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Re: Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort (by Jeffrey C.):

My family of nine just got back from staying here. We had two two bedroom units. I am an owner at this resort. Good stuff: We booked two, two bedroom units, we stayed in building 3000 which was at the top of the mountain so we had an awesome view of Gatlinburg and the surrounding mountains. Our units were in very good shape and were only a couple of years old. We had four kids ages 10 - 3 that enjoyed the water park and the pools. Westgate keeps the grounds in very good shape, there isn't a lack of staff for that, just when it comes to housekeeping.

Disappointing stuff: Upon arrival we had to wait two hours for our unit to be ready. We went upstairs to the little bar they had up there. We waited 10 minutes before the only person working the area acknowledged us and just said "have a seat, I will be right with you". We had been traveling for 12 hours so we sat in a booth, 15 minutes later without this person stopping by I went downstairs to check the status of our room. The desk agent said that only one unit was ready in which I replied thats good enough, lets go. She got our concierge and I called our group down from the bar and we went to our room. The concierge explained the policies and amenities and said he will bring the keys to the other unit when it's ready, which only took another 15 minutes. Next was our trip to the "smokehouse Grill", the main restaurant on site. It was 6:00 and there was hardly anyone there on a Friday night, this should have been a clue to what was coming. We sat in an area that was being remodeled(?) and the waiter took our drink and appetizer orders. He then returned to take our dinner order. He made a couple passes while we were waiting (forever) for our food. We were the only table he was waiting on. The food was medium priced and OK tasting, nothing special or award winning like they advertized. When we were done with our meal we asked for some take home boxes which he took his time delivering. He dropped them off and before I had a chance to ask for my bill he ran off to his newly seated table. We waited another 15 minutes before we finally got up and went to the cashier to ask for our bill. I explained my frustrations to them, only got a "so sorry" from them. I paid the bill, no tip for the horrible service and we left. During my "meeting" on the next Thursday with the Concierge I told him our story and he said it's the biggest complaint they have.

Overall it was a fun week with our family. I had to suffer through their standard sales pitch which lasted four hours before I got up and left from. There is allot to do off site so take advantage of that.