Aunt Bug's Cabin Rentals — Attraction in Pigeon Forge

We had a cabin booked for months and on the way there we received a call from the rental company specifying that the cabin we were heading for was on a well-water system and something had gone wrong and the filtration system needed to be replaced. We would have no usage of the hot tub and the ability to use the water for cooking purposes or drinking purposes. The CSR told us someone would be over the following morning to fix everything and that it would not get in the way of our family’s vacation, but I somehow didn’t believe that.

I had to plan something quickly because I had other people coming on this vacation with us that I didn’t want to disappoint. We used a customer support line and booked a chalet with Aunt Bugs and got a refund for the other cabin. There were very few chalets available through multiple booking companies so this is what we had to settle with and the cabin was named “Hugged by the Smokies.”

None of the photos of this place that I pulled up on my phone showed the 70° incline we’d have to take to get up that mountain to the chalet, and there was only one review to go by. Everyone involved was on edge by the time we got out of our vehicles. We were all scared to death. I have stayed at many chalets and none were as treacherous as this drive.

To give a review of the actual chalet:

On the top floor, it was basically just a loft bedroom and a bathroom connected to it. The bathroom was not ideal. There was a window next to the bathtub with absolutely no covering and it was facing another chalet off in the distance. I had to place a towel up to offer some privacy.

The bathtub had some weird grime caked on the bottom of it that would not come off. And two pubic hairs were also on the tub floor. 🤮 The smoke detector right outside before you descend the stairs was also disarmed (front panel was hanging off).

Wth the main floor came extremely uncomfortable furniture and the oddly placed security camera overlooking the deck (pointing at nothing obvious), so I’m not sure how much we were being spied on or our conversations listened to.

On the bottom floor, the thermostat would only allow you to “override” any settings for a temporary time before it automatically defaulted back to a temperature in this sixties. We were freezing because the outside temps were in the upper 30s and lower 40s at night.

The one bed in the lower bedroom was a spring mattress and the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. The bathroom toilet was not sealed properly at the bottom so a puddle of water stayed there and we had to put a towel down. It also smelled like mildew in there.

The sink did not drain properly, so brushing teeth was impossible because water kept backing up since it couldn’t get drained fast enough. The toilet water rose up before it went down when you flushed too.

Overall, the shower water pressure was also some of the worst I’ve ever experienced. I would compare it to taking a watering can and just sprinkling it over your head. It was so light.

Nobody in my party wanted to leave the chalet because we were too terrified, so we we were stuck up there. We vowed that if we went down the mountain, we were going to stay down the mountain, so my partner tried to contact a CSR from Aunt Bugs and explained everything.

The CSR only offered an upgrade and tried to downplay everything before dryly saying “upgrade or stay!” to my partner. We were left with no options and in the end, had to spend more money anyways because we received the luck of finding a chalet with a host that we had used before about a year ago.

Halfway through the vacation we packed up our belongings and white knuckled it down the mountain, which was hardly wide enough for two vehicles to even pass by each other on those treacherous declines. The rest of our stay was much more pleasant elsewhere and where we went didn’t leave us feeling like we were going to die. We left the new, better, CLEANER chalet many times on the rest of our vacation and actually got to get out...

Here is an accurate review of our stay at Mountain Momma.

NEVER AGAIN WILL MY FAMILY USE THIS COMPANY (Aunt Bugs Cabin Rental) We rented this cabin specifically because it had a hot tub. Most cabin rentals in the area are equipped with tubs and therefore we could have chose many others, but we chose this one.

Upon arrival we found a cute little cabin that appeared just fine. One of the first things we did, check out the tub! We were exited to wake up in the mornings, soak in the tub while drinking a cup of coffee. Additionally, relaxing in the tub would have been a fun way to end the evening with the kids.

We opened the cover and THE SMELL! Green water, a ball of human hair the size of a base ball stuck in the intake screen, and three large piles of green algae. A sign directly across from the tub read "your hot tub water was drained, refilled, and chemically balanced prior to your arrival. Obviously this wasn't the case.

We texted photos to Aunt Bugs Cabin rental who manages the property. They advised they'd send out a pool tech in the morning. Pool tech came later the next day and dumped - refilled the water. He stated "wow, this water hasn't been addressed in a month or two at least".

Unfortunately, as the very nasty water was in the pump, lines, etc. 24 hours later, the water was right back to a horrible stink. It was so bad we could not have the side cabin door open. In the end, out of our entire stay at the cabin, we were only able to use the tub one time. Huge bummer.

During our stay we also used the sink the first night and the handle fell right off. We used the main level shower and the shower door fell off. The pull out couch was busted and collapsed to the point where you couldn't even sit on it. The upstairs shower had black mold, the screen door on the hot tub room was completely busted letting in all the bugs. The screens on the porch with the hut tub were also ripped letting in bugs. The deck / porch was so covered in spider webs and huge spiders we couldn't even use it.

