La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Pigeon Forge — Hotel in Pigeon Forge

The positives: The location for Pigeon Forge attractions was great. You can walk to Paula Dean’s Lumberjack Dinner show and several restaurants from the hotel.

The hotel serves a typical hotel breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage (no bacon), biscuits and gravy (no meat in the gravy), yogurt, muffins, make your own waffle station, cereal, juice and milk plus coffee. There are also various flavor oatmeal packets to make your own hot oatmeal.

The pool is enclosed and looks well maintained. There is no lifeguard so swim at your own risk.

The front desk staff and attendants during breakfast were all very friendly and helpful. They all got 5 stars for attention. The breakfast attendants were particularly attuned to cleanliness and safety for the guests. I saw them cleaning off handles of serving trays and the waffle machine in between guests which really impressed me.

The negatives: There is one elevator at this hotel and it is slower than molasses in the dead of winter! It’s not big enough to fit more than one luggage cart on and when we checked out, we waited for what seemed like a half hour before we could get an elevator that we could fit into so we could get our luggage down.

We were with our 91 year old father and had to rely on the elevator—normally I would take the stairs no matter what floor I was on. We had asked in advance for the first floor but were told there were none available when we checked in.

The room we were given was disappointing, not only from the location not being on the first floor but it smelled heavily of dog. This hotel allows pets for an additional fee ostensibly to clean the room and account for damages. This room smelled like a dog the entire time we stayed there.

Speaking of dogs, I love dogs but when other people’s dogs are barking (and kids and pets are running in the halls and presumably pets playing with a ball or toy in the room above that kept thumping on the floor at midnight when I’m trying to sleep), I am not a happy camper. These incidences are not necessarily the hotel’s fault but it makes me think twice about staying in a pet-friendly hotel after experiencing my fellow travelers’ disregard for the peace and quiet I would expect in a hotel.

There is no closet to hang clothes which was a design disappointment in the room. There was a dresser to hold folded clothes but I always have a few things I would like to hang and it made me wonder what folks do with their coats in colder weather. ( We were there in July.)

While the room was made up by housekeeping daily with trash emptying and fresh towels and bed made, the rug was dirty (I found an M&M candy on the rug the last day and we had not had any M&M’s!) and the rug felt ‘greasy’ underfoot when walking on it barefoot— which I tried to avoid doing after the first time. The bathroom sink was not cleaned daily either as the same hairs or coffee stains remained after housekeeping had been in.

Given the disappointment in the room and the elevator, my rating for the stay went down to a 3. I would not stay at this location again given this room and the elevator which is a shame since the physical location of the hotel was really ideal for being in the middle of what’s happening in Pigeon Forge. Fortunately there are plenty of other hotels in the area to choose from in this...

Update 07-05-2025 Just wanted to say we highly recommend Arbor's at Island and if they are full, Microtel across from Titanic is also very comfortable and clean and both establishments have amazing customer service who do not yell like children. Both are also pet friendly and do not stink like the la Quinta.

Thanks

La Quinta Inn & Suites – Pigeon Forge ⭐ 1/5

My wife and I recently stayed at this La Quinta location, and unfortunately, our experience was extremely disappointing. While there were a couple of positives—the coffee was always fresh and ready, and the lady who takes care of breakfast was an absolute gem, hardworking and kind—these small highlights could not make up for the overwhelming number of issues we encountered.

The Negatives:

Horrible Customer Service & False Accusations From the moment we checked in, we were subjected to repeated, baseless accusations of smoking in our room. Despite following all hotel policies, including my wife using her Calmigo anxiety device in the designated smoking area, we were continuously harassed. The situation escalated when a staff member, Jammie, made outright false claims and attempted to charge my card multiple times for random amounts without justification. Thankfully, I have safeguards in place to prevent unauthorized transactions. This type of behavior is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by management.

Unresponsive & Dismissive Management After raising our concerns with the general manager, we received a generic, dismissive response that failed to address the seriousness of what happened. Instead of taking accountability, they justified their actions without any evidence to back their claims. The lack of professionalism in handling guest complaints speaks volumes about how little they value their customers.

Condition of the Rooms Both rooms we stayed in had sofas that were completely broken and unusable. They were so worn out that sitting on them felt like sinking into a collapsed cushion. For a hotel at this price point, this level of disrepair is unacceptable.

Extremely Dated Decor While the lobby and exterior may look decent, once you step into the rooms, it's like stepping back in time. The furniture, color schemes, and overall design are very outdated, making the rooms feel old, tired, and uninviting. A serious renovation is long overdue.

Slow and Inconvenient Elevator The hotel only has one elevator for the entire property, and it is extremely slow. Expect long wait times, especially during peak hours. If you're on a higher floor and have luggage, prepare for frustration.

Hallways & HVAC System Smelled of Marijuana The entire 4th floor and our first room (Room 410) smelled strongly of marijuana. Instead of properly investigating where it was coming from, staff chose to falsely accuse and harass guests at random.

Final Thoughts:

With over 400 hotels in the area, this one would be at the absolute bottom of my list for a future stay. The way we were treated, the poor room conditions, the outdated decor, and the unprofessionalism of staff—especially Jammie—made this an incredibly unpleasant experience. I would strongly advise anyone considering this hotel to look elsewhere unless they want to deal with untrustworthy staff, worn-out rooms, and an overall lack of...

In all fairness, I submitted a review privately with the link provided by email after my stay but have yet to receive a response almost a full month later. So, here it goes publicly. I have no idea where the 5 star reviews are coming from. This place smells AWFUL!! I am a pet lover and typically travel with them so have frequented pet friendly hotels including La Quinta which is why I chose to stay here. I have always been pleased. NOT this time! When checking in the lobby had a strong urine smell. Okay, maybe a dog had relieved themselves on the rug? Never know.. let that slide. When arriving to our room and entering from side door on first floor the smell could knock you down - burn your nose kind of odor! Unfortunately that smell followed into the room. The room has not been cleaned properly as there was still mounds of pet hair everywhere. We used the room phone to call the front desk to report and while on hold for a very long time - we took our luggage back up to the front desk. The staff reported they were working on it and eventually gave us a new room on the third floor. We got on the elevator (which also smells of pet urine by the way) and took it to the third floor. I let my daughter use the key card to let us in and we were greeted by dogs - this room was OCCUPIED!! How embarrassing! We apologized and quickly shut the door and packed all of our luggage back down to the front desk. Staff apologized and seemed shocked that there would be anyone in that room as their computers showed it vacant. They then give us a THIRD room to check in to - also on the third floor different direction. The smell of urine lingers through all the hallways. Thankfully, the third room was truly vacant and while still had a smell, it was not a smack you in the face kind of smell. After traveling over 8 hours and only booking this room 2 nights we decided to stay rather than go through another headache of finding a different hotel last minute. We did not partake in breakfast as the smell throughout was definitely less than appetizing. We purchased air fresheners at a local grocery store that we used to continuously spray during our stay to help cover the smell. To say the least, we were very disappointed with our visit to this La Quinta. All others we have visited, allow pets in first floor rooms only and not in common areas. This one, and I confirmed with staff allows pets in ALL rooms and that shows. Our first room had hard floors, the rest of the hotel is carpeted. While other responses from owner indicate they take cleanliness very seriously and have carpets professionally shampooed every three weeks. I’m not sure that I believe this, or the cleaners they have do a very poor job. I appreciate La Quinta being pet friendly, but there needs to be boundaries established. Carpet and pets do not mix! I don’t think our local pet shelter smells this bad! I wanted to get a true representation of the hotel out there for all to see - rather than everyone only seeing the 5 star reviews as I had when booking. Please do...