Best Western Cades Cove Inn — Hotel in Pigeon Forge

I will never stay here again. It started before I even got there, my family and I traveled 8 hours, and were only staying here 1 night! I called the day before and asked if we could check in early since I had a young child with me, and he needed a nap! I was told it would cost $50 but they couldn’t confirm until the day of. The lady I spoke to told me that I could call the next day to ask if the room was ready. I explained I may not do early check in, but I would see her tomorrow. The day of the reservation we traveled to the state park in the AM, which there was 0 cell service. When leaving the state I got a voicemail stating that my card declined, and that I needed to call back and update the card. We were 5 minutes away from the hotel (3:10pm - checkin was at 3:00pm). When we got there I walked in and the women looked up and gave me a very nasty look and I said hi! I’d like to check in for (last name). She said “I cancelled your reservation. I called you many times and left you voicemails. Your card declined so I cancelled your reservation. (My bank card number changed which is why it declined!) I said excuse me? I was able to cancel the room myself until 4pm the day of my reservation so why didn’t you wait?! I didn’t have service today. She shrugged her shoulders at me. She then proceeded to YELL at me about how it was not her fault and she cancelled my reservation since my card declined! She told me that she told me on the voicemail that she canceled my reservation (she did not) I have screenshots of the voicemail. My husband walked in, and she immediately stopped yelling at me, but was very rude. My husband took over, and I stayed very quiet because I was appalled that someone would treat someone else this way for no reason. She said “she could probably still get us a room” and finally did so. I paid, and then she demanded for our license plate number (protocol) but was very nasty about it.

We went to our room, and realized that our room was disgusting. It smelled like bleach, but was filthy. Chunks of hair (looked like animal hair) on the tub, black mold under the handle in the tub, under the soap holder, and in the caulk. The tub wouldn’t drain, dirt on the bed sheets, like someone put it down on the floor then put it on the bed. And worst of all the door handle was so loose that the screws were literally falling out!! We were there for less than 3.5 hours before checking out 1.5 hours of that time we went to dinner for my birthday, yes this all happened on my birthday). My son was not feeling well, and all we wanted to do was sleep before traveling home 8 hours. But we couldn’t even do that. When I walked in to the front desk to check out at 7pm the lady gave me a hard time and said “you just got here and I almost couldn’t give you a room!” (YES BECAUSE SHE CANCELLED MY RESERVATION BEFORE 4PM!!!). At this time I was exhausted and told her I wanted to check out and go home, my son wasn’t feeling well. She asked if we had far to drive and I told her yes 8 hours. She tried to be sympathetic, but unfortunately the damage had already been done. She made another comment to me that was a little rude and my response back to her was “wow what a way to end my birthday” she said it’s your birthday?? I said yup. She said it’s my daughter’s birthday too and she’s 14. I said happy birthday to her. Then she proceeded to tell me how her daughter didn’t want to spend it with her.

I asked if she had any trash bags, just incase my son got sick on the way home, and she gave me a handful of small bags, and said have a safe trip. I thanked her and left.

I have never felt so disrespected and uncomfortable in my life, by someone that worked at a hotel/business. Unfortunately because of this women’s actions, and the lack of cleanliness of this hotel, we had to cut our trip short by an entire day.

I have called the corporate line for best western, and reported this and to get a refund.

Let me save you some time, go find another hotel. This...

