Townsend / Great Smokies KOA Holiday — Hotel in Gatlinburg

I have lived in Tennessee my entire life and grew up vacationing in the Townsend area. I now have children of my own and want them to experience all the area has to offer. We are KOA VIP members that have been enjoying the Townsend KOA for the past few years.I am certain that this trip will be our last at this location. The office “manager” along with some staff members have ruined this camp ground with their lack of hospitality and poor attitudes. I leave my trucked hooked to the camper and we drive my wife’s suv when we go somewhere. This morning we decided to go out for breakfast. After eating we stopped by our site for a few things before heading to Cades Cove. Before I got out of the suv I was confronted by a staff member on a golf cart questioning why I was in the camp ground. I explained to the gentleman we were picking some things up before heading out for the day which he rudely replied I could not park at my own campsite because the vehicle did not have a parking pass (because they only give you one parking pass and all other vehicles need to park across the road which is where we park the suv). I run into our camper and as soon as I come out we are approached by yet another golf cart yielding staff member and I have to explain myself again. After returning form Cades Cove we were stopped by a KOA associate at the entrance and I was given the same speech about the parking pass. After explaining I was dropping my family off and returning the car to the designated area I was stopped once more. I parked the suv and went to the office and explained my frustration. I asked for a parking pass to hang on our mirror to prevent anymore inconveniences. The manager was completely disrespectful but after requesting for a second tag several times told me it’s $5.99 plus tax a day for another pass. I explained that we where parked in the “FREE” parking area and I just wanted my tag. During our conversation another customer had entered the office. At this point I was highly upset but I was given another parking tag. This should have been the end of the resolution but it wasn’t. As I was leaving the office the manager started yelling at me that they were only doing things for our protection (which I completely understand and appreciate) then started flying off at the mouth. All the time while she has the other paying customer in front of her. Very professional KOA, very professional. I will gladly take my business to Little Arrow campground that is right next door. All families deserve the opportunity to make lasting memories. As for me and mine we will be making great memories...

Camped in a travel trailer with full-hook ups. Absolutely fantastic location - just a few miles down the road from the park entrance to the Smokies. Very clean facility - pool & grounds are well maintained. Word of advice - if you want quiet - book the sites off of the river only. This KOA is right off of a main road, and while it's not a highway - the speed limit is 45 mph and you're bound to hear road traffic occasionally. Like most RV parks, these sites are ridiculously close together. Tent sites appear to be slightly more forgiving, but still a bit crowded. This location is popular, so everything is packed together tight.

Staff is very friendly and extremely helpful.

We camped in mid-July; temps were in the high 80's to low 90's and humidity is stifling. Plan on running your RV A/C 24/7. Tent campers - plan on bathing frequently at the showers and/or swimming in the pool or river. BTW, there is swimming access to the river at the deluxe RV sites - very cool!

Attention Internet aficionados: WiFi here is a complete joke. Virtually the only place you can get a decent signal is within 150 feet of the Welcome Center. This isn't our first KOA stay, and we find this to be a reoccurring theme. Attention KOA: invest in some simple and affordable repeaters and point them at your camp sites. You advertise WiFi at all of your sites, and this is a lie. Plain and simple.

Now a word of caution - especially for those who camp with pets: the insects (read: TICS) are vicious here!!! They're all over, so plan on bringing tweezers to remove them and bathe in insecticide. We pulled several off of our dog the first night and 2 off of my wife. Highly recommend dog owners get a Lyme Disease shot for your pups pre-visit.

Being in the mountains, rain is unpredictable but frequent. Still, most days will offer at least some amount of sunshine.

Overall a good family KOA campground. Sites are overpriced, but you get what...

My family and I will not be returning due to the discrimination! My family and I have been going to the KOA in Townsend, TN, for 10 years now. That's a long time! When we first started coming everything was amazing! And we really got to know the staff which was also amazing! March of 2021 was our first time since May of 2020. It was not the best experience. Well we just went camping again May 14-16th and we will never return to any KOA site, nor will our family. When we go camping we will rent up to 8 sites at a time (usually seven cabins and one tent site). After everyone sets up we all hang out at one camp site. Towards the end of the night we are still sitting around the campfire talking. Close to 12:30 everyone starts cleaning up and heading to bed. The morning of the 16th someone staff member starts banging on the door tell my family that we need to get out! They said that we were too loud and they weren't going to stand for it. We apologized and said we have a family member that's deaf, sometimes she doesn't realize how loud she is talking. The KOA staff said that we didn't tell them upon check in that she was deaf (we don't need to). The KOA staff also said she should be inside and not allowed to come out since she is deaf and loud. We said we couldn't go inside due to more of six hanging out at the camp site and it being q safety issue. They said that they weren't going to discuss that. Another thing they were going to discuss is ALL of the safety violations they are in. Number one being the fire exhaust is 10 YEARS out of date, the heaters spark blue flames (we had to turn ours off and sleep in the cold), and the outlet shocked a little kid! This is not the KOA we remember it being.This place is too expensive to be treated the way we were. I hope no one else goes through what we...