Cabin maintenance - it's never-ending

If you read our last post, you know we were in Gatlinburg for a week.  We used the weekend for a special meeting (we'll tell you about it in our next post).  But we spent several days taking care of a lot of maintenance and making some improvements.  We had the able help of our great handyman, Mark Kalinowski - and we couldn't have done all this without him.  Just look at some of what we got done:

All Decked Out:

-Mark installed new light fixtures in the main floor bathroom at All Decked Out.  (I forgot to take a picture of the finished job - that will be next trip.)

-Fixed the laundry/furnace room door in the lower bedroom, so it closes tight (and will keep the noise down).

-Added new curtains in the main floor bedroom (another picture to take on our next trip).

-The foosball/air hockey table finally bit the dust, so we had to remove it.  But we're looking for a new foosball table - or some other game to go in our Family/Game room.  For now, this is how the room looks:

Smoky Mountain Tower:
This is where we spent most of our time.  Here are the highlights:
-Mark completely resealed the skylights in the Sunroom, and recaulked the windows in the Tower Room. 















-Mark also cleaned out all the gutters to stop the rain overflow:















-Added the 2012 Owners Club pass to the Welcome Notebook (we also did this at All Decked Out):

 -Fixed the Queen bedroom toilet so it doesn't keep running (and wasting water)

-Added steps down from the new walkway and planted ground cover, to reduce the need for regular grass trimming.

-Weeded the front area (left of the front door), added mulch, weeded and trimmed the landscaping by the wood bin.

-Leveled the washer to keep it from "walking" around the floor.

-Spent time in the woods with our tree guy.  He is supposed to come next week to work on some trees to open up the view.  Stay tuned for details.

There's more ... but those are the highlights.  Maintenance, repairs and improvements are always ongoing - and it's only for one reason:  to make your stay in our cabins more enjoyable.  That's why we send every guest a survey after your stay, so you can tell us about things you'd like to see us fix or make better.  If this post reminds you of anything we need to do, please let us know!

Mountain Laurel ... finally!

We've been coming to the Smokies for more than 50 years.  We've owned All Decked Out for almost 16 years, so we've been to the Gatlinburg area quite a few times a year for all those years.  But in all that time, we have never seen the Mountain Laurel in bloom ... until now.

Mountain Laurel only blooms for a short time, so you have to catch it at just the right time.  And this weekend, it is absolutely perfect.  You'll recall that I pointed out a bush at Smoky Mountain Tower in my last post, and promised you better pictures.  Well, here they are:

Mountain \Laurel is a small white flower, about the size of a dime, shaped like an umbrella, that grows in very tight bunches.  Here's what the whole bush looks like:













As you can see, this bush is just outside the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower, and there are several other bushes just a few feet away:

If you hurry, you might still get here to see the Mountain Laurel in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where it should be blooming a little later than these bushes.  And remember, you can still take advantage of our 15% discount through May 24.  Please see the Specials pages on our Web sites for details.  We sure hope you won't wait as long as we have to see the Mountain Laurel!

Update on our "Serious Question"

Greetings from the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower.  It's been a busy 5 days since I last posted.  First, I want to thank those of you who responded to my "Serious Question."  It's still an ongoing question, but we are doing two things to answer it.  First, we will be taking a careful look at pricing of vacation rentals in the Gatlinburg area.  But more importantly, we are really PRAYING about what to do.  Our Wonderful God knows the answer, and we are confident that HE will show us exactly what we need to do about this.  While we wait for His direction, we will keep our low prices in place.

Now, we have several things to tell you about things that are happening in Gatlinburg.  But we'll just start today with a photo of the sunroom here at Smoky Mountain Tower, complete with new Cracker Barrel rocking chairs:
















If you look carefully on the far right side, you can see the mountain laurel blooming outside the sunroom window.  We'll give you a better picture of the mountain laurel very soon.  Keep checking back!

A serious question - please respond!

If you follow our posts, you know that we're running a special for all open dates in April and May (through the 24th) for 15% off the regular price.  That lowers the TOTAL you pay to just $142.80 per night, including tax (there are no extra fees).

