Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Water Park

Reviews

• MY

  Merve Yılmaz

  2 days ago
  3.0
  We stayed over the weekend in Gatlinburg at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort. First of all, I strongly recommend reading reviews before making a reservation. When we arrived at the hotel at 4:30 PM—30 minutes after the official check-in time—our room was still not ready. We were even told that check-in could take as late as 11 PM. After a long drive and traveling with two young children, my husband had to insist multiple times before we were finally given a room. After check-in, a staff member approached us quite persistently and tried to convince us to attend a 90-minute presentation the next day, offering incentives such as free breakfast, free access to the waterpark, and a gift card. However, we declined this option as we were not interested and did not fully understand what it involved. The room was generally clean, but the walls were extremely thin—it felt like we were sharing the same room with our neighbors. We were exposed to noise late into the night. On the positive side, room service was quick, and the food at the restaurant was delicious. When we returned home, we realized that we had left our phone charger in the room. We contacted the hotel shortly after and even described its exact location (plugged into the outlet behind the room phone). However, we were told that it could not be found. This is very hard to believe, as we reached out within just a few hours. It seems unlikely that a new guest had already checked in or that housekeeping would have missed it. In the past, we have left items behind at other hotels, and they were always quickly found and shipped back to us. We expected the same level of service here, as we believed this hotel to be reliable—but unfortunately, we were mistaken. Because of this experience, we would never choose Westgate again, even in different locations.
• JW

  Josh Winkler

  3 days ago
  1.0
  Unless you’re planning to buy a timeshare, do not fall for this scam. Their employees downtown Gatlinburg approached us while we were talking about how much we’d love to bring her kids next year, and promised us the moon to attend their 90 minute presentation at their property the following day. Free tickets to attractions, gift cards, and to top it off, a free week at their resort and waterpark so the kids will have the best experience. Why not? 90 minutes to cover our lodging expenses next year? Sounds great! We gave them both of our addresses and talked about how far away from each other we live (this is important later), and how much these vacations mean to us since our daily lives keep us from seeing each other as much as we’d like. Fast forward to the next day. Ashti, a salesman, takes us to the presentation. This guy is good. Even though we repeatedly said we weren’t interested or in the position to buy, he kept selling, and we really enjoyed him. Very entertaining person. However, in the first 30 minutes of our meeting, we tell him the same story about our living situation being long distance, the kids, the area, etc.. We tour the facility, talk about all the things to do and the properties available to us, and we tell him that we may actually be interested in the future, but we aren’t the type of people that make spontaneous decisions when it comes to major investments. Of course, the deal is off the table if we leave without purchasing. He starts stalling. The whole attitude changes. Long story long, 3 and a half hours into the 90 minute meeting, he sends us downstairs, refusing to even shake my hand, to wait for corporate to get us all the things they promised us. After another 20 minutes, we approached the desk only to be told, “you’ve been accused of living in separate households, so you’ve been disqualified from any benefits of attending.” Like we did something wrong. Everyone involved knew we didn’t live together, and we never tried to hide it. Like, why would we, not even knowing that was a rule? Long story long, they wasted half a day of our vacation trying to pressure us into buying, when it was upfront and honestly never an option for us. They could’ve told us on the street that we didn’t qualify if that was truly a rule of theirs and saved everyone’s time. The truth is, they got us, carrot on a stick, trying to do something good for the kids, and never intended to give us any of the things they promised. They lure in tourists, and pressure them to join their program without following through on any of it, even making you feel like a criminal on your way out the door. Complete scam. By all means, if you’re looking for a timeshare, it’s probably fine if you show up ready to buy. Otherwise, only attend this meeting if you want a cafeteria lunch, and to feel like an idiot the rest of your day.
• SL

