Wilderness At The Smokies
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4 Reviews for Wilderness at the Smokies
25
10 families found this helpful
"Very Nice Hotel and Waterpark!"
We stayed in this hotel during a convention. It was a very nice themed hotel. The water parks were so cool! The convention area was very, very nice. One of our favorite parts was when we got to paint pottery in the Polka Dots Pottery shop. It was so much fun and the kids had a blast. This hotel is most certainly a come back place!
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0 families found this helpful
"A Great Family Hotel"
This hotel has everything you need for a great vacation...no need to leave the hotel! Wilderness at the Smokies is especially great in the winter. Their indoor water park kept my kids entertained all day long. They have been begging to go back for months. The food is a little pricey for the quality, but it is worth every penny to not have to leave the hotel!
0 families found this helpful
"Wilderness at the Smokies is great for kids!"
I gotta say, my kids would rate this MORE than 5 stars if they could. They had a BLAST! We were there for 3 days/2 nights. That was enough for my husband and me, but the kids would've probably stayed much longer!
First, the pluses ... it is totally, start to finish, designed for kids. The people are friendly, and, rarely for a place like this, once you are there (and the room rates are very high), the prices are actually reasonable. The restaurants and all the shops were relatively inexpensive, and the food was very good, and the items in the shops were high quality. And did I mention the kids had a blast? The combination of the different indoor/outdoor areas and the two different resorts kept them constantly entertained. They can't wait to go back.
A big downer for us, though - the rooms. They, frankly, SUCK. It's basically a Motel 6 type room with a $200 price tag. The mattresses are incredibly NOT comfortable, and the walls are PAPER thin. It's very hard to get a good night's sleep, as it's a pretty lively place and you hear noise from the halls all night long. Plus, you can also here everything - and I do mean everything - your neighbors are doing. And your kids can as well! I would MUCH rather have paid the same price (or even more) buying tickets to the water park and staying somewhere else. But, they don't have that as an option.
Another key thing is - without the outdoor parks, it's not all that. The parts that are indoors would get old fairly quickly, so just a warning to those of you considering going in the winter. Even though it's the South, it does get cold here, and the outdoor parks are not open in the winter.
For us, because we go to Gatlinburg at least once a year, we JUST did this resort. We didn't go to any outside restaurants or shows or any other attractions. So our experience may be different from yours if you're planning to stay here as a base while you tour the Smokies and all the attractions this area has to offer.
'10, '11, '12
1 family found this helpful
"Water parks, restaurants, and golf right out your front door!"
We spent two exciting and fun-filled nights at Wilderness at the Smokies with my 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son. My son is already begging to go back to the “water park sleep place” and my daughter wants to know why we don’t have a water slide in our backyard. Except for the minor snafu of waiting in the wrong check in area, the rest of our two day stay was a dream. A note to the wise: be sure to check which lodge you are staying in before you get everyone out of the car!
Cheerful, kind, and helpful staff -
From the minute we walked in the doors of our lodge, everyone was so friendly. Every employee we encountered (with the exception of two that must have been having a bad day), from the front desk staff to the water park staff and lifeguards, was cheery, kind and helpful.
Rooms are comfortable -
The hotel room that we stayed in was your typical two queen bed hotel room with a table and two chairs, another more comfy lounge chair, a TV, bathroom, refrigerator, microwave, and trashcan. Oooooh…the trashcan. How can a trashcan be such an amazing part of a hotel room? This trashcan was a full size trashcan. Not one of those silly little hotel trashcans that hold three crumpled up pieces of paper and is suddenly full. The kids especially loved the balcony overlooking the parking lot! The temperature in the room is controlled on the unit and we were able to make it as warm (after the water play) or as cool (during the hot southern evenings) as we wanted. The room and bathroom were both clean and still had that new hotel room smell.
Good location a short drive from many attractions -
The hotel is located in the mountains of Sevierville in the Smoky Mountains. It is near many touristy shops and restaurants and is a short drive from Downtown Sevierville. It is only about 15-20 minutes from Gatlinburg, but if you are planning to head to Gatlinburg budget time into your itinerary for the awful traffic that you will encounter. It did not help that there was lots of construction on the roads that you take. The hotel is not near any public transportation that we could see but there is a shuttle that runs back forth to each side of the resort. We never had to wait for a shuttle for more than three minutes at a time.
On property restaurants a little pricey -
We stayed in the Stone Hill Lodge and there was one restaurant available. The restaurant was a bit pricey for our tastes so we took our dining business to the other side of the resort. We had dinner at the Thirsty Miner which offers lots of choices ranging from pizza, sandwiches, and a buffet. Kids eat free with each adult entrée purchased. Since the buffet was VERY pricey (17.95 a person) we chose to order a pizza. The pizza tasted good but it took about 35 minutes to come out during a time when the restaurant had only a handful of people dining. We ordered an ice cream dessert and twenty minutes later the dessert had not come out so we cancelled the order. If we ate at the restaurant again, we would probably spend the extra money to eat at the buffet so that we weren’t waiting. There are several family options for takeout as well. There are also snack shops available at both water park areas that sell things like sandwiches, hamburgers and chicken at a decent price. This is a great option if you don’t want to leave the water park area for lunch. There are several dining options off of the hotel premises as well including fast food, a diner, and Cracker Barrel.
Good security -
As far as security goes, there is a safe in each room and the parking lots are well lit at night. At one point, my husband had gone downstairs with the kids while I stayed in the room. When I was ready to go, I ran out the door without my camera and a room key of my own. The maid staff was working right next door so I asked if they could let me back in to the room so that I could grab my camera. They apologized profusely but said that they could not let me in the room and I needed to head down to the front desk (or find my husband with the key). In retrospect, I realize it would have been inappropriate for them to let me in even though they saw me walk out of the room just a few seconds before.
We would definitely stay here again. The website often runs specials for the hotel. When looking at the hotel cost, remember that you are also getting water park admission for your whole family.
*This review is based on a complimentary stay at Wilderness in the Smokies and Water park. I received no other compensation and the business owner did not state any requirements that I express a particular point of view
Check-In: 11 a.m.
Check-Out: 4 p.m.
Website:
http://www.wildernessatthesm...
Phone:
(877) 325-9453
Recreational Facilities:
Pool
Kiddie Pool
Services:
In house Restaurant
WIFI
Children's Equipment
Full size cribs
High chair
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