Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Water Park

Pleasantly Surprised I am writing this review as we are currently staying in a one bedroom deluxe unit. We exchanged through Interval International. Once the exchange was placed, I called the resort to request a renovated unit on a higher floor; both requests were honored. We were a bit weary based on the reviews but, in fairness, many of the negative ones are related to the timeshare presentations, which did not apply to us. We are in the building immediately behind reception, which has been convenient for coming and going and as well as close proximity to a pool (never overcrowded). There IS road noise, but it's the equivalent of white noise and hasn't even bothered our six month old. You do hear the beeping of golf carts during the day, but we honestly aren't in the room a lot. The view from this room is not impressive, but that's why a national park is in close driving distance. The kitchen is minimally stocked, which presented a bit of a challenge when cooking (ex: no mixing/serving bowls, no measuring spoons). Otherwise, we have no complaints. I will update the room if something changes during our stay.

Beware This place has only 2 pools and a waterpark that is very overcrowded. You are haggled and pushed to make a purchase every time you come. The new construction rooms were thrown together. They have many things wrong with them. You can’t sleep in because construction starts very early and the noise is terrible. If your looking to relax and not be bothered or hassled this is definitely not the place you want to stay!!!

"90 min time share presentation" = 3.5 hours My Fiance and I arrived at our hotel in Pigeon Forge & were told that there was a chance for discounted tickets to some attractions as long as we attended a 90 minute time share presentation. We were only there for 2 days, so we said why not save some money. We arrived at 2:30pm & we were told again it was only 90 minutes by front desk staff. "Eduardo" came to get us at 2:40 & we ate food then started the presentation. He was very friendly at first & said "we'll make it quick, since its only 90 minutes". So hes sitting there talking, talking, talking. Honestly, just blabbing nonsense, asking questions that dont pertain to the time share & drawing pictures on his little sheet. The time was now 4pm & he still hasnt even shown us the cabins. At this point, its a waste of time so we make subtle hints to get the ball rolling. He doesnt take any of them. It was after 5pm & he finally took us out to see the cabins. Again, taking his time, talking nonsense, trying to be funny. It wasnt working. We said we were not interested and we just wanted to leave because its been almost 3 hours here. We went back to the hotel after the showing & were ready to have our paper signed by the manager so we could get our discounted tickets. Eduardo sits down & starts talking prices, we again said we arent interested we'd just like to leave since we're on limited time & already wasted a whole night being here. He calls his manager over & the manager (wish i could remember his name) was so rude & also was dragging the time. Eduardo then proceeded to tell my fiance & I that we "made him look like a fool in front of his manager & were wasting his time" because we said we weren't interested in the time share. The manager then signed the paper & threw it across the table to my fiance & said "here. Take it downstairs". Management & Eduardo need to gain some more customer etiquette & respect "no" as an answer. Very annoying, misleading & irritating to be told 90 minutes and its really 3.5-4 hours. Would not ever recommend staying here OR buying a time share as they're a trap & you save more $ without one!

Ok stay Be sure to rent a room with a balcony that has a nice view. While our room was large there was almost no natural light. We did have a living room, kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom. The floors were very dirty though. When my daughter would crawl her knees were covered in dust. It is right next to the park and in a good location. Pool was nice as well.

WESTGATE OWNETS BEWARE. This started as a disappointment as soon as we began the check-in process. After traveling 8+ hours to get here from Michigan, we were first met with a customer service representative who made us repeat multiple times that “no” no one in the family smokes or vapes. We are not smokers, we don’t smell like smoke, and either he was implying we were dishonest about smoking, or he was so busy listening to every other person checking in with other representatives, he was not listening to our response. Once we finally got our credit card on file, he would not give us our packet with our key cards. We had to wait for a concierge to bring us to our unit, about another 10 minute wait. Once we got to our unit, our disappointment continued. We are Westgate owners in Orlando at the Town Center in one of the high rises, with a 4 bedroom lock off unit. We have owned through Westgate for about 14 years. In that time, we have owned in the Villas in Orlando, exchanged to Branson, the Lakes (Orlando), Myrtle Beach, SC, Williamsburg, VA, Cocoa Beach, and most recently in Daytona Beach. Every time we have received a unit equivalent to what we would expect as owners of Westgate. Daytona Beach is a different situation, but we were still provided with a unit on the beach overlooking the ocean. We were treated as equal owners in every resort, regardless that our actual unit is in Orlando. That changed with Gatlinburg. We exchanged two of our bedrooms to this resort. The unit we received is a split two level, one bedroom downstairs and the other upstairs. There are minor cosmetic damages in the unit (e.g. knocked walls, nail polish on tables), but the interior is nice. If I were a guest at Westgate, the interior would impress me. The exterior is where the disappointment lies. The unit the placed us in is in the valley. The balconies do not face the naturally wooded environment of the Smokey Mountains, they face the unit directly across from you. The one in the upper unit additionally has a second set of barricades completely blocking any views other than the unit across. In the little bit of woods visible beyond the retaining wall, there is a lovely view of their drainage system and an old bag of garbage. Out to the front of the unit, again, views of drain pipes. Everywhere else throughout the resort, the balconies are off the back of the units. We were out in one of the few that has a balcony off the side, with only a view of the neighbor. When we asked about this, we were told it us because we are not really owners. Sure, we own in Orlando, but those units are essentially oversold and hold no value here. Owners in Gatlinburg should easily get an equivalent unit in Orlando, but no Orlando owner should expect the same in Gatlinburg. According to our concierge, via Interval International, Gatlinburg is a premium resort whereas Orlando is maybe elite. Also, what were we thinking to exchange within Westgate? Interval International is so much better. We requested a change of room that was more in line with the setting we have come to appreciate as a benefit of owning at Westgate rather than being guests. Again, we were told we really aren’t Westgate owners in this situation. We were also told we should be happy we are in one of the units recently renovated and not in an old one. I guess our maintenance fees also only apply to our home resort and we should be happy to have the benefits of those as well. We spoke to both our concierge and her manager. They were not able to do anything. We will sit and have a great view of the people beside us this entire week. When we spoke to the manager, I mentioned I was happy our eldest son is now 20 and the split level wasn’t a huge deal, but when we came 10 years ago, it would have been a huge problem to have a family separated in units like this. If parents utilized what they were given, that would be neglectful. Her response was that it would not be neglectful because she had a family right now where the parents had to split up, one in one unit and one in another. I cannot imagine being the family that now has to separate at night and I am appalled that is viewed as acceptable. Additionally, our concierge said she would check in with us every day. It is after 10:00 pm and she has not checked in. Anyway, if you are a Westgate owner, skip this resort for an exchange. It looks like other reviews indicate even owners at this resort have trouble getting decent views. Do yourself a favor, stay elsewhere I wish more than anything we would have kept our week at our home resort and gotten an Air Bnb for this vacation. Also, a tip we were just provided by the reservation line when we tried to see if they could do anything us reservations now have an area where you need to request very specifically what you want (even if you want a true 2 bedroom, you need to put that in writing). Otherwise, they can put you anywhere that meets the description. We were told by the concierge manager here that 8 months ago when we booked, we should have called the resort directly with a request because they knew then that we would be in the valley. That is another difference from any other resort where your unit is determined at check in.