We currently own a two-bedroom unit at Tree Tops Resort in Gatlinburg. We have a flex week that can be reserved anytime throughout the year. The annual maintenance fee is $705. We do not have any current reservations. Please reach out if you are interested.
Here are additional details:
Tree Tops resort is located at 290 Sherman Clabo Road in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The resort is only a few minutes from the main "strip" in Gatlinburg, but it doesn't feel like! It is set back in the trees and is very peaceful and quiet. There are several buildings and you are assigned to a building at random based on the week you select. Once you have paid your annual maintenance fee, you call to reserve your week and if you call in the beginning of the year there are usually a wide range of weeks to pick from - including Holidays. It is very easy to reserve your week.
Another thing we like about Tree Tops (because we live only about 2.5 hours away) is that if you call as an owner and request just a weekend stay, you can stay in a two bedroom for only about $80-100 per night. When we do use the property, we go up on the weekends to take advantage of that.
Unfortunately, we aren't able to go often for a full week so we have usually turned our rental into RCI to receive points. Each year, depending on how far away the week reserved is, we receive anywhere from 15-25 points with RCI each year. This has allowed us to take some neat trips. In 2011 we went to St. Lucia for our honeymoon (11 points), we had a babymoon in the Dominican Republic in 2016 (6 points) and took our kids to Disney in 2021 (38 points). We have ended our membership with RCI as we hope to give away the timeshare but honestly the number of points we were able to get and the trips we were able to take through RCI has made the timeshare worthwhile for us.
The maintenance fee of $705 is annual and is due at the beginning of the year, usually in the first few days of January. The next bill would be due in January 2027. Gatlinburg tends to be busy all year long - but especially in the Fall (leaf season) and around Holidays. You are also only a few minutes away from Pigeon Forge, which is another very popular destination.
I have reached out to the resort to inquire about a deed-back program but have not heard back from them yet. I believe the fee to transfer ownership (with Tree Tops) is either $50 or $75. We are willing to help cover the closing costs if we find a responsible party interested in taking over the timeshare.
Finally, Tree Tops has been a special place for us. My husband's parents bought the timeshare there in the 1980s. He has many many fond memories going there as a child. They divorced and the timeshare went to my mother-in-law. She gifted it to us as a wedding present in 2011. We were unaware of how timeshares worked at the time and didn't understand that there would be annual maintenance fees or that we would basically be responsible for the timeshare for the rest of our lives! We have definitely enjoyed using it over the years but for the past 2-3 years my husband has gotten very busy at work and we have not been able to take advantage of going to Tree Tops for a week (or even a weekend) or been able to take advantage of the RCI points so for several years our points just simply expired because we couldn't use them. In February of this year I lost my job and at this point we really can't afford to keep the timeshare. It is a very hard decision for us because we love going there but financially we just can't make it work anymore. I recommend Tree Tops to anyone. The staff is great, the location is lovely, there are many amenities and pools, and the units are always updated and clean. It has been a wonderful place for my husband to grow up and for us to take our children!
