Hemlock Hills Cabins — Local services in Pigeon Forge

I planned a trip to celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday and Thanksgivings with family and friends. 8 Bears Lodge seemed to fit the bill and could accommodate all those who were in attendance. The cabin is beautiful. I will try to keep this review only about the cabin and not my full experience of this trip. First getting to the cabin was fairly easy and the GPS did do its due diligence in getting us there. However, just as provided in instructions, always take a paper copy just in case. You enter the cabin’s parking on a very steep decline. I’ve come to expect this as I have encountered this type of parking on multiple visits to the mountains and cabins I have rented previously. Once parked, I do what I always do…inspect the property. The following are things I noted that should be addressed for future guests. There are lots of spiderwebs and dead bugs. Mostly around curtains and windowsills. It’s understandable that the cabin is in the woods, but you can clearly tell that the cleaning portion does not include dusting or vacuuming these areas. Kitchen: Refrigerator has no door racks where you can place small items and one of the trays that typically holds fruits/vegetables is broken. The stove was absolutely disgusting. Being there for Thanksgiving, we planned to cook. I don’t think that stove has ever been cleaned as there were layers of thick grease. We attempted to clean it using the stove’s clean feature and it started a fire. We were quick to put it out the flames and cool the unit. Thank goodness someone was still there to see what was going on before we all left for the duration of the 2-hour cleaning. It should also be noted that there were missing knives from the knife block. Remote Controls: All TVs are not the same brand therefore, need different remotes. We needed to use like remotes for some TVs in the cabin to get them on. There were multiple ROKU remotes in which a few didn’t have batteries. We didn’t know this until multiple tries to operate the TV. It appears that some of us needs a manual to operate ROKU because even though batteries were dropped off and left on the porch, we still couldn’t figure out how to use ROKU with those remotes that did have batteries. Perhaps those batteries were dead? I don’t know the answer here. We were so frustrated we stopped trying. I used the smart TV option to look at other things I was already subscribed to. The batteries were left near the games in the Living Room. Main floor Jet tub…the jets didn’t work. Imagine running your bath and thinking you will be able to use this feature while on vacation. NOT SO MUCH! Porch Lights: There are multiple lights on the front porch that had bulbs but didn’t come on. Consider replacing the bulbs or identifying the problem. Pool table: We loved playing pool while there. It was definitely a fun time to have NFL games on (Thanksgiving) while also bonding over a game of pool. Nothing wrong with the table, but consider fixing the pockets. There are a couple of the corner pockets where the leather weave has broken and the balls fall to the floor. It sounds like the roof is collapsing to those below. Also, the bulb is blown in the middle light above the table.

I enjoyed the time with my family and friends at 8 Bears Lodge. I understand how rental agencies operate. Please consider the owner of the cabin and address the issues I have outline above. They may be completely out of the loop regarding the condition of their cabin and most likely would like to ensure it is in...

