Christmas has arrived!

As promised, we are in Gatlinburg and have just finished putting up Christmas decorations at both All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower.  Here's just a tiny preview - the Christmas trees.

If you have stayed with us, you'll recognize the living room corner at All Decked Out on the left, and the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Toer on the right.

There's more - but it's late and we just want to send you this quick preview.  We'll show you more in the coming days.

Remember, Christmas Day is still open at All Decked Out.  We hope YOU can enjoy Christmas with us at All Decked Out.

We're in Tennessee, getting ready for Christmas

We're not there yet (in Gatlinburg), but we're getting close.  Because we have guests in both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out this weekend, we're enjoying a short visit with John and Marcia and their boys (Marcia handles our Gatlinburg reservations, so we're also doing some 'business!').

But tomorrow we are heading for All Decked Out and plan to spend the next couple of days decorating both cabins for Christmas.  No, it's not too early - because Gatlinburg will turn on all its Christmas lights next Wednesday.  You can get a preview and find out how you can enjoy a special Trolley Ride to see the lights by going to this website:  http://www.gatlinburg.com/events/details.aspx?id=13.  And we plan to post some of our pictures for you next week.

Speaking of Christmas, you can still spend Christmas Day in Gatlinburg.  Due to a rare cancellation, All Decked Out is open!  We have guests arriving on Thursday, December 26.  But you can come in the weekend before (Friday or Saturday afternoon, December 20 or 21), have a great time leading up to Christmas, and spend both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Gatlinburg.

We are confident that somebody will take advantage of this cancellation, and we plan to publicize this opening on our advertising sites next week.  So you need to make your plans quickly and get the dates booked.  In the 17 years that we have been renting out All Decked Out, we have always had guests on Christmas Day - and we are confident that 2013 will be no exception.

And we will be all ready for you!  Watch for our decoration pictures next week.

You are correct...

...if you guessed that our last post showed a picture of mistletoe.  And you're doubly correct if you guessed that the picture was taken from the Tower deck at Smoky Mountain Tower.  Here is a long shot to prove it.

Linda and Elsie figured it out.  Thanks to both of you for your correct guesses of the mistletoe picture.

The 'mistletoe tree' is actually on the property of our good friend and neighbor, Bob Ward.  And it's way down the hill in the woods, so it's a little hard to stand under, if you want to be kissed during this Christmas season.  But we plan to decorate both Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out for Christmas in about two weeks, and we will make sure to hang some mistletoe inside.

There is still time to enjoy the holidays with us in Gatlinburg.  But you need to make your reservation quickly before time runs out.  Bring someone you love to All Decked Out or Smoky Mountain Tower and enjoy a kiss under the mistletoe - along with all the other great things we have to offer.

What's this?

Tomorrow is November 1.  That means it's time to start thinking about the upcoming holidays.  So we're going to show you some 'holiday' scenes in and around Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out.

Let's start with this one:

What is this, and where is it located?

Please post your answer, and pass this along to your friends.  Remember, this is a two-part question.  You have to tell us WHAT this picture is showing, and WHERE it is located.

Of course, the best way to find out EXACTLY what this picture shows is to stay with us in Gatlinburg.  We have some great availabilities in November and December for your pre-holiday trip.

Happy guessing!

The time has come...

As part of the continual management of our Gatlinburg cabins - All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower - we have just completed a competitive review of our pricing.

We knew our rental rates were low, but we didn't realize how low!  In addition, we knew our costs were going up, but we didn't realize how much!  So the time has come for us to make a small adjustment in our rental rates.  Everything is going up by only $10.00 per night, effective immediately.

But we have some good news for our blog and Facebook friends.  We know you might be in the process of making plans to stay with us, and you didn't expect this increase.  So we have set up a special coupon code to give you a 10% discount on all bookings for any dates between now and December 31, 2014.  The coupon code is Price10 (be sure to enter it exactly as shown, because coupon codes are case-sensitive).  This discount will actually give you a rate that is cheaper than our old rates!

However, this offer is only available for a limited time.  It goes away on 11/12/13, so you have a little more than two weeks to make your plans and complete your reservation.

More good news:

• We still don't charge any extra fees.  In our research, we found all kinds of extra fees being charged by others.  Almost everybody else is charging a cleaning fee, and those fees add an average of another $80 to your rental.  So a two-night stay that looks like it only costs $140 per night is really $180 per night!
• We haven't changed of our policies.  We still only ask for a reservation deposit of $150.  We still have a 2-night minimum (except at Thanksgiving and Christmas).  We still have a liberal cancellation policy.

We hope you will take advantage of our special offer, and we hope to see you in Gatlinburg soon.

There is still time to enjoy the fall colors.

Phyllis and I drove through the Smokies on I-40 yesterday, on our way to Marcia's in middle Tennessee.  We were surprised to see that the fall leaf colors haven't peaked yet.  Take a look:

As you can see, there's still a lot of green.  We saw lots of maples (they are the ones that provide the rich colors) where only the tops have started to turn.

Also, two of our local friends have confirmed that we're at least a week away - or as one person said, "A good freeze away..." - from the color peak.

And speaking of green, you can still save some green if you stay at All Decked Out or Smoky Mountain Tower next week.  Both are open from Sunday afternoon (10/27) to Thursday morning (10/31).  And the price is still discounted by 15% - to only $152.15 (plus tax).  All the details are on our websites.  Remember, you need to enter the coupon code of October15 to get the discount.

See you in Gatlinburg!

PS -Here's another closeup photo that shows where the color is headed.  We could have taken lots more pictures, but it clouded up right after we took this one.

It's Fall - time for a change!

Our Smoky Mountain Tower website has a new look, to match the change of colors in the Smokies.  Here's a preview:

You can see more by going directly to the page - www.SmokyMountainTower.com.

Of course, the first thing you'll notice is that our 15% discount for October dates is still available.  Stephen and Michelle took advantage of the sale and are enjoying Smoky Mountain Tower right now - at a savings of almost $54.00!  That's goes a long way toward paying for gas and meals.

The weekends are gone, but there are still dates available at All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower both this week and next week.  We hope you can join us - and save some money.  You can book directly on our websites - the Smoky Mountain Tower site listed above, and www.SmokiesRentDirect.com/All-Decked-Out/Availability for All Decked Out.