Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg — Hotel in Gatlinburg

Hello. I first want to say that my husband and I have stayed at this hotel two prior times in the last 4 years and never had an issue. I feel sad that my family had such a negative experience this time. I'm even more saddened that it was in our morning of check out because it left such a negative feeling and sad last impression after an otherwise wonderful stay. When we checked in we were told the buffet for one morning would be added to our room bill. This was $12/person. We were told to go to the hostess and let them know each time we wanted the buffet and that it could be added to the room bill. I was told that one morning of breakfast for the 4 of us could be added to my bill initially to streamline the process and any additional time we wanted the buffet it could be added to the bill again. On our morning of check out my mom and aunt went to get breakfast about 15 minutes before my friend and I did. When I joined them at about 7:30am I came down to Norma (older lady with purple hair) talking badly to another employee about my mom and aunt. Something about them not wanting to pay, which is not true. I heard this as I walked toward my mom and aunt. As I was walking to my family, Norma stopped me aggressively and said you can't walk here. I need your name before you can sit down. I gave them my last name and she said "oh you're with them.." I said yes that's my mom. Pretty sure Norma realized I heard her talking badly about my mom. After speaking with my family I was told there was an "issue" and that I needed to speak with them about the billing. I asked a nice hispanic girl what was wrong and she told me that Norma said we needed to pay before eating. I said we were told that it was added to our room, but if it wasn't that's OK and we could just have it added now since we were checking out anyway. No big deal. Well, Norma came over and very rudely handed me a bill and told me that I needed to pay. I said ok can this be added to my room instead of me paying with cash or card. She said "that's not my job. You need to go to the front desk and deal with it there." I asked her why she was acting like that and why she said we had to "deal with it" at the desk because it came off very rude and not hospitable. I didn't understand why we were being treated like we were an inconvenience for her. My interaction with her was less than 30 seconds and she was nasty the whole time. It felt very uncomfortable and she made my family feel very unwelcome. I had never felt this way my prior stays, but Norma was not someone I saw my previous stays either, so I'm not sure if there was different management those times. We also saw Norma treating two other families the same way. It was only after I asked Norma for her name that she changed her tune with the other patrons that began sitting for breakfast. Everyone else at the hotel, during our stay, was great. I hate that this negative interaction with Norma resulted in me feeling that a review of this caliber was warranted. I really enjoy your hotel, but I have to say we will not be staying here again. If Norma can't be hospitable to guests then maybe she shouldn't be working in hospitality. We all have bad days. I get that, but she went out of her way to be rude and I'm embarrassed and so upset that my mother and aunt were put through this. All they told Norma was that she might want to speak to me once I came down since the reservation was in my name and they didn't want to tell her the wrong information since I was the one who checked us in 3 days ago. She made them feel extremely uncomfortable to the point they took cash out of their purses to give to her because she was making such a big deal about them eating. Please do something about this. This is not how business should be run and is not how paying guests should be treated. Maybe Norma needs etiquette...

On our morning of check out we went to the breakfast buffet at 7:30am. I came down to Norma (older lady with purple hair) talking badly to another employee about my mom and aunt. I heard this as I walked toward my mom and aunt. As I was walking to my family Norma stopped me aggressively and said you can't walk here. I need your name before you can sit down. I gave them my last name and she said "oh you're with them.." I said yes that's my mom. Pretty sure Norma realized I heard her talking badly about my mom. After speaking with my family I was told there was an "issue" and that I needed to speak with them about the billing. I asked a nice hispanic girl what was wrong and she told me that Norma said we needed to pay before eating. I said we were told that it was added to our room, but if it wasn't that's OK and we could just have it added now since we were checking out. No big deal. Well, Norma came over and very rudely handed me a bill and told me that I needed to pay before I ate. I said ok can this be added to my room instead of me paying with cash or card. She said "that's not my job. You need to go to the front desk and deal with it there." I asked her why she was acting like that and why she said we had to "deal with it" at the desk because it came off very rude and not hospitable. I didn't understand why we were being treated like we were an inconvenience for her. My interaction with her was less than 30 seconds and she was nasty the whole time. It felt very uncomfortable and she made my family feel very unwelcome. I had never felt this way my prior stays, but Norma was not someone I saw my previous stays either, so I'm not sure if there was different management those times. We also saw Norma treating two other families the same way. It was only after I asked Norma for her name that she changed her tune with the other patrons that began sitting for breakfast. Everyone else at the hotel, during our stay, was great. I hate that this negative interaction with Norma resulted in me feeling that a review of this caliber was warranted. I really enjoy your hotel, but I have to say we will not be staying here again. If Norma can't be hospitable to guests then maybe she shouldn't be working in hospitality. We all have bad days. I get that, but she went out of her way to be rude and I'm embarrassed and so upset that my mother and aunt were put through this. All they told Norma was that she might want to speak to me once I came down since the reservation was in my name and they didn't want to tell her the wrong information since I was the one who checked us in 3 days ago. She made them feel extremely uncomfortable to the point they took cash out of their purses to give to her because she was making such a big deal about them eating. Please do something about this. This is not how business should be run and is not how paying guests should be...

I often select Hilton Garden Inn as choice for my trips because they are always a good stay, with good amenities, staff and rates, and comfortable beds. This time I had an unfortunate accident severely cutting my foot after stepping on a piece of broken glass the 1st night there in the hot tub. The maintenance guy said there was a broken glass light that fell from 3rd floor balcony the day before and he thought he got all the glass out of hot tub. He said because glass is clear it is hard to see, so I suggested they should have closed hot tub and drained/vacuumed to be sure it was safe. They did this after my accident.

The Hotel response the next day from Katie Carter (the manager) was to compensate our 3-night stay for free. Initially she suggested 1/2 off, but once she saw the video of the incident (my daughter happened to be videoing me when this happened) she quickly realized I was not exaggerating. I explained this was negligence on the hotel for not making sure the hot tub was drained and all broken glass removed. Although not life threatening, I am a heart patient and bleed a lot when cut, and this incident impacted my whole family causing us to change our plans to go hiking etc...

I feel Katie Carter did the right thing to comp our stay, and she was very compassionate and offered anything else we needed. I also received a follow up call when we returned home from Cortney at front desk which was nice. I only would have suggested they consider another free stay for few days. If they offered that in addition, I would have given a score of 10. I think if this happened to someone else, they may have raised a bigger fuss or even considered suing since it was a case of negligence on the hotel part as several elder customers who saw this happen to me suggested.

Overall, I was happy with our stay and would consider staying there again, or at other Hilton Garden Inns for our future trips we are planning. However, I may skip hitting the hot tub lol!

Based on hotel negligence regarding broken glass that cut my foot in their hot tub which negatively impacted my family's hiking plans, - I would have liked to see the hotel have offered another equal 3 day stay for free at any Hilton Garden Inn in US. Especially since it was known by the maintenance staff as they told me that they were aware of broken glass in hot tub before we arrived, but failed to drain and ensure it was all removed and safe.

If they offered an additional 3 day stay at any Hilton garden Inn for our future trips, I would have given 5 star instead of 3. I do appreciate Katie Carter at least compensating our stay, although it was not the same trip due to this incident. This reflects on the perception of the Hilton garden Inn, which I often choose as my hotel of choice before...