Historic Rocky Waters Inn, A Small Luxury Hotel

It was an odd place, no office. You drive up and the guest service person comes out with something like an I-Pad. Check in was very easy, we got a lock code, no key. Location was great, on the river and on the edge of the main area of town with all the shops, places to eat and other touristy stuff. Room was clean, great view and looked new inside and out. Free parking under the building and Pet Friendly. Only things we didn't like was there was no dead bolt lock, only the key pad, they don't have a phone to call for service, when we called it sounded like they kept hanging up, and they had a nice looking cover over the a/c, which restricted air flow. We had to figure out, in the middle of the night that the a/c decorative piece needed to be moved so the room would cool off. We moved it about 8 inches and it cooled down, next day we figured we had to move it out 12 inches or more for the a/c to work correctly. Staff was very good with all questions and requests.

We are here right now. The rooms are nicely presented, however there is little luxury about this hotel. There is little or no attempt to silence the main road noise with appropriate door etc, the air conditioning is old and so very noisy we had to turn it off to sleep which made the room hot and airless. No complimentary water as advertised. As it is on a river the water as expected is loud and eve. With the door to the balcony closed you can hear it. No one came to clean our two rooms when we went out at 09.30 and came back at 2.30 pm. I had to go and find one of the people who checks you in at the gate who was unapologetic and says well what do you want me to do now! No one helped us up with our baggage to the room - sooo where is the luxury. We paid £400 a night with No breakfast included … it’s just daylight robbery … this is nothing but a glorified motel and Megan who seems to be responding to all these poor reviews seems not to be listening and responding adequately . Really poor customer services , it isn’t luxury and would most certainly not recommend you stay , I’m just annoyed that no one seems to care given all the latest bad reviews and nothing has been heeded from them as when o booked it was highly rated. Give it a wide berth .

The air conditioning unit made all kinds of noises. The bed terribly uncomfortable. Decor nice. Room smelled funny. Shower was nice. Will not stay again. The sheets were not very luxury either. Very Danica on outside but if the air conditioning sounds like a unit from the 80s it’s bad. No memory foam just lumpy not worth 300 a night.

This motel reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry says “ you know how to take the reservation, but you don’t know how to keep the reservation” In this case it’s “ you know how to promote your a luxury motel, you don’t know how to be a luxury motel” Our issue began in check in, they meet you on the driveway, tell you your room number and then a code for your door. The code didn’t open the door. Then I wanted a glass of wine for happy hour to bring to my room so I went to their bar and asked for the wine to be put in a plastic cup so I could bring it to my room. The bar tender said don’t worry and gave me my drink in a regular stemmed wine glass. As I was leaving the bar, a guy yells and me that if I leave the bar with that glass it’s a $1000 fine! Some weird TN liquor law. After I explained I was just walking to my room he calmed down and said I could not walk with it be he could. Weird. At night, our AC could not cool the room and we eventually just opened the door going to the deck to try and cool the room off. Them on top of that, the TV would change to a blank screen every 5-7 minutes so we gave up and just read our books. I called down in the AM to complain, but never heard from a manager. Some “Luxury motel!!! Never again

Negatives- Room smelt like mildew, so don’t recommend if you have allergies. The front door was very difficult to open and close. Not worth the price. No front desk? Room small Positives- restaurant attached (Heirloom) was very good. Close to everything. Has parking. Updates and decorations were nice. Quiet. Bed comfortable.

Hidden gem of a property! Superb location, views of the river, condition and overall service! Would highly recommend to anyone coming to the Gatlinburg area. Also, make sure to take advantage of the onsite restaurant - delicious! Will be back again in late November!

This hotel claims to be a 4 star luxury hotel. Far from it. For the money that we paid for one night I would have expected assistance with luggage when we arrived and turn down service. We found out later, after submitting a survey to the hotel directly, that luggage assistance and turn down service are supposed to be part of their amenities. No complimentary bottled water in the room. The coffee machine was nice but the creamer was Coffee Mate. Yuck! The room was very small and the AC unit is EXTREMELY loud. Don’t expect a restful nights sleep. I was hoping to listen to the river as we fell asleep. The renovation skimped on the HVAC of this property. Liked the balcony over looking the river, however, our room #104 overlooked a dilapidated hotel and parking lot. Come to find out that this hotel group is suppose to be renovating that hotel as well. Finally, the shower had a lot of mildew around the grout. Very gross. Not sure how they achieved Small Luxury Hotel status.

Pluses - The hotel and rooms were recently remodeled. Very clean, comfortable bed, nice shower. We had a balcony overlooking the river which was nice to sit outside and relax. Had breakfast in the restaurant and that was very good. Parking was right next to your room. There were no children so it was very quiet even though it’s on the main drag. Minuses - The room had a musty smell. The air conditioner was loud and didn’t cool very well. We turned it off at night in order to sleep. There were no window coverings for the big picture window in the room. Even though the room was across the river from some woods, I didn’t feel comfortable with no curtain, shade etc. The day we checked in the young men working did not speak or understand English very well so communication with them was a little difficult. Also the tv was not working correctly. We couldn’t get direct tv channels.

It was a pleasant surprise since we booked at the last minute. Location of the hotel on the water with its serene environment opposed to the other side hustle and bustle of Gatlinburg. Highly recommend it.