilderness at the Smokies...and our last. Our first two stays were decent, I wouldn't say great, but not bad. We loved the waterparks and that made up for any cons we experienced in the hotel. This time, that was not the case. For starters, Wilderness is crazy expensive. At the cheapest, no matter what time of year, you're going to pay $300 a night for a normal hotel room. Even during winter when only one waterpark is open. I had my reservation with my charges I owed at checkout, itemized to include all taxes and fees. When I get there, I had the 10% discount they give you for a future stay. With my discount, my total came up to $200 more than my reservation. The woman at the front desk from the getgo was just very unwelcoming, but after I told her the rates were not right, then she just became downright rude. She kept trying to tell me my rate didn't include the resort fee, but when I showed her the line literally for resort fee, she then said the same for taxes...and then I showed her the line for taxes being included and then she pulled out her phone and calculated it. The hotel then was INSANELY busy. I know it was Labor Day weekend, but that has kind of been our annual trip now to stay there on Labor Day weekend and the previous years have been maybe half the people that were there this time. We tried to go over to Soaky Mountain and ended up leaving not long after because not only were there insane lines even for the small kiddy areas, but when we tried to get in the Lazy river, it was like a free for all fight getting floats. Me trying to get 4 floats for me, my two kids and my mom was almost impossible. People were trying to yank it from my hands. Even after you're in your float, people will block the river and try to get the float. We just left cause that's just not really our idea of fun. We've realized we're just not the kind of people for big attractions with large groups like that because we noticed it seems to bring out the worst of a lot of people...people passing lines like crazy, people not moving over if you say 'excuse me', people willing to knock you over and step on you to pass you, etc...And then after a long day of walking and being super exhausted and you just want a good night's rest...nope...the people above us were SOOO loud. For hours. It sounded like kids jumping off the bed onto the floor. It sounded like they were just beating on the floor. It went from 6am to well past 11 pm. We finally called the front desk at one point and nothing happened. When we checked out, we were told we had an outstanding balance for things we charged to the room...well not only did we not charge anything to the room, but the charges were for places we hadn't even gone! We also tried to have dinner one night at one of their restaurants-Tacolicious. We spent as much for us to eat as we do going to a steak house or Golden Corral. The tacos were insanely small, and then they were terrible. My mom even said, "I'm so sorry that you spent all that money on this, cause those are the worst tacos I've ever eaten."
This past January, we stayed at Westgate Resorts in Gatlinburg and they have an indoor waterpark. We were treated so great, even though we had paid for one of the cheaper rooms. They upgraded us to a studio, with a kitchenette, laundry room, separate bedroom and living room, as well as 3 pools and hot tubs, playground, and the indoor waterpark. Everyone, from the front desk to the concierges, to the info desk, to the security were so kind and awesome. And the rooms are beautiful! I believe that will now be our new go to and I'm actually bummed I spent so much money there at Wilderness.
It was a lesson learned and regardless of all that, we had good quality time together with my kids and my mom. We had a good time enjoying the hot tub, the waterslides and the kaleidoscope lazy river and regardless of not being happy with the hotel, I am incredibly grateful for the time and adventures and the laughs with my family.
