Lake Junaluska Conference And Retreat Center — Attraction in Waynesville

We recently got married in Waynesville and 100% of our guests were traveling from out of town, so we arranged our room blocks at The Lambuth Inn and The Terrace Hotel at Lake Junaluska. We also had a rehearsal dinner and welcome party at the Lakeside Tent. Unfortunately, planning this event and booking the room block was by far the most stressful part of planning our wedding. We had started working with Kelley in 2024 to secure the date and from the start, and communication was seriously lacking. It would take weeks and multiple follow ups to get any sort of response from Kelley, but we tried to give some grace because we were still months away from our event; however, the situation did not improve. When we booked our room block in January, Kelley stated in the email that a roster could be requested at any time. I requested a roster on 5/24. We followed up multiple times via email and phone call, but did not receive any response until 6/17/2025, after I called another line and had a colleague follow up. In the months leading up to the wedding, there were several times that it took over 3 weeks to get any sort of response back from Kelley. I had requested to have a meeting to discuss the rehearsal dinner/welcome party menu selections with no response. In the beginning of August, less than one month until our event, we still had not made our menu selections and had not heard from Kelley in several weeks, but finally received an email from her letting us know that Valentina would be filling her role as the event coordinator and would be reaching out shorty. We were optimistic and excited to get the ball rolling. Valentina is kind, but unfortunately was thrown into a situation with limited time and even less information. We had a meeting on 8/27 to discuss menu selections finally, and Valentina let us know that she would send over a BEO as soon as possible (our event was 9/12, so we were really falling behind). I followed up on 8/28 regarding the BEO, and Valentina responded on 9/2 that some of our elections were not available. I responded that day with our updated elections, and she responded on 9/3 with a floor plan - still no BEO. I requested the BEO again. The estimate was finally sent to me on 9/8 at 5:52 pm and was WAY over the budget that was previously discussed with Kelley, but could have been fixed by swapping one menu item. I called as soon as I saw the email (11 minutes later) and left a voicemail. I also immediately followed up via email. In both the email and voicemail, I detailed the exact change that I wanted to proceed with. After no response for two days, I followed up. Valentina let me know that the estimate could not be changed. After months of being ignored, following up with no response, and a complete lack of communication we were told that we were responsible, as we should have solidified our menu options 30 days before the event. We rolled with the punches and tried to stay optimistic, as this event was kicking off the best weekend of our lives. At the welcome party, I finally had a minute to make myself a plate from the grazing board. As I picked up a plate and finally went to grab food, the servers came and took the board out from under me. I shrugged it off and went to grab from the other station and the same thing happened. I spoke to a server and was informed that there was a strict time limit on the food - this was not communicated to me at all! I did not even get a bite of the food we served to our guests. The views are beautiful, the rooms are decent, but the overall experience was so disappointing. I truly don't like to leave negative reviews for anything, so it has been killing me to write this, but I would not wish this experience on any other couples that plan to host...

Photos and directions were misleading. Last minute, 2 weeks before Christmas, I rented a home overlooking Lake Junaluska for 5 days including Christmas Day. The rental was through lakejunaluska.com and I paid in full when I made the reservation for six (4 adults and 2 children). They were emphatic as to arrival time - DO NOT arrive before 4 PM. I arrived after dark (on December 22nd) to find the very steep driveway did not extend to the main entrance. I had been informed the driveway was steep but was not informed that it stopped at the basement level where a tenant lives and parks. We had rented the main and upper floors of the two-story home. There was room for the tenant's car and one more, and barely room to turn around in such a way as to be headed back down the driveway rather than down the hill into the lake. The only way to access the main entrance was from that lower level, via 2 sets of narrow stone steps. Six people and baggage will not fit into one car. It would have been difficult to get baggage up those steps. I tried to reach someone on the after hours line to no avail. I drove up and down the street to see if there was any way to access the main entrance. I left messages at several numbers and waited for a response. I stayed elsewhere overnight. The next morning I missed a call and found a voice message informing me a neighbor had reported a problem with the plumbing in the rental house and the plumber may have to get in! I called to cancel my reservation and was informed there would be NO REFUND. ||I submitted a review on their website on December 24 but it was not posted. ||I received an e-mail from the conference center on December 26, requesting that I submit a review of my stay (they were aware I had never set a foot in the place). ||I submitted the review per their request and it has not...

Beautiful setting but very unacceptable accommodations. I was there with my daughter for a week in July. We booked an apartment. I knew from the online photos that it wasn’t going to be a fancy place, but we don’t mind sparse as long as it’s clean. When we arrived at the room it was clear that the carpets were filthy, lots of visible spots and spills. Not until we went into the bedroom did i notice how dirty. There was hard brown stuff ground into the rug and dried there, right next to the bed. It was beyond disgusting. I let the staff know immediately. After about 36-48 hours they responded and said they would come clean the carpet. I was grateful! Right before they showed up i discovered a good sized spider crawling in my bed. I contacted staff again telling them that they needed to come change the bedding and spray for bugs. At this point i was so grossed out but only had a few more nights so i figured we’d tough it out. Staff brought us new bedding (they did not change it for us bed left it in a stack by the bed) cleaned the rug and sprayed the windowsills. When my daughter pointed out that there were visible gaps been the doors and the frame where the bugs might be getting in, the staff member didn’t respond and seemed annoyed. (We also had a fair amount of fruits flies/gnats and houseflies in the room). I was hopeful that the issues were over, but the next night as my daughter was about to go to sleep she noticed another spider in the bed! It was late so we just took care of it, barely slept for fear that there were more, and felt excited to leave the next day! When i checked out i left a message for the manager with a staff member, and I left him a voicemail requesting a call back. It’s been 3 days and I haven’t heard anything…don’t expect to. It’s shame the maintenance of the rooms is so poor! We will...