Park Vista Convention Center — Hotel in Gatlinburg

First I would like to start off by saying that my family and I have been staying at the Park Vista for well over 20 years. Usually, we stay here unless its sold out on the days we want to stay. In the past this has been a great place to stay with heated pools, and friendly staff.

We are currently getting ready to checkout on what I can only describe as a disappointing experience. We decided to come to Gatlinburg with our new 7 month old baby girl specifically so she could go swimming in the heated pool, as our pool at home is cold and she cry's because of the temp. I remembered the Park Vista had bath water temp pools and thought it would be great for the baby. Unfortunately, when we got here and went for a swim the pools were all cold. I phoned the front desk to see if maybe something was wrong and was told that a engineer would take care of it, that it should still be heated. I followed up on 3 occasions about the pool temp and was told it was heated to 82 degrees, I went back and checked and the water was still cold. Im not sure why they aren't heating the pool anymore but despite the insistence by the front desk clerk the pool was cold to the touch. This was obviously disappointing since it was the reason we chose to come to begin with.

The rest of our stay was further interrupted by the loud construction noise outside our room (Watch the video attached). This went on all day for the entire stay. It seems to be that they are refinishing the exterior walkway but it was very loud and distracting. It would have been nice to know this prior to booking. You should also know that they are now charging $10 a day for parking which was never the case in pass visits. After looking around on there website it appears this change took place back in March but it honestly feels like a money grab as this hotel is not even remotely close to the strip (Not walkable due to a steep hill). Again I am aware some hotels charge parking in large city's but this really is ridiculous for this property.

As you walk through the property you will see a beautiful exterior landscaping and a very nice lobby but if you look closer the signs of age and neglect are starting to show. From stains on the ceiling to dust on overhead awnings. The rooms are very dated and are sheets had holes in them. The towels had stains and the room slinging glass door frame is coming apart. This was room 601 for reference (See Pictures). The room was clean and the beds were comfortable and besides the lack of care from the front desk the staff were all friendly. The views from this hotel are amazing looking down at the city.

My final thoughts are that I feel very disappointed with the experience and I don't feel like I got the Value for my money and will likely not be returning after more than 20 years of patronage. With new hotels being built near by I think its time to make a change to our mainstay hotel...

I wanted to give this place a higher rating, I really did. I’ll start out with the positives.

Hotel has those great Doubletree cookies.

The swimming area is great. There’s 3 pools, including a 1 foot deep pool for toddlers. There are two water slides, including a nice sized one similar to what you’d experience at a water park. The kids enjoyed going round and round on that thing. (Note: as of 8/7/22 the hot tub and smaller water slide were out of service)

On-site restaurant was good, reasonable prices for on-site dining. Breakfast buffet included made to order omelettes. During my stay, a pizza deal was available and it was great get a pizza and eat out on their covered area overlooking the scenery surrounding the hotel.

Room view was incredible from my higher floor room.

Ok, here are my criticisms -

Room AC was terrible. Had fan set to high but air barely blew out of the vent. The air blowing out was cold, but was hardly any air flow. I suspect the unit was frozen over. Because of this, the room never got cooler.

Balcony was continuously flooded (retained water) with AC water runoff. There doesn’t seem to be a slope towards the holes cut for drainage, so all the water pooled right where the doorway was to access the balcony. Also, water runoff from the AC on the floor above seemed to keep dripping onto my balcony which added to the water issue.

Bed comforter on one of the beds was really lumpy. It’s like someone balled up a bunch of wads of toilet paper to fill the comforter. Overall weird.

Closing thoughts: I’d come back if these issues were resolved. I expect more from a hotel that charges over...

I would definitely consider staying at this hotel over and airbnb. We did stay during winter months so our pricing was only $450 for two nights. Definitely felt like a great deal at that price.

First of all, the views from the room are absolutely amazing and worth the stay at this hotel, by themselves. This is the only hotel of its kind in Gatlinburg. It stands alone on top of a mountain.

Really cool architecture style with a hollow core and rooms ringing the outside of the structure. Kind of trippy when you are standing in the lobby looking up. Glass elevators to the rooms not for those with a fear of heights, other elevators can be used.

Staff was a little stiff, not the most hospitable, but never rude to me.

The rooms are quite large but slightly outdated. Our room was quite clean and not dingy. The bathroom itself seemed to have undergone a recent renovation with a beautiful stall type shower. King bed felt enormous. Heater worked really well. Didn’t hear too much sound from other guests or libby although we were on the 12th floor.

The gym is actually quite impressive if you want to work out. The heated pool was kind of amazing very large with a two tiered pool, with two slides, a fairly large hot tub and just generally a massive area totally heated and covered. Definitely dated as far as decor goes but, functionally it was awesome and definitely added to the value of the stay.

Lastly, the city of Gatlinburg has a shuttle system and there is a stop at this hotel. Again, didn’t really realize how convenient and what a value that was. Didn’t have to drive our car...