Stay here at your own risk! On Sunday October 22, 2017, I stayed at the Best Western Cades Cove Inn. After a long day of traveling and spending time in the nearby National Park, I looked forward to soaking in the whirlpool tub. I filled the tub with hot water and tossed in a washcloth. Neither my wife nor I had used any towels or washcloths yet. After a relaxing soak, I reached into the water, pulled out the washcloth to use it for the first time, and wiped my sweaty face. As I was taking the white washcloth away from my face, I noticed numerous brown streaks on that side of the cloth. To my horror, I realized that it was not just old stains that couldn’t be washed out. It was feces streaks, complete with small particles of solid human waste! I had been soaking in swirling water with that soiled washcloth, then wiped my face with it. How disgusting! It grossed me out to think of what had just happened, and very upset that the hotel would make such a mistake--of putting out a soiled washcloth for use by the next hotel guest. It had obviously not been washed in the laundry, as it couldn’t have been so soiled if it had. This lack of proper action is a huge health risk! Since it was very late at night, and the hotel manager was not on duty, I resolved to talk with the manager in the morning. The rest of the time before I went to bed, I couldn’t keep this incident out of my head. During the night, I awoke several times, and lay awake for a while thinking about it, too. It was not a restful night. The next morning I requested to talk with the manager, or whomever was in charge. There was nobody there in leadership, so I talked with the desk clerk about the incident. She was genuinely concerned, and said she was sorry that happened. She said the manager wouldn’t come in until the next day, but that the owner would be at the hotel in about 30 minutes. I said I definitely wanted to talk with the owner about the incident to see what he would do about it. When I finished packing and was ready to check out, I checked back with the desk clerk. She said the owner had just arrived. I awaited while she went to talk with him. She returned and told me that the owner said all he could do was to offer a 5% discount (on the bill I had paid when I checked in). This would have amounted to less that $5. I told her that it was unacceptable. I asked for a full refund, and asked to talk with the owner myself. I did not raise my voice, and kept in control of myself even though I was quite upset. I wanted the owner (or a manager) to hear my story and distress first hand. My hope was that he would apologize directly to me, to offer reasonable compensation, and would tell me his plan to assure that this would never happen to any guest again. The desk clerk (who was doing her best) went to talk with him again. The owner was outside using a string trimmer in the rain. She quickly returned saying the best he could offer was a 10% refund. He did not honor my request to talk with him. He did not apologize, nor send a message of apology. He did not take the time to see me at all. I did not hear any plan for taking care of this health risk. Instead, he offered less than $10 (10%) for my distress and emotional pain. I did not accept that offer either, as I did not think it was fair or reasonable for the situation. So, I left the Best Western Cades Cove Inn, and do not intend to...

I have stayed at this Best Western four times previously. It appears to be under new ownership or management, which has made the hotel noticeably less enjoyable and clean. Overall, I would not come back and I'm disappointed to see how my favorite hotel in the area has changed.

Prices were always pretty competitive, in terms of bang for the buck. This visit was the most expensive I have seen at this hotel. It was 2.75- 3.75x more expensive per night than my last four visits. A bit higher than post-pandemic inflation..

Starting with check-in, I found the man at the front desk to be a bit abrasive and not that friendly. The same guy also gave my family an unwelcoming attitude, during their separate check-in. Staff overall did not seem friendly, during our stay. This was stark contrast to my previous experiences in Townsend, TN, where everyone has been incredibly polite and very hospitable.

I noticed both my room and my family's other room did not have clean showers. The sinks, toilets, sheets, floors were all clean... But hair all over the shower tub and in the drain catch is gross.The rooms no longer have daily cleaning or trash removal. We noticed the front desk staff was doing the very limited housekeeping.

The bedsheets felt like sandpaper in one of the beds. It made me not want to sleep in it. The mattresses were comfortable, though.

I will note that the hotel room got a bit of a face-lift. It does look good. Not sure why they did it, though, because the hotel was fine every time I stayed here previously. The only part of the room that didn't change was the older showers. They would do better if they spent that renovation money on daily cleaning staff, rather than unnecessary remodeling.

Breakfast here was always surprisingly good. It was not as good as I remember, but some of the food was still pretty good. We all enjoyed the biscuits and eggs. The staff seemed very careful to make as little breakfast food as possible. As a result, patrons constantly appeared to be waiting for the trays to be refilled. I don't ever remember this, during previous visits.

The heater/ac unit in the room had a pretty bad smell to it and we decided to keep it off. Vending machines were completely empty. Exterior trash cans overflowing. It was definitely not the same hotel that...