Bigrob
TUG Member
We just got back from our trip to the Smoky Mountains region and stayed in two Wyndhams. (Next year I might add a weekend at Fairfield Mountains or Sapphire Valley). We went the last full week of August (Fri-Fri) and reserved units at Smoky Mountains (Fri-Mon) and Great Smokies Lodge (Mon-Fri).
We have had several good experiences with Wyndham, and this trip did not disappoint. We stayed at Smoky Mountains over the weekend because the points cost is less, and that location is more convenient to most of the other area attractions (Dollywood, Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains state park, and perhaps most important, Krispy Kreme doughnuts). We were in a 3BR Deluxe at Smoky Mountains in building 29. I would recommend requesting other buildings for better views. While we overlooked some parkland, we were not elevated enough to have a good view of the mountains. It looked like buildings 23 and 30 would be buildings to request. The unit itself was fine, no issues and looked like recently renovated.
Then we arrived at Great Smokies Lodge. For this stay we were in a 3BR Presidential unit. We had stayed at a Presidential unit in National Harbor which was nice, but this Presidential seemed much nicer. Perhaps it was the gorgeous golf view. But even inside the unit, the furnishings and finish seemed more luxurious than at National Harbor. It was just a short walk over to the waterpark and Adventure Forest, and then we had our luxurious accommodations to relax in when we returned. The balcony was great too - large and deep, overlooking the golf course. I enjoyed watching as a member of the foursome below duffed one into a pond 30 yards in front of the tee box. The design is clever, too - they box out one of the two master bedrooms with a window on one side, so that the extension provides privacy between the balconies. You can't see anyone on either side of you.
We were not troubled by sales at either location. I suspect we may be on the black list by now. I'm not exactly torn up about it.
I'll post this in the review section for the two resorts. But I wanted to summarize it as a "trip tip" here - I would definitely repeat the way we did it here to save points and take advantage of the area.
We have had several good experiences with Wyndham, and this trip did not disappoint. We stayed at Smoky Mountains over the weekend because the points cost is less, and that location is more convenient to most of the other area attractions (Dollywood, Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains state park, and perhaps most important, Krispy Kreme doughnuts). We were in a 3BR Deluxe at Smoky Mountains in building 29. I would recommend requesting other buildings for better views. While we overlooked some parkland, we were not elevated enough to have a good view of the mountains. It looked like buildings 23 and 30 would be buildings to request. The unit itself was fine, no issues and looked like recently renovated.
Then we arrived at Great Smokies Lodge. For this stay we were in a 3BR Presidential unit. We had stayed at a Presidential unit in National Harbor which was nice, but this Presidential seemed much nicer. Perhaps it was the gorgeous golf view. But even inside the unit, the furnishings and finish seemed more luxurious than at National Harbor. It was just a short walk over to the waterpark and Adventure Forest, and then we had our luxurious accommodations to relax in when we returned. The balcony was great too - large and deep, overlooking the golf course. I enjoyed watching as a member of the foursome below duffed one into a pond 30 yards in front of the tee box. The design is clever, too - they box out one of the two master bedrooms with a window on one side, so that the extension provides privacy between the balconies. You can't see anyone on either side of you.
We were not troubled by sales at either location. I suspect we may be on the black list by now. I'm not exactly torn up about it.
I'll post this in the review section for the two resorts. But I wanted to summarize it as a "trip tip" here - I would definitely repeat the way we did it here to save points and take advantage of the area.