Hilton Garden Inn in Gatlinburg, TN

Been staying here as long as the hotel has been here due to nice facilities and convenience, and until today free parking on date of arrival through date of departure. Travelers beware, you’ll be paying $15 more each day than you planned. Applies to Hilton Honors Gold members too in a case you’re wondering.

We have been going to this Hotel since it opened in 2009 - We go four times a year and stay a week so we have the experience and knowledge to make a comment - We just got back and my focus today is on the restaurant - There is a gentlemen who greets you when you walk up for breakfast (middle age heavy set) - He asks for your name and room number and on this trip, three times, told us to get a cup of coffee and wait until our names are called for seating - All three times the seating area was near empty with only five couples seated and eating yet the room has seating for 18 tables - All three times "after" he walked away the waitress came over and seated us! We travel all over the country and always stay with Hilton as my Honors record would show - This man has a problem! Is he trying to add some non existent flair to the room? If there is a waitress problem, that is not my problem and in no way should we be treated in this manner - We stayed six nights and ate breakfast at other restaurants four mornings because of the way we were treated - We love the hotel and other staff but this man is running people off by his rude treatment - We paid $2300 to be treated like this?

This is our second stay at this property and we thought we knew what to expect BUT we were surprised by the new parking fee of $15/day. Kind of ridiculous to be charging for parking in a dedicated lot owned by the hotel group. Just because other properties in the area may be doing doesn’t make it right. It’s a money grab, plain and simple. Also, it is really time to upgrade the rooms. They are in sore need of some new furniture and lighting and maybe reinvent the space in the rooms with the “spa tubs” in the corners. We do love the location and the staff is so nice and helpful. We’re just sad to have the parking fee money grab and the old broken furniture on the balconies. I know the hotel group that owns this and other Gatlinburg properties can and will do better.

Have stayed at the Hilton a couple times due to their room and hotel cleanliness vs others in Gatlinburg. Still rate them the highest in that category. Unfortunately, during this trip there were some issues. 1). A kid got sick in the pool the day we were to arrive. They had to drain and refill the entire pool which took them several days. Afterwards, the heater clearly was not on as it was an ice bath the final two days and could not be used. They did offer the nearby Hampton Inn pool to us instead. 2) Near the elevator shaft there was a consistent smell of natural gas. Clearly a leak somewhere, although they said the fire department was already out. Did not feel incredibly safe smelling natural gas every time we entered and exited the hotel.

On our morning of check out we went to the breakfast buffet at 7:30am. I came down to Norma (older lady with purple hair) talking badly to another employee about my mom and aunt. I heard this as I walked toward my mom and aunt. As I was walking to my family Norma stopped me aggressively and said you can't walk here. I need your name before you can sit down. I gave them my last name and she said "oh you're with them.." I said yes that's my mom. Pretty sure Norma realized I heard her talking badly about my mom. After speaking with my family I was told there was an "issue" and that I needed to speak with them about the billing. I asked a nice hispanic girl what was wrong and she told me that Norma said we needed to pay before eating. I said we were told that it was added to our room, but if it wasn't that's OK and we could just have it added now since we were checking out. No big deal. Well, Norma came over and very rudely handed me a bill and told me that I needed to pay before I ate. I said ok can this be added to my room instead of me paying with cash or card. She said "that's not my job. You need to go to the front desk and deal with it there." I asked her why she was acting like that and why she said we had to "deal with it" at the desk because it came off very rude and not hospitable. I didn't understand why we were being treated like we were an inconvenience for her. My interaction with her was less than 30 seconds and she was nasty the whole time. It felt very uncomfortable and she made my family feel very unwelcome. I had never felt this way my prior stays, but Norma was not someone I saw my previous stays either, so I'm not sure if there was different management those times. We also saw Norma treating two other families the same way. It was only after I asked Norma for her name that she changed her tune with the other patrons that began sitting for breakfast. Everyone else at the hotel, during our stay, was great. I hate that this negative interaction with Norma resulted in me feeling that a review of this caliber was warranted. I really enjoy your hotel, but I have to say we will not be staying here again. If Norma can't be hospitable to guests then maybe she shouldn't be working in hospitality. We all have bad days. I get that, but she went out of her way to be rude and I'm embarrassed and so upset that my mother and aunt were put through this. All they told Norma was that she might want to speak to me once I came down since the reservation was in my name and they didn't want to tell her the wrong information since I was the one who checked us in 3 days ago. She made them feel extremely uncomfortable to the point they took cash out of their purses to give to her because she was making such a big deal about them eating. Please do something about this. This is not how business should be run and is not how paying guests should be treated. Thank you.