We called the company (Aunt Bugs) and first talked with manager Steven. This person should not be a manager and is the most rude, unprofessional person ever. Upon explaining the situation to him he told me to stop talking and then proceeded to talk for five straight minutes. He did not once listen to our concerns or what we experienced. Steven also told me I was a liar and there hot tub was cleaned just prior to my arrival. I asked Steven if he was looking at the photos I texted in and also has he talked with the tech his company sent out. I wish I could have recorded the call so his upper management could have heard how he talks with customers.

On the next business day, I requested to speak with the top manager Bob. He would not take my call and had his lower manager Erik speak with me. Erik was kind and professional but in the end told me that every cabin in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area had a hot tub and there was nothing they would do for us. He also told me they have proof via photos that the tub was serviced 3 days prior to our arrival. I explained to Erik that a baseball size ball of hair must have then magically appeared on the intake screen and the smell of dead body water and green algae must have all grown in three days. As a 20 year hot tub owner this is not possible. Eric did not once address the other issues of ripped screens, black mold, broken shower door, broken faucet handle, unusable patio / deck, or the broken couch.

Eric offered to send out a free one night stay if we ever drove a thousand miles back to the Smoky Mountains. This was said to be sent via email. That voucher never showed up.

I did advise Eric that I would be submitting an accurate review of our stay. He told me, "absolutely, if you had all these issues you should absolutely post the review. This is the only way things will change".

This is a HORRIBLE company. You have been warned. If you have issues, don't expect anything...

220 AMET WAY, COSBY, TN 37722 Nov, 2022

Could be a nice cabin if it wasn't dirty & poorly maintained. Made for a bad first trip to Gatlinburg.

Just to give a point of reference, I own a cleaning company and clean homes and Airbnb's. The cleanliness of this cabin was terrible. When our teams perform a turnover clean, we take pride in knowing we left the units in the best possible condition. We have never had a complaint and get top reviews for the cleanliness of the units. This place was not fully cleaned prior to our stay. Mechanical issues were not corrected prior to our arrival. It looked as if the only cleaning completed was the toilets, sinks, and maybe some light spot sweeping.

None of these issues would have been corrected had we called to report them. Just read the other 1 star reviews and look at the pictures. Aunt Bug's does a terrible job on maintaining some of their properties, this being one of them. Over $3k for 4 night stay and $300+ cleaning fee! Pretty sure Aunt Bug is a vacation rental slum lord. Go with another company and avoid the headaches.

Only plus to this unit was seeing a bear close by in the yard.

Issues found:

See pics for some of the issues found

Extremely dusty fans/lights

Dust/grease stuck to the ceiling and light above stove exhaust fan

Dead bugs in the light fixtures, window sills, and on the floor.

Sticky floor by pool table

Dining table and kitchen counter tops were sticky

Refrigerator smelled bad

Walking in the house with socks/barefoot resulted in the bottoms of your feet/socks turning black

No pillow covers on any pillows

Extra pillows dingy yellow and appeared to be very old

Spots and stains on several of the pillow cases/sheets

Many light bulbs not working or very dim

Several smoke detectors didn't work, one with battery removed

Fire extinguishers inspected in 2018

1 extinguisher was bad, no inspection tag on it

Black mold in double queen bunk bed bathroom and closet. Closet had lots of mold

Broken window shades

Front door knob nearly falling apart

1 bedroom door knob falling off, I tightened screws

Exhaust fan to remove humidity in pool had window screen behind plastic lattice. The screen was entirely plugged by dirt, appears to never have been serviced

Two dehumidifiers in the pool room, only one worked

Working dehumidifier vibrated terribly, it was directly below our room, loud when trying to sleep

Dead bolt lock in pool room requires you move a plate on the door frame to allow lock to operate

Dead bolt on swimming pool room didn't work

Door from the swimming pool room to the 1/2 bath had a dead bolt and lock on the door handle, neither of which worked. Not being able to open the 1/2 bath door, you would have to walk through the house to use bathroom

Ice maker didn't work

Water dispenser on fridge only dribbled

Light switch for overhead light in the kitchen located by the 1/2 bathroom was failing

Only one light on the back porch

No lights in or near the hot tub

Hot tub smelled moldy

Floating chlorine dispenser in hot tub was empty, mold growing on it

Light in the pool not working

Swimming pool room extremely humid and smelled of mold

Pool may have been heated, wasn't very warm or pleasant to swim in

Pool cover was not on the pool when we arrived

Aluminum roller for pool cover had deteriorated and was broken in the middle, extremely difficult to roll up/out

Handrail for the pool boken due to corrosion, laying on floor by pool steps

The two arcade games playable. Racing game missing 3rd gear, Pac-Man joystick didn't work correctly

Theater room had old projection TV still installed. Big LCD TV added to replace the projection TV

7 different remotes in theater, 3 required to operate TV, surround, and DVD

1 of the 7 remotes had batteries, they were dead. Bought batteries just to use the theater equipment

DVD/Surround wiring was not set up correctly

Electric fireplace remote had...