Sevierville Cabin
We went to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville area for our family vacation with my parents this year. Brad has never been to the area, and I haven’t been in over 15-20 years. We thought it was also be a fun change of pace. We did throw in some Dollywood, but we tried to not make the entire trip about the theme park. Instead of staying in a hotel, we opted to find a cabin. I didn’t know much about the area when it comes to looking for a cabin. I have friends on Facebook who have visited often, so I used one of the websites they recommend, Fireside Chalets. We had somewhat specific requests. We wanted a 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom cabin. My brother was considering going, but wasn’t 100% committed. So we wanted the extra bathroom in case, and he was willing to sleep in the loft area if he decided to go.
Due to Melody’s swim lessons, we only had a few select weeks to pick from for our vacation. We opted to go earlier in the summer to hope to avoid some heat and crowds. Our dates were 5/30 - 6/3 (Monday - Friday). The cabin we picked was Perky Peaks Lodge. My biggest complaint before (and after booking) is that we did not know the location until we received our call on check in day that our cabin was ready. They do mention that the distance from the parkway is “10” but is that 10 miles, 10 minutes, and which parkway? I assumed it couldn’t be too far, and the price was a good one. So we risked it.
I did take lots of pictures of the cabin, but they can also be found on the website. But I do want to share my pictures, a better idea of the layout, and my review below!
Location
While I do not want to give out the address since the company did not beforehand, I will share the general location. It is located on Oak Lake Drive in Sevierville, TN. It is maybe 5 minutes from Dolly Parton Parkway, and it is around 20 minutes away from Dollywood itself. I actually really ended up loving being located in Sevierville. We had no real wait times when we went out to eat in the evenings, yet we were still within 10-20 minutes from anything we wanted to do. On our departure morning, we met friends for ice cream in Pigeon Forge (not intentionally but the original place we met was closed). Well that bit of driving and dealing with Pigeon Forge made us realize we loved our location even more. Now there are not many, if any, hotels near where we were, but that also made it nice.
Front Yard and Parking
We found the house fairly easy. The parking spaces did look bigger online, but we were able to make 3 cars fit. I don’t know if you had huge trucks or SUVs that more than 2 would fit however. I really did like the large front porch. We did sit on the rocking chairs for a bit on different occasions. I also liked there were not any steps to bring things inside.
First Floor - Living Room and Kitchen
One thing I liked about this cabin was the open floor plan. I loved that the kitchen and living room were basically one room. Now there was not really a dining room table, however. So if you are planning a lot of meals here, that could be an issue. There was plenty of seats for all of us at the island though. The only meals we had here was breakfast. My brother stayed back from Dollywood one day, so he had lunch here. So that was never an issue for us. There was plenty of space in the living room too. We watched TV at night and played some games in here too.
First Floor - Laundry Room and Half Bath
So the laundry room and half bath were located underneath the stairs on the first floor. We had hope this bathroom was a full bath, but it was not. We used the washer and dryer one day to wash and dry towels. It was not anything large, but it worked just fine.
First Floor - Bedroom/Bathroom Combo One
Brad and I opted to sleep in the bedroom downstairs. The upstairs bathroom had a jacuzzi which we thought my mom would prefer. The room itself was a good size. It had a king size bed, dresser, chair, TV, and two nightstands. There was plenty of room for us and all of our things. The bathroom was also nice. They had double sinks, a walk in shower and a decent closet. Now the room was not perfect. We could hear my parents walking around upstairs. It wasn’t a huge deal since we brought a sound machine, but if you didn’t have one, I can’t imagine the noise. We also had AWFUL pillows. Like they were so bad, we went to Walmart the second day and bought more. There were other pillows throughout the cabin, but they were just all so THIN.
First Floor - Outside
The last major space on the first floor was the outside area. We had a screened in back porch that was accessed through the kitchen. There were string lights along with a few chairs and tables and a cooler. Outside of the screened area was the jacuzzi. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The off the side of the jacuzzi was another outdoor area that had a picnic table and grill. You could access this from the front porch and parking area. We spent every night out here except our very last night since we were packing to leave. Melody loved having the jacuzzi to play in.
Second Floor - Loft
As soon as you walk into the cabin, you are met with the stairs that take you to the loft area. My brother ended up sleeping up here. There was a closet with indoor and outdoor games along with blankets and pillows. There was an arcade table and another table with chess on it. There was a couch and chair along with a random futon and a TV. I believe the couch folded out into a bed, but my brother just slept on the couch itself. Melody spent a lot of time playing the arcade game while we were here.
Second Floor - Bedroom/Bathroom Combo Two
As mentioned below, my parents stayed in the upstairs bedroom. It was similar to our room in that it contained a king bed, dresser, chair, nightstands, and a TV. The bathroom also had a shower along with a jacuzzi tub.
Second Floor - Outside
Upstairs also had a porch that was located off of the loft. It was not screen in, but it was as big as the screened in porch below. It had a swing and a hammock.
Final Thoughts
Overall I did like this cabin as well as the company that we worked with. We had an issue with the shower, and they sent someone out the same day to fix it. While it was not urgent or even necessary, they kept me up to date with the details. I didn't care for the note left by housekeeping requesting a tip, however. But that likely has nothing to do with the rental company and just the housekeeping company. It does come equipped with an alarm system. We are used to this, but my parents are not. They were not a fan of it because it does make a noise every time a door is opened. However, if you have a family with a lot of little ones, that could be beneficial. I could see us staying here again if we go back simply for the location and set up of the cabin.
