Ayres Lodging Collective — Local services in Gatlinburg

While this house is absolutely beautiful and was plenty big enough for our family, we had some issues upon booking...while booking this home I called directly as we have 2 dogs. The woman i spoke to reassured that dogs were allowed after checking, 10 days later she called and said they weren't allowed and asked if we wanted to board our dogs or figure out another place to stay...with it being late in the season for booking to begin with, everything was already sold out. I called everyone and no one had availability. Unfortunately, this meant someone had to stay home during our family holiday and it ended up being my mother in law which was the worst decision ever with a 5 month old and a 2.5 year old to deal with. The other thing I made sure to confirm was a $1500 hold as this house wasn't cheap by anymeans, we paid nearly $6K. She said that there wouldn't be any hold on our account...we are still waiting for it to drop off. Another thing I confirmed was the fireplaces being wood burning, the lady said that all the fireplaces were wood burning which is the exact reason we ever book a cabin, as this is something my husband and father in law enjoy doing any time we rent a cabin. Upon arrival it was more than disappointing to see that inside the fireplaces were gas operating...and the outside one was woodburning, and it was "jerry-rigged" with some weird battery operated switch that wasn't working so we had to have maintenance come fix it. Another issue was that trying to turn on the oven it smelled of propane so bad that everyone had headaches in the house and we had to open all the doors, this happened everytime we turned on the oven which was a huge problem, especially with having kids with us. Upon calling, the gentleman I spoke with just apologized but didn't really seem to care about my frustration which was even more infuriating, and he also dismissed my concerns and stated the oven smelt like that because of the oven cleaner possibly. We definitely won't be staying with this company again after having such issues with confirming...

The cabin/house is very spacious! There was plenty of room to stretch out, and it was comfortable. I do feel there are a few accommodations that need to be added. The kitchen could use some updated drinkware as well as serving ware, there were only plastic wine glasses, though it's understandable for safety around the hot tub, there need to be some glass wine and cocktail drinkware options for relaxing around the cabin in the evenings. The master bedroom needs an official dresser for storing clothes, as well as a hook for coats and or bath robes. I did see a large cabinet of sorts, but it wasn't an actual dresser with drawers. And though there are two bathrooms in the cabin; the master bedroom has no bathroom attached. There is one down the hallway and the other, located in the room with the sofa and queen-sized bed 9this is actually the larger bathroom, but it's not easily accessible if you're not using the bedroom it's attached to. The bathrooms need to have bathrobe hooks, as well, or a towel rack for hanging wet or damp towels. A few more towels and hand/wash rags would be good too. It is closely located to the parkway and downtown, and though you may be able to walk to the parkway during the day and save money on parking your vehicle, I would not venture out at night. There were several very large bears that live nearby. Though they did not bother us, it was a little unnerving to see a very large black bear (at least 500 lbs) right by the back door of the cabin; we had walked to the parkway and back the night before. There was still construction going on across the street, it didn't seem to start until 8:00 in the morning, but just keep that in mind. Not sure when they will be finishing up the other cabins across the way, but...

We spent a wonderful 3 day weekend at the Fish House as a family Christmas trip. The Fish House is a historic cabin that recalls the privacy, serenity, and ambiance of bygone days in the Great Smoky Mountains while still being located very conveniently to all of the amenities of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We rented the entire cabin which gave us 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. There is an option to rent only the lower floor which includes the kitchen, living room and 3 bedrooms. We had plenty of room for our group of 7 humans and 3 fur babies. What was especially nice for the fur babies was ample room to be able to run a bit outside. The Norton Creek ravine or "holler" is pristine and absolutely beautiful. It is possible to walk along the road which runs beside Norton Creek for probably a mile one-way. The creek is clear and fast flowing and lined with boulders and beautiful moss. The hillsides on each side are covered with rhododendron and many other native plants from the Smoky's with no invasive species intruding that we could see. We took many family walks up and down Norton Creek Road to enjoy the beauty of the landscape. What we probably enjoyed most about the Fish House itself was the fireplace. We spent our evenings in front of the fire in the living room playing games and guitars with plenty of room for everyone. The staff were very responsive with communication and addressing a minor concern. We would definitely stay at the Fish House again and are thinking about a spring trip when the rhododendron would...