  Sierra Lindner

  6 days ago
  1.0
  Great place, if you like ICE COLD showers, poor customer service and DIRTY rooms. This is BY FAR THE WORST vacation we’ve ever had. Let me preface this by saying we visited this resort in 2015, before the fires. Last time our unit ran out of hot water because the downstairs neighbours used it all for their jacuzzi tub. Not only was our room dirty upon check-in, there were also a TON of bugs in the unit. The water park’s water was FREEZING and the water was brown. Fast forward to 2026, my husband wanted to visit again so we called the resort to ask if the issues had been resolved and they assured us that since the fires, everything had been redone and we wouldn’t have any of those issues. Reluctantly, I agreed to come. BIG MISTAKE! Last week (we booked 2wks), we checked in and had the same problems. The hot water ran out the first night and all three of us had freezing showers because once again, the neighbours used up all of the hot water. We called the front desk and they sent someone to come check the hot water tank. He told us the jacuzzi tubs are 160 gallons but the shared hot water tanks are only 80 gallons. This means there’s literally no way for you to have a hot bath if anyone else is staying in your building and he even told us it’s the most common complaint on the property. The room looked clean at first but the floors clearly hadn’t been properly cleaned in a while because our socks were BLACK on the bottoms every night before bed. When I inquired as to why the front desk lied to us when we called two months earlier, they first looked at me like they didn’t hear me. When I brought this up to the manager he asked for the name of the person we talked to - word to the wise RECORD or take notes on everything said when speaking to staff. When we visited the water park, the water looked cleaner but was still too cold for kids. After about two laps around the lazy river, we were all shivering. Due to this the hot tub was overcrowded and the hot tub’s water was as brown as the rest of the water was last time. The next week they moved us to another unit due to "availability” issues and got us into a new unit as “soon as they could.” It was the “first unit they ‘cleaned’ that day.” When we arrived the place was VILE! The smell was so bad we dropped our non-porous items off in less than five minutes and called the front desk. They said the only options were to take a downgraded unit because of "availability" or have them come run the ozone machine to remove 99% of the smell. When we arrived back at the unit 5 hours later, the smell was only slightly less. I suspect rather than running the machine, they just turned on the ceiling fan and left. Now that I could breathe a little, we started unpacking and noticed the only thing that had been cleaned in the unit were MAYBE the bed linens - they were not done neatly so I suspect they were just pulled back up. There was unidentifiable grease all over the kitchen, crumbs (including pieces of spaghetti) all over the kitchen counters and floors, bits of clothing tags and glitter all over the bedroom floor, all of the furniture had a layer of dust and their skirting boards were so filthy they could have hosted a dust bunny disco. There was also rubbish on the patio from the previous guests and the phone did not work (and ended up not being able to be repaired). It’s clear this place hasn’t been properly cleaned in weeks. An hour and MANY messages later they sent the housekeeping manager up and he was disgusted when he saw how his team left the place. Shortly, he brought 5 people up to give the unit a proper cleaning - when they left it still smelled but was about 50% better. His group was truly fantastic but I still find myself asking WHY DID THIS HAPPEN and what is going to be done about it? To be honest, probably nothing because clearly things haven’t improved in the past 11 years. If I had known we’d be having the same issues, we would never have booked. That being said, we did see a bear so he gets your 1 star. We are leaving early.
• RS

  Richard Stark

  Apr 1, 2026
  4.0
  Location was amazing, in the smoky mountains with a great view. The room was like a small apartment , had everything you need. Only issue was the co2 detector went off for like 10 , called front desk, said they would send someone , but no one showed. Service was great also, everyone is nice. They have transportation to take you up and down the mountain all day, they were all super nice. CJ was a great driver and had great door to door service . My only issue with this resort, we knew it was a timeshare and they were gonna try and sell us ownership, this was part of the deal we got, sit through time share for discount on stay. The first gal was great, spent a great amount of time explaining all and showing us all, she then brought in her manager to try and get the deal. She was great also, but when we told them we needed time to think and not interested at this exact second with signing a contract for a 10 year loan on a vacation property, it all changed!! Jokes stopped and almost got cold with us, than they brought in a young gal that was the last option to try and get the deal, her name was like o Dallas or odesa , she became very rude and almost demanding that we wouldn’t buy into the time share. Either way, place is beautiful and rooms are great. Had a great time till the timeshare meeting, even that wasn’t bad till they didn’t like I wasn’t signing paperwork right then!
• DE

  Danease Evans

  Mar 27, 2026
  1.0
  **Strongly reconsider before buying at Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Spa** We understood going into this that purchasing a timeshare comes with risks. At the time of purchase, however, the benefits and promises presented made those risks feel reasonable. Unfortunately, our recent experiences have made it clear that those expectations are not being met. The condition of our room was unacceptable. We encountered dead bugs, hair in the sink, fingerprints covering the mirror, a broken fan, a broken closet door and overall filth . Even more concerning was the overwhelming smell of marijuana and cigarettes in what is advertised as a non-smoking facility. When we brought these issues forward, the response we received was not only unhelpful, but unprofessional. An employee named Brad Reed was dismissive, condescending, and openly sarcastic, at one point stating, “Well apparently we won’t ever see you again.” Rather than addressing the situation, we were told the resort was completely full and that the only option was to send housekeeping. In the same conversation, we were also told that purchasing an upgraded room would “ensure we wouldn’t have any more problems.” The implication was difficult to ignore. After declining to spend additional money, our concerns were effectively dismissed. However, when we escalated the situation to a front desk manager, we were immediately moved to another room without issue, directly contradicting what we were told about availability. This raises serious concerns about how guest issues are handled. It appears that responsiveness may depend less on the validity of the concern and more on a willingness to spend more money. This experience reflects poorly not only on the condition of the property, but on the integrity of the service model. Cleanliness, honesty, and basic professionalism should not be conditional. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend this resort. Travelers should carefully consider other options in the area that prioritize transparency, accountability, and guest care.

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