Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Pigeon Forge South, TN — Hotel in Pigeon Forge

This place was a nightmare. When I booked through a trusted travel site I thought I was booking a clean, fully functioning hotel and conference center. When I arrived the place looked like a ghost town with several buildings closed down, run down and boarded up. The signs weren't even able to be read due to fading and lack of upkeep. Come to find out, the MOTEL and former conference center was under construction and in the process of being franchised. All the features I booked for were closed and unavailable. The room was a mess, someone had used the bathroom and left it a mess. The 'private balcony' over looking the river really overlooked a parking lot.

This is not a place I felt comfortable allowing my 2 small daughters to sleep so I requested to cancel. I expressed how disappointed I was to arrive at such a run down hotel 4 hours from home on Memorial Day weekend when everything else would most likely be booked. The one staff member I encountered, Jessica, was the most unprofessional and inhospitable person I've ever met. She showed no sympathy and was short and rude. She rolled her eyes at my every word. I again stated how dissatisfied with my experience so far and that this could ruin our trip and her response was "we're under construction and being franchised, what the hell do you want me to do about it?" Which she screamed at me across the desk. It was at this point I told her, in not so pleasant terms, to get me her manager. She informed me that she was the manager. I told her to get me her boss/the owner of the hotel. She told me he was busy and could not be bothered with me. She told me 'my mouth' just got me charged a nights stay. She then left the front desk and did not return until the travel site I was canceling through called her to confirm the cancellation. She charged me for one nights stay because she was mad I called out her terrible customer service. Since I was cancelling through the site I booked from they credited me the charge for one night because they were also so appalled at her behavior (most of which they were able to hear through the phone since she was yelling). Did I mention the majority of this took place in front of my children? The owner, Mr. Patel (this was the only name she would give me), was never called. I was offered no apology. I was yelled at and blamed for the entire encounter. My husband contacted the police because her behavior was verbal harassment. That too made her mad so she called the police as well?? Never once called the owner or honored my request to speak to a supervisor. Luckily an angel was on our side and we were able to get a fanatic room at The Inn at Christmas Place and enjoy a perfect family vacation. Unfortunately, those first 2 hours in Pigeon Forge were ruined for my daughters (1 and 9). They were scared, tired, hungry and confused. It saddens me that people like Jessica are employed in jobs where customer service and customer interactions are required. She needs to work in a field away from people.

The appearance of the hotel, the construction, the disappointment, the major differences in the online pictures were the issue at first. you get burned every now and then using travel sites and I understand that. I needed to cancel for those reasons. It was not personal, it was not related to staff or management. I stated this at the time of my requested cancellation. It was only when Jessica was so incredibly hateful and unprofessional that I commented on her performance as a 'manager.' It was a heated exchange and one that never should have happened. I hope that Comfort Inn and Suites, whom I HAVE contacted on a corporate level already, will not have a place for her when they take over ownership and management...

I don’t know who is posting these positive reviews but please learn from my mistakes and DO NOT STAY HERE. Even if they charged $10 a night I would still not stay here and that is saying something in this economy!! I have never left a negative review in my life but let me save you the time and disappoint of this NIGHTMARE HOTEL.

It took over an hour to get hot water. The staff at the desk was SO RUDE and unprofessional when we went downstairs to inquire about STILL not having hot water for 45 minutes and they REFUSED to give us a refund. Not giving a full refund when you cannot provide hot water for your visitors is UNACCEPTABLE. I was so nice to the lady at the desk so there was genuinely no reason for her to speak to me or other visitors that way and raise her voice to me.

We booked for two days and left a day early because we could not stay in this place another day. One of the elevators was broken this morning and we were with another group in the elevator and they also said they had issues with the lady at the front desk and that they were also going to leave a negative review!!!

The hallways smelled musty and have a damp odor to them and they are dimly lit and the elevators were dirty and smelled of marijuana. Multiple people last night were smoking off their balcony. I do not have children but this hotel is NOT appropriate for young ones. The pool is TINY and there is only room for one family at a time. This hotel is also not walkable to many places.

Oh and the side door to the hotel by the pool on the right side was open ALL NIGHT long. Anyone can just walk up into this hotel during the nighttime and take the elevator to wherever they want to go. Zero security. When I got into my room it smelled so bad it made my skin crawl. I spent most of my night until 1 am sitting in my car so I didn’t have to go back into this nasty establishment.

If you read through the reviews multiple people have complained about the staff working at the front desk. Even a mom complained because they checked in and her room was dirty and the front desk lady was nasty to her in front of her little girl.

The fact that people have been complaining about staff for months and response from this business is that they will “forward it to the team” and it has still not been resolved an embarrassment to this establishment.

We did get a partial refund today (second day) which is crazy because the rude lady everyone is having issues with said we couldn’t get a refund at all yesterday when we had no hot water!! Even still, a partial refund when you have no hot water is unacceptable. We were ready to leave this place and just lose our money for the second day because it was so terrible!! Money does not grow on trees so if someone is willing to lose money so they don’t have to stay here you know it’s BAD.

For $200 a night save your money and...

The front desk staff that we interacted with nice and helpful but that was about it. We paid for a room with 2 queen beds, but these beds are not true queen beds. We had just slept on queen beds the 3 nights prior to staying here and these definitely felt smaller. I wish I had a measuring tape with me. The softness of the beds were ok but could have been a little softer as well.

There is mold growing under the lip of the shower wall.

There’s water stains in different places, like down our hall with nasty water stains on the carpet below, in the dining area right above the computer desk and they didn’t even try to fix it nicely. It looks horrible where they “tried to fix it”. That’s out in the hall thank goodness not in the room but the carpets are nasty looking in the whole place, just looks dirty.

Some kind of food was on the floor of 1 of the elevators and it took them 2 days to get that cleaned out.

They did not even clean the counter around the sink cause there was toothpaste on it still. Thank God I brought Clorox wipes.

I booked the room for 4 people yet they only had 3 bath clothes and 2 towels. So I had to go back to the front desk to ask for more.

Then there’s the breakfast and food area. I understand it was JUST past the cut off time of 9:30 on Friday morning, but with people in line and more kept coming, I mean several people, wanting breakfast, the guy overseeing it would NOT refill the food that was almost totally empty. I have been to other hotels like Holiday Inn that even though the time had passed for breakfast, refilled the food for just one person coming in and asking for something right at the end. And she put out more than what was needed for him. Instead of bing generous and doing the same, this guy would not. Then he had JUST closed the sliding doors to the food area but had not even started to clean and 2 kids came up wanting to eat. My husband told them to open the doors and go ahead. The employee would NOT let them go in and get anything. Just ridiculous! We pay too much money for this hotel to be turned away for the breakfast. AND it took everybody so long to get through the breakfast line because it's set up is totally inefficient. Everything bottlenecks and you’re waiting in line for the toaster and 2 waffle makers to even be able to get around the line due to the island. And the juice is in between those so anyone wanting juice has to try to squeeze in there.

I did voice some of my complaints to the nice front desk lady Friday morning, but forgot to mention some of these. She told me she would pass them along.

We will NOT BE BACK and I do not...