Lovely Family Retreat at Echota

Guest: Red (New Palestine, Indiana)
Date of Stay: 03/24/12 Review Submitted: 03/27/12

We love Echota Resort because of its location. The resort is easy to get to, with a feeling of privacy although it sits right on the main road in Sevierville. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg attractions are easily accessible, and it's nice to have lodging that is not in the middle of the congestion associated with the Parkway. The location really can't be beat, since there are many attractions in Sevierville as well! We love this particular cabin ("Heartsong", Echota #78), because it is family friendly. It is just as pretty as the online pictures, and was sparkling clean when we checked in. We got there at 4:30, and it was all ready for us! It sits in a wooded location backing up to a hill. While there are a couple of other cabins nearby, the setting is still peaceful and private. Since we brought our son and his family, we appreciated the fact that both bedrooms had identical amenities. Both had king beds with good mattresses, full baths with separate vanity areas, large closets, and Direct TV. The wood-burning fireplace was clean and ready to use, with plenty of wood on the screened-in back porch, although we didn't use it because of the warm weather. There was a large dining table which seats 6 in the kitchen, and also another eating area at the counter with 4 bar stools. As I said before, perfect for a family with children. We were told ahead of time that the hot tub on the back porch was not working, and were given a discounted rate because of that. However, we did not miss the hot tub, being busy with all the Smoky Mountain attractions. The staff at Old Mill Lodging was wonderful to work with, even calling to ensure that we were happy with our accomodations. The ladies I talked to at Old Mill were courteous and friendly, ready to answer any question or do whatever was necessary to make sure we had a nice stay. I would definitely use Old Mill Lodging again, and I highly recommend Echota #78, Heartsong.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, sightseeing, families with teenagers.

So Peaceful and Clean!

Guest: Sara (Romulus, MI)
Date of Stay: 02/17/12 Review Submitted: 02/21/12

This was our first time staying at this cabin and we had a very relaxing vacation here. Everything was so clean and put together well! We just loved the folded swan towels in the bathrooms.Thank you for providing such a wonderful place to stay. We hope we can come back soon!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Gowers stay

Guest: Fallon (Nashville,tn)
Date of Stay: 12/02/11 Review Submitted: 12/11/11

The cabin itself is beautiful! However, it is listed as having a gas fireplace but it only has a wood burning FP. It is about 15-20 miles from Gburg but that's not too bad. Also, there was no toilet paper and the towels were left in the dryer and not folded. The staff said they would bring up some toilet paper but never showed. It does need a DVD player so that families can watch movies if they do choose. Overall, I would not stay here again.

Owner response:As soon as I received this review via email, I attempted to contact the guest and try to make amends for the mistakes made during their stay. We want every guest to enjoy their stay in our cabin and community. We removed the reference to a gas fireplace from the listing. This was an oversight from our internet sales representative. Our cabins that are equipped with wood burning fireplaces do include a bundle of wood and a starter log for each reservation. Unfortunately the checklist completed by our staff prior to each guests arrival was obviously not completed properly, thus the lack of toilet paper and the towels in the dryer not being folded. For this I apologize and wish that we here at Old MIl Lodging would have had an opportunity to correct this incident when it occurred. However, the "staff" that the guest refers to are not employees or affiliated with Old MIll Lodging at all. They are from a different / competing company that manages other cabins in the community. We do our best to make sure every guest of Old Mill Lodging has the 24-7 phone number to call for maintenance issues or other guest needs. We have now made this number and the fact that this is the ONLY number to call for guest needs more prominent in our confirmation and information pages to all guests. Finally, we have replaced the DVD player in the cabin for all future guests. I am sorry to hear that the guest would not stay in this "beautiful" cabin again, but hope once I am able to speak to them directly, they will change their minds and give Old Mill Lodging the opportunity to correct their mistakes and provide them with a complete vacation.

Recommended for:

Tennessee vacation

Guest: Suzie (Sulphur Springs, TX)
Date of Stay: 11/02/11 Review Submitted: 11/09/11

We enjoyed our stay at the cabin. It was close to all the attractions and not far from the Smoky Mountains National Park. The cabin was clean and very affordable. It states that it sleeps 4 - 6 people. Six people would be a little crowded. We had a problem with the hot tub but it was fixed within a couple of days. Over all our stay was great, especially for the price.

Recommended for:Sightseeing.

Cute Secluded Cabin

Guest: mommyof3girls (Burkesville, KY)
Date of Stay: 10/15/11 Review Submitted: 10/17/11

This cabin was a great fit for our family - 2 adults w/ 3 kids 10 and under. It had 2 king beds and our 3 kids slept in one of them fine. Both beds were very comfortable. It has a beautiful setting with a very private back porch that back right up to a hill. You can't really see any other cabins from this one which was nice. It was a clean cabin but not detailed clean (i.e. - dusty window sills, etc.). The photos are accurate on the listing. It is nicely decorated and very cozy. It has satellite TV in both bedrooms and in the living room. No DVD player. A lot of stairs to get up to the cabin from the driveway. My biggest complaint would be the kitchen. The selection of kitchen items was VERY limited. No mixing bowls, cutting board, etc. and they only had tiny skillets and small pots and pans. The dishwasher was and old and broken with nasty green water sitting in the bottom of it. The knives were horrible and could barely cut anything. The dining room table is way to big for the space and you have to squeeze by the kitchen counter and the table. Another disappointment was the fireplace. It had a gas hook-up but it was capped off and it didn't look like a fire had ever been built in it - so we weren't sure if it was okay to build a wood fire or not. No pets allowed in the cabin or on the resort property. Overall we really enjoyed our time at this cabin. Our kids loved it and didn't want to leave. We would rent again - maybe not for a week but definitely for a weekend or short period.

Owner response:Dear Guest, I'm glad to hear you had a good time! But not very happy to hear about the other things that disappointed you. I am for sure getting right on those issues, they are being addressed right now. The fireplace was converted to a wood burning fireplace. I had the fireplace cleaned and inspected before your arrival. In the future please don't hesitate to call and ask a question if you have one. We are here to make your stay as in enjoyable as possible! Again I thank you I hope you chose to give us a chance to make up it up to you in the future.

Recommended for:Girls getaway, families with young children.