Alpine Village Inn Helen GA — Hotel in Helen

So first the positives... the gentleman running the place was WONDERFUL! He was kind, he ask us if we needed anything every time he saw us, he offered suggestions when we told him our plans which we appreciated, he also allowed us to stay parked there a little bit after check out which he didn't have to but was MUCH appreciated since we walked everywhere our whole stay. The whole place is adorable. They do a fire at night for everyone to come hang out, play pool, or play corn hole. The rooms have been pretty recently updated. The mini fridge was great, nice and cole with a freezer section that was iced over so I knew it worked. Shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and bar soap were in the room as well as a good coffee stock with sugar, straws,ect. (We only used the bar soap but it was nice the other things were there) Fresh towels were also brought to us that afternoon. The other guests were nice and respectful also. The location is also GREAT! Just far enough away that it isn't loud at the inn but close enough to walk to EVERYTHING. Parking on site was also super close and convenient.

Now the negative. The room was pretty dirty. Dirt, trash, and hair ties on the floor. We ALWAYS check our bed as soon as we come in and the bed had what appeared to be a light stain on the sheets. We asked for new sheets so we could change it ourselves but the lady insisted on changing it because we were guests and shouldn't be doing it. She did however complain that she knew the sheets were clean because she had just changed them, when we showed her the spot she swore she couldn't see it but would change them anyway if that's what we wanted. When she took the sheet off there was a 2nd sheet with a DARK stain that looked like dried blood maybe? Removed that one and the matress cover also had the same stain only lighter, so it was obvious a clean sheet was just thrown over the dirty ones. She did apologize then and said she should have seen it and isn't sure how she could have ever missed it. She shower curtain was molded all along the bottom, since we only stayed one night we opted to wait till we came home for a shower. The water in the sink didn't get hot nor did it have any water presure, so I'm not sure if the shower would have been different. Lastly the vending machines seemed to not be working and the food items were all sun faded and obviously old, so any snacks or drinks had to be bought off property and ice isn't available on site so just prepare for those small inconveniences. There is a dollar general about a 3min walk so...

We recently stayed at Alpine Village Inn for one night and checked out the following morning. From the outside the hotel is cute but does appear a bit dated and run down with some broken down vending machines. The gentleman who got us checked in was very nice and gave us some general directions of how to get to the main strip of Helen (which was a very short walk from the motel which has an excellent location) and he even gave us a map. They then told us that our room was being mopped and would just be a few minutes, which we were completely fine with and we grabbed our bags and waited outside the door.

Once we entered our room (which was located on the bottom floor) we found it to be relatively clean but dated and very dark. The view from our window was not great and had litter scattered outside on the window sill. There was a bit of an odd smell coming from the drain as well but other than that everything was okay, however you could hear every sound, footstep, and conversation coming from the adjoining rooms due to poor insulation and thin walls. This was a bit concerning but we brushed it off and tried to make the most of our stay. The real issue came a few hours later at roughly 10 pm when we began hearing loud stomping, footsteps and banging/what sounded like luggage or furniture being dragged from our upstairs neighbors room. This went on constantly until 3:30 am, and we got no sleep as a result, even resorting to turning on a sound machine on our phones. While I don’t feel that the hotel is directly responsible for our loud neighbors, we tried to call the front desk multiple times with no luck, and there was no one available in the front office to help us at all which was incredibly frustrating for us. We only had one day to stay in Helen and as a result of this noise and lack of sleep we were exhausted which really put a damper on our entire experience.

Overall the location of the hotel is excellent and the employees were relatively friendly upon arrival, but we never saw them again from that point on. Check out consisted of dropping our key into a box, and we were unable to even voice any of our concerns then. The rooms could use some major upgrading, especially to improve the insulation to give their guests some privacy. And it would be nice to be able to contact someone when issues do arise instead of paying for a room which we were unable to get any sleep in. So unfortunately we would not...

My recent experience at Alpine Village Inn in Helen, GA was nothing short of a disaster.

We arrived in the afternoon for check-in after booking our stay hours in advance, only to be told by the front desk guy that the room wasn’t ready yet because they hadn’t cleaned it. He said we had to wait 30 minutes due to a water leak. Fine — things happen. So we left to get something to eat and came back over an hour later, only to be told that ALL the water pipes in the building had broken and there was now no water in ANY of the rooms. Seriously?

They then tried to move us to two random cabins that only fit 7 people, even though we booked for 8. That’s a clear downgrade, with no compensation offered. When we expressed concern, they told us to call Booking.com for a refund and that we’d get our money back immediately.

Of course, when we called Booking.com, they told us they couldn’t process a cancellation or refund because the hotel refused to release the booking. At this point, the owner stood there smirking and basically mocked us, saying “Keep trying.” Completely unprofessional and rude.

We wasted over two hours arguing, late at night (around 9–10 PM), just trying to get our money back — something that should’ve been automatic given they couldn’t provide the room or water. Only after we pushed hard and clearly weren’t going to back down did they finally agree to issue a refund.

To top it all off, as we were leaving, the owner — a white woman — called out what seemed like her thug boyfriend, who came out cussing and threatening us, trying to intimidate us into leaving. Absolutely appalling behavior from so-called business owners.

This was by far one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve ever had. Poor management, lies, scams, and zero accountability. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone — not even for free.

Save yourself the stress, the time, and the disrespect — avoid Alpine Village Inn...