Mountain-View Deck Oasis: Cabin Near Attractions

Reviews

• Beautiful view but property had issues

  3/5

  This was our 3rd time staying in the Smokies. We love having a home with a great view and this home delivered. Great location. It was high enough to have a great view but still close to town (but be aware that one of the roads to the house was VERY steep but we made it in our minivan). Although great view I would not stay here again until some issues were resolved. Including:

  1. Water: Yes, they mention this in the details that it smelled and was prepared but I didn't realized how badly it smelled. It smelled like a chemical hair treatment. It was really atrocious. Nobody wanted to shower. Although I made sure to get a home with a washing machine, I didn't want to wash our clothes. The jacuzzi tub was spectacular with the most amazing view but there was no way I could sit in the water. I hate to penalize the home for this since I am not sure it can be easily resolved but it did affect our stay significantly.

  2. BEES: I believe these were carpenter bees?....the bees were quite terrible once it got even a little warm on the decks. Once again I know this is a normal part of the enviroment but seeing the significant damage of the exterior of the home you could tell this was a problem for a long time and was not being treated. Wood on the deck was very damaged by them. It was annoying and my kids hated it.

  3. Communication: I emailed for early check it and got no response. I call for more propane, it never got delivered.

  4. Decor and Condition: Outdated decor, faded and snagged fabrics, things like missing toliet lid pieces, plungers left out in bathroom, ect. These aren't huge deals but they all add up and affect your stay when you pay that much. These were all easy and affordable fixes.

  5. Kitchen: no toaster or spatula. Kitchen was lacking

  6. Animals: There was definitely animals living in a portion of the roof. Every night we had to bang the wall to get it to quite making noise. I feel like some TLC to the exterior might resolve this if they found the 'home' and removed it.

  7. Exterior: Super poor treatment of the exterior of the property. You can tell they cut trees for the view but just felt them where they fell. Terrible eye sore from the decks.

  I know the list might seems harsh but all the small negatives added up. It was soured by problems that could be easily solved by someone taking time to really look at the proporty and imagine if they were paying to stay there. The view is what pushed me to the 3 stars but otherwise it would be a 2 star

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Ashley, thank you for your detailed feedback and for highlighting the view and location as highlights of your stay. We followed up with the owner after reading your feedback, who would like to address the following:
  - Water: We understand the sulfur smell from the well water can be unpleasant. We’ve been actively working with professionals to find a long-term solution, though it has proven difficult to fully eliminate.
  - Bees & Wildlife: Carpenter bee treatment is scheduled for spring, per our pest control company’s guidelines. As for the flying squirrels, we’ve already patched prior entry points and are working closely with wildlife control to prevent future issues.
  - Communication: We’re addressing the lapse in response regarding your early check-in request and propane delivery with our guest contact to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
  - Amenities & Condition: We’ve already begun updating the kitchen with additional basics like a toaster, baking sheets, and utensils. While some items were present, we agree that the inventory should be more obvious and complete. We are adding more commonly used items to fulfill the needs of the kitchen.
  We appreciate you sharing your experience; it’s feedback like this that helps us improve the property for future guests. We hope to address these concerns so that the home matches the quality of the view it offers.

• The second 2 days were good

  4/5

  We had no hot water on the day we arrived. It may not have been a big issue except that it was quite a cold day. The host mentioned a water issue on that day and that it could not have been fixed. Accidents do happen I agree but a heads-up would have been nice as it made us wonder the whole night as to what went wrong.Also, I would suggest the entire place be cleaned thoroughly. There were food particles on one of the sofa beds.But having said all this, the host was nice and resolved most of our issues so I am leaving a good review with some feedback that can worked upon.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• The second 2 days were good

  4/5

  We had no hot water on the day we arrived. It may not have been a big issue except that it was quite a cold day. The host mentioned a water issue on that day and that it could not have been fixed. Accidents do happen I agree but a heads-up would have been nice as it made us wonder the whole night as to what went wrong.

  Also, I would suggest the entire place be cleaned thoroughly. There were food particles on one of the sofa beds.

  But having said all this, the host was nice and resolved most of our issues so I am leaving a good review with some feedback that can worked upon.