The Wander Hotel, a Ramada by Wyndham — Hotel in Gatlinburg

I had made reservations back In September So I could attend my granddaughters cheer competition in December. My reservations were for 12/5/19-12/8/19. 1st of call when I called to make the reservations it was a complete headache. At first nobody would answer the phone. When I did get someone to answer I was on hold forever just to be told the person I needed to speak with wasn’t there. Eventually I did reach her. Now the entire cheer squad along with other squads were staying here. Anyway I made my reservation and paid my deposit required which was the Titian of the amount of one night stay. It was $128.52 which I found somewhat high considering I rent very nice cabins during Thanksgiving for a little less than $100 per night. Today as I am looking online I see the rooms for $70 a night which I bet if you walk in they are even cheaper because from the reviews most say it’s not a nice place but it is clean and in a good location. So I should have arrived yesterday which was the 5th. I was unable to do so and the reason was I had an uncle who committed suicide. Well the last thing on my mom is was to call and cancel a reservation. However just a few minutes ago I received a phone call from them but wasn’t able to answer. I returned their call and spoke to Audrey who is the manager and the person I had to speak with to make the reservations. Of course when I finally got someone to the phone and was either out on hold or something well I was disconnected in the same way I was when I called to make reservations. I explained to her what happened and her response was “I will take care of it for you”. Well I just assumed that meant she would refund the deposit. Oh but no it didn’t which I can and can’t understand. Yes I made the reservation with every intention to go and would much rather be there. However I didn’t go and didn’t use the room. Now I just seriously doubt that they had to turn down a customer last night. I mean how many people want to stay in a hotel with a bunch of 7&8 year old cheerleaders? I misunderstood what Audrey meant by she would take care of it for me, I mean what other than a refund would be taking care of me? When I told her I no longer used the card I made the deposit with that’s when she started saying well you know you didn’t make it last night so the room was already made up and ummm I will talk to the general manager about maybe refunding some of your money band I just had to say don’t lol thank you. I know enough when I am speaking to a manager and they say they ha e to speak to a general manager that means they don’t want to fell me they aren’t going to refund my money. I don’t buy the general manager excuse from a manager. I’m like 99% certain a manager can issue a refund. I’m sure they probably need that hand out of $128.00 where nobody uses the room and I just know they had to turn away tons of people wanting to stay in a hotel with tons of screaming little cheerleaders. People don’t make reservations with intentions of not going somewhere. If someone doesn’t show up after paying a deposit then something has happened that kept them from it. What makes anyone think it’s ok to keep their money? I get they say they could have rented that room so that’s why they keep the money. However I doubt very many times that happens that anyone has had to turn away a customer. I just guess they needed that $128.00 which by the way is almost double what a room would be there apparently if it wasn’t for being part of a group. So instead of discounting the rooms which was why we needed to speak to Audrey when making the reservations, you know so we could get the special rate. Oh it was special alright. It was almost double the price of a room had we not been in this group. I hope they are good with doing that. However I wonder how many cheer groups will stay...

The location was great - but it does stop there. It initially would have been something I didn't complain about for a one night stay... Check-in was smooth (other than waiting for phone calls to be tended to and having a wait.. I understood, though). Again, I wasn't going to complain, but they truly asked for this. The room was renovated and it was nice, but there were no extra bed sheets or bedding of any sort. The coffee pot didn't work. The shower was scolding hot or freezing cold - no in-between. I had to carefully formulate the perfect temperature bath for my 5 year old... and then here are the things that really burnt me up and why I'm making this review. I went down to get some plastic utensils from the office around 10 that night and my 3 month old son who had been fussing was only in a diaper (mind you - it was 70 degrees out - nothing crazy) because we tried everything and him being in only a diaper helped him chill out. The lady at the front desk commented on that he didn't have a shirt on and looked at me disappointed. I explained, but she gave me a disgusted/disappointed look. I brushed it off. She asked how old he was and I told her. BUT THEN, she asked me if I breastfed him. I answered a simple answer "no" and I got the same disgusted/disappointed look. It's uncalled for!! That could trigger some mothers!!! that is disgusting and none of their business truthfully. What warranted this, because I am always optimistic and try to think the best of situations... was that my 3 month old required a lot of attention the next morning too and we were leaving a few minutes late. I got a knock on the door and the housekeeping lady was VERY RUDE. I made sure I let her know we were scolded by the water and I couldn't make my coffee (which will also make me bring up that the breakfast is from 6:30-9:30am and I got there at 8 and the coffee pot was basically empty, the apple juice and orange juice only dispensed water and cornflakes and frosted flakes or a plain bagel - with no cream cheese - were the only options for food) and that I would be complaining because of how she treated us. I have never been treated that way at a hotel when I am obviously trying to balance a small child and a baby. Very disappointed, but glad we only stayed one night. Hot tub and outdoor pool were also out of order. Someone else was complaining in the office of a cord hanging by their bed that their daughter could strangle herself on but the staff seemed to think it was ridiculous. Nope, just shaming good...

How this motel has a four star rating is perplexing to me. My only guess is that other guests were in a different building than the one in which we stayed. One building looks newer than the others. The staff upon check-in appeared distracted and irritated. Something must have happened before we arrived but that attitude shouldn’t be apparent to guests. I was also warned that if I had a dog with me that I had better let them know right then or I’d be charged extra if they found out that I did. What?! I get the problem and it was on a little piece of paper they handed out with registration, but to quiz me upon check-in? That was unnecessary. There are many ways that this facility could improve that wouldn’t be overly costly. The sheets are gauze thin, the towels are half the size of any normal bath towel and scratchy. There are no blankets, you get the gauze thin sheets and the bedspread. That’s it. Hopefully the bedspreads are washed after every guest but I doubt it. These issues are minor but a telling sign of lack of attention to detail in any service industry. Use fabric softener. Easy. I will say that we didn’t want room service and they were kind enough to leave a bag of clean towels hanging on the door outside. The cable wasn’t working which isn’t a huge deal but the fact that they were notified twice and no one ever came to check it out reflects a problem with management. There was also what appeared to be a huge pee stain on the inside of the bathroom door. The mattress was firm but fine for us. The A/C kept us up as it always turned off with a loud discharge and booming sound resembling an automobile backfire every 5 minutes or so. Based upon the no response for the cable we knew not to bother requesting any repair of the A/C. It was obviously not draining it’s condensation out onto the walkway like the others were. We just bought earplugs so we could have restful sleep for the remainder of our stay. The occupants in the room next to us went two days without showers because the handle of their shower came off. They stated that they had reported the issue at least 4-5 times and no one had come to fix it. Then after two days, when they insisted, someone finally came but only gave excuses that they didn’t know about the problem by blaming the front desk personnel. The following photos are of two of the buildings, I advise choosing the newer looking one, if possible, if you have to stay here. Not certain if that will make a difference but hopefully it will. May the odds be ever...