Affordable Cabins In The Smokies

We stayed in Bear Necessities over the weekend. We had a great time. The cabin had beautiful views that was perfect for a relaxing weekend. The proximity to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge was excellent. The staff at Affordable cabins are always friendly. We use these guys when ever we come to town.

We stayed in the Azelea Cove cabin in November and loved it. The location and views were great and cabin a complete find. For those unfamiliar with Gatlinburg, it is VERY touristy so being able to stay a little outside the fray in a gorgeous cabin with a near perfect panoramic view of the mountains was a real treat. It was a perfect space for a couple and very relaxing. The layout is spacious, the fireplace is terrific, an ample kitchen is extremely comfortable to work in (despite very much not level burners), and having a washer and dryer was a luxury I’m not used to while traveling. Unfortunately I was unable to give a higher rating for a couple things that rubbed me the wrong way and frankly considered a 2 star rating pretty seriously. Ultimately the cabin itself won out because the problems are easy fixes and I think most people will really enjoy their experience, hence the 3 stars. First, while a great value for the area these cabins are not cheap. Either way, the price is not a problem but I did expect them to be properly cleaned and maintained. Despite clearly targeting couples seeking a romantic retreat, the hot tub on the porch was pretty gross. There was green stuff on the bottom and the temperature gauge that floats around inside was black with layers of slime. Our first time in the hot tub I just assumed it would be clean. Obviously I was wrong. In addition to this, we were asked to pull the linens from the bed and leave them by the washing machine before leaving. No problem. I’m happy to help… but am not happy when I see that there are urine stains on the mattress when I do so. They sure weren’t from us so I don’t feel like this is an unfair statement. It just left a gross factor that killed my illusion of the cabin being so romantic. [Note to management: Pet stain and odor remover with OxyClean gets rid of just about any organic stain. Please use that or something even stronger as appropriate in the future!!!] Finally, I left 2 shirts in the closet and they never turned up for some reason despite my alerting the office within an hour of our departure before anyone had gone to clean the space. After several attempts over the course of the following week, I finally reached the office manager who was very nice and helpful but still no shirts. I accept responsibility for leaving items behind and was more than willing to pay for mailing but shirts also are not the kind of thing that just vanish. At any rate, the cabin was beautiful and everyone was helpful. Just be sure to arrive earlier in the day if you can so that you can see whether the hot tub is clean or not and maybe just leave the linens on the bed. The shirts were my fault so I’ll call that one a wash.