Sidney James Mountain Lodge

The room's conditions were dirty and neglected. Essential things like lack of hot water for bathing and the poor-quality bed made us leave the hotel. The receptionist told me I had to resolve the issue with Booking.com. And all she did was give me their phone number

We rented The Owl's Next. It is a 3 bedroom cabin on the property. It couldn't have been more perfect! Parked the car and didn't move it til we left 9 days later! We just used the trolly! Picked up food for the nice kitchen in Pigeon Forge as we drove in. Enjoyed the fireplace and internet. 8 people could s comfortably stay there.

My husband and I were coming to Gatlinburg for a wedding and when I started to look for a room in town, I got a bit overwhelmed. I booked here based on the price and location. I was not disappointed. I knew it was going to be a bit dated based on pictures and reviews, but it had character, and it brought back memories of traveling with my parents as a kid. The room was clean and quiet, and the staff was so friendly and accommodating. The cafe was convenient, and the food was good. It's about a 1/4 of a mile walk into town and felt safe except for being warned about bears, but we didn't see any. The wedding was out of town a few miles and where the Sydney James' is located, we were able to bypass downtown and the traffic, which was a huge bonus. I would stay here again!

Although this is probably the most I have had mixed feelings about a place to stay while vacationing, I’m going to do my best to make this review as honest, informative, and helpful to the visitors of Gatlinburg as I can. We booked our room months in advance which was a wise thing to do. Everywhere in town was packed and the Sidney James was no exception. We arrived early hoping to check in before the required 3 pm and the staff was very nice and willing to start our check-in process before our room was ready. They even offered us the use of the pool and cafe while we waited. More details on the pool and cafe later. We decided to come back in an hour and finish checking in, which we did. A tip for booking: whatever card you use for booking the room they will charge the morning of your arrival. Therefore, if you want to use a different method to pay for your stay call ahead and make arrangements. They assured me that they would work with you. It took a week for them to straighten out switching our payment methods once the charges were made, so it’s better talk to them beforehand. Once again, the staff was friendly and accommodating during this time. Once we checked in we went to our room, just as soon as we entered we could smell that someone had just cleaned it and it did look very clean even if it was quite outdated. The room was spacious for the price and it did have a balcony view of the creek. Unfortunately, we couldn’t open the window to hear the creek while we slept and the passage door to the balcony did not have a screen either. Even if it did the people staying in the building across the creek could see right in. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly the romantic view I saw in the advertising. Also, the walls are paper thin. You could hear the people talking in the rooms on either side of you. If you are a very social person this may not bother you. Finally, concerning the room's thin walls, if your neighbor is like ours who partakes of marijuana, you can expect a second-hand buzz yourself. Again, this may not bother some people. If you bring leftovers home from the Dolly Stampede to have them for a midnight snack there is a working fridge but you will have to eat your snack cold because they do not provide a microwave in the room. You have to take the rather long trip to the lobby in your boxers for a reheat. We went to shows every night we were there which leads me to the parking situation. Although you are given a parking permit so that you can prove you are paying guest it may not matter because after 9 pm you will have a hard time finding a parking space. When I brought this to their attention the next day (and after parking down the street) they assured me that there is plenty of parking across the street in their other establishments parking lot. We did not find that to be completely true. I recommend Ubering or using the trolley that conveniently stops in front of the Sidney James if you want to stay out late. We could not find a parking spot on either property two of the three nights we were there. The cafe is a convenient place to grab a decent breakfast and bar/ concession stand-type food for the rest of the day. I had pancakes for breakfast in it was good. I was also satisfied with the wings. We did have to wipe down our own tables before sitting down. Vending and ice machines are provided throughout the property. The pool area is one of the nicest part of the motel. It has two heated pools, one outside and one inside. The one inside also features a hot tub, grotto and a waterfall. Let's be fair, we did pay less than the average cost of the average room in downtown Gatlinburg and we got just that.

When we arrived we were told our pet friendly room was "across the street." And it seriously was. It was not even the Sidney James Mountain Lodge. It was some old hotel they had bought. There were a couple of guys staying there the first night. Then we were all alone across the street. The room was not nice. It was very old and the carpet was badly stained. I felt punished for having a pet. We did have access to the indoor pool which was lovely. Our room had no outside living area, no balcony, just a small sidewalk running in front of the rooms. The cafe was not open the entire 4 days we were there. Would not stay there again.