Hotel at a Glance: Mountain Harbor Inn

Mountain Harbor Inn was selected as one of the world’s top 10 resorts in its category by BedandBreakfast.com, and was the first Tennessee bed and breakfast added to the website’s Diamond Collection. Every suite at this child-free property overlooks the banks of Douglas Lake, nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains. With this deal, you’ll get a sunset cruise around the lake and dig into a dessert served by candlelight. 

• Notable praise: The bed and breakfast won a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2011–2015, and was inducted into the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame for winning the award five years in a row.
• Enjoy a breakfast buffet each morning after you wake up.
• In-room amenities: microwave, refrigerator, and free WiFi; choose the condo for a hot tub and fireplace. The luxurious Waterfront Cabin has a great view of the lake, plus an extra-large patio with a barbecue grill.
• Get pampered with a hot-stone or Swedish massage.
• Lakeside activities: Rent a boat, jet skis, a kayak, or a paddle board from the inn.
• Distance from Great Smoky Mountain National Park: about a 27-mile drive

Dandridge, Tennessee: Mountain Town near Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Settlers moving west across the Appalachian Mountains founded the town of Dandridge in 1783 and named it after Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the wife of President George Washington. Several old buildings in the National Historic District downtown have been carefully preserved, including a handful of taverns and a Greek Revival–style courthouse that dates back to 1845. Be sure to stop in the circa-1911 Tinsley-Bible Drug Co for a hamburger or old-fashioned sundae. The town is also home to the Bush’s Baked Beans visitor center, as well as a small museum and the original general store where the company was founded in 1897.

The Gatlinburg entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park is just 27 miles away. Here, more than 100 trails wind past waterfalls and pioneer-era log cabins tucked deep amid densely forested mountains. Or, take a bicycle ride on the 11-mile loop through Cades Cove, a broad valley of open meadows where you might see deer, black bears, wild turkeys, or vacationing college mascots. Clingmans Dome, the park’s highest point of elevation at 6,643 feet, is a great place to catch the sunset. The Bassmaster Elite Series is held here at Douglas Lake every year; it’s considered one of country’s top 10 lakes for crappie and largemouth-bass fishing.

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