We stayed at Above the Mist When we arrived the first issue we had was the code to get in the door wouldn't work so we had to call the number to be able to get in. Then when we first walked into the cabin 4 out of 7 of us our eyes were burning and watering from some fumes and we had to open all the doors and let it air out several hours we had to keep the doors open and sit outside for hours before our eye stopped burning and watering. When we went to open the doors to air out we also had issues with the deadbolts, we couldn't open the lower balcony door at all. We called maintenance number to ask right away what chemicals were used to clean as well as we could not open the door. They said they might be able to get us into another cabin and that they would call back if they could get someone out there to fix it. We never received a call back to fix the door lock. We called again the next morning with other issues we had. Beside the door locks and eyes burning from fumes we found the following issues and stated our concerns to the lady on the phone: -Door locks wouldn’t unlock -Dishwasher knobs were broke off -the knobs on the Jacuzzi tub in upstairs bedroom were broken off -The hot tub outside the control panel didn't work -Blinds were ripped off the upstairs bedroom windows -Arcade game was stuck on the same game -Couldn't cook on the stove due to the foil lined burners were coated with burnt food/liquid -When the room filled up with smoke when we tried to cook we turned on the ceiling fans and globs of dust came off the ceiling fans all over the room. -We didn't have the linens for the pull out couch and pillow cases. The second call the lady’s response was the people before you had a party and they didn’t know all of the issues we reported. She said they had to replace the refrigerator before we got there because the people before us broke it and they had a dishwasher ready to put in there but hadn’t replaced it before we got there. She said they would replace the dishwasher, get the door locks fixed, have them check the arcade game, bring linens and replace the foil on the burners. We called and let them know when we left the next day (day 3) they came and replaced the dishwasher and fixed the door lock on the bottom balcony, left the linens and pulled out one burner on the stove and left it there without replacing any of the foil. So now we are on our 3rd call to get things fixed. We ask about getting the blinds put up in the upstairs bedroom, replacing the foil on the stove, arcade game and additional linens for the pillows in the upstairs bedroom. While I was on the phone we were going to use the jacuzzi tub and started filling the tub and it was leaking from the tub through the kitchen ceiling! We were told they would check/fix the additional issues we had but the only other thing that was fixed was the foil was replaced on the burners. We were told for a couple days they were coming to fix the blinds and they never did. We emailed 3 separate requests to talk to someone about the issues we had as well as called twice. When I called the second time the guy that answered the phone said he forgot to give them the message the first time I called. We still have not received any response from...

We stayed at Mountain Memories, a three bed three bath cabin. From the pictures online, you don’t get a reliable picture of the area. There are other cabins across the street and right next to this cabin. It’s also not located very far up the hill. The view out the front porch is a view of the cabin across the street. The view off the side porch is a view of the cabin next to you and the view from the back porch is a view of a wooded ravine with garage littered all over the ground and hanging in the trees.

Upon arrival, we tried the chairs on the porch. The nice looking ones were missing bolts and nuts, so very wobbly and unsafe. The metal chairs “with cushions” were so flat I’m not sure why they bothered with them at all. There is a swing but instead of facing the wooded ravine (with garbage) you get a view of the neighboring cabin. The garbage “cage” is located on the back porch near the swing, outdoor table and chairs and the hot tub. I think this location is horrible, due to the smell in warm weather and the attraction of bugs this would cause. The hot tub jets and light were defective. The full power jets just don’t work at all. There is little to no lighting on the porch, especially on the back side. The door code did not work. Expect to contact maintenance when you arrive. The lady that answered seemed annoyed with my call and not as pleasant as you’d expect for the money you pay.

The cabin was nice in appearance but our feet were sticking to the sticky spots on the floor when we walked in. The door rug edges were worn in that they did not lay flat creating a tripping hazard. When I wiped up the sticky spots on the floor, the wash cloth was filthy. I don’t think the floors had been cleaned at all. (Not sure what the $130 cleaning fee is for if not that)

The kitchen was nice with a granite counter top, but bring your own cooking pans as the Teflon in the ones provided is scratched off and very worn. The biggest issue is the condition of the king beds. The mattresses are old and worn with significant body impressions. They were very uncomfortable and they squeak with every movement as do the floors and beds. Toilets are very short. Need to be upgraded. Upstairs bathroom sink was clogged. Two upstairs windows had been left open by a previous guest. There was mold build up in the window and the glass pane nearly fell out as the water had caused some separation of the wood. One of the electrical outlets was loose in the wall. Other things we noticed include light bulbs missing or burnt out in lamps and ceiling fans, loose and broken dining room chairs, broken blind slats upstairs, battery out in kitchen clock, +30 second button defective on microwave and bubbles in the linoleum floor in main level bathroom. Toilet seat in downstairs bath was loose. Main level couch had two worn spots in seat cushions.

While our stay was pleasant despite these issues, I would not recommend this cabin rental company until they take greater care of the details and needed upgrades. I’ve had better, more comfortable stays at hotels and...