Yesterday, I got an email from a Gatlinburg management company with several dozen cabins containing this offer (good through May 20):

• Book for Two (2) nights, receive 15% OFF!
• Book for Three (3) nights, receive the 3rd Night FREE!
• Book for Four (4) nights, and pay for only 2 1/2 nights!
• Book 5 Nights (Sunday thru Thursday) and PAY FOR Three!
• Book for seven nights and receive the 6th & 7th night FREE!

I decided to check out this "great deal."  I went to their Web site and started the reservation process for every one of their cabins that sleeps 8 people (just like All Decked Out and Smoky Mountain Tower).

The cheapest rental rate was $125.00 per night, but those were for cabins with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths (they sleep 8 people on futons and multiple sofa-sleepers).  For all their "true" 3 bedroom cabins, the nightly rate ranged from $160 to $200 per night.  Not too bad, right?  Our regular price at this time is $149 per night - so we're $11 to $51 per night less.

But when I tried to make the reservation, I found two things:

• This company adds a $50.00 reservation fee and cleaning fees between $60.00 and $90.00 to every reservation.
• There was no way for me to find out online which cabins offered their "specials" and no way to book the specials online.  I had to call them.  And when I called, I was sent to voicemail!

So, the total online price for somewhat comparable cabins to ours (none of their cabins are as large as ours) for 3 nights ranged from $782.87 to $827.98.  If we assume their "Book for Three nights, receive the 3rd Night FREE" offer is legitimate, that would lower their total prices to a range of $569.39 to $608.85.

With our special deal, our current total price for 3 nights is $428.39, which is $160.73 less than their "special."  And if we look at their average regular price of $805.43, that compares to our regular price total of $503.99.  So they are some $300.00 more expensive than we are - almost 60% more, or about $100.00 more per night!  And remember, this is for smaller cabins!

We've checked prices of comparable cabins all over Gatlinburg.  For our size and amenities, we are almost always the lowest priced cabins.  And yet, we still have some good nights open, while those more expensive cabins are getting reservations.  So here is my serious question:

Have we priced our cabins so cheap that people think there is something wrong with them?

Nobody likes to spend more money than necessary.  But can something be priced too low, just like it can be priced too high?  I am honestly asking for your thoughts.  If you were in our situation, what would you do?  You can respond publicly, or just write directly to me at Dave@SmokiesRentDirect.com.  Please - I need to hear from you.  Thank you!

Flowers in the Smokies

Today (April 24) is the first day of the 62nd annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in the Smokies.  We've been coming to the Smokies for 50 of those 62 years.  So we know that late April and the whole month of May is one of the best times to visit Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains.  The weather is great, the trees and flowers are in bloom - and the traffic is still fairly light.

Here is a sample of some of the flowers we've found over the years in and around Gatlinburg.  These are rhododendrons just outside the sunroom at Smoky Mountain Tower (can you see the bumblebee?).

These are a few of the hydrangeas blooms from the big plant in front of All Decked Out.

Here's a broader view of the whole plant.

Back at Smoky Mountain Tower, you'll find a lot of dogwood, both white and pink.  This pink dogwood is actually in front of our neighbor's cabin.

Of course, there's lots more - including some pictures of yellow trillium that you will find in a photo montage on the wall at Smoky Mountain Tower.  But check out this picture of "spring" in the mountains.  As you can see, the trees are in full bloom at the bottom of the mountain.  But up at the top, the leaves are just starting to come out on the trees!















There's still time for you to enjoy Spring in the Smokies.  And you can still save money, too - because all available nights at Smoky Mountain Tower and All Decked Out are still 15% off the regular price - through May 24.  But you'll have to hurry.  Just click on the photo at the right of either cabin - that will take you directly to our Web site where you'll find all the details, plus our up-to-date availability calendars.  You can make your reservation online.  So come and enjoy Spring with us!

More coupons for your visit to the Smokies

A couple of months ago, we told you about all the ways to save money by using our Chalet Village Owners Club card that's waiting for you at Smoky Mountain Tower or All Decked Out.

Now, here's another way to save:  use the coupons at VisitMySmokies.com.



VisitMySmokies is the Web site managed by the Sevier County Tourism Committee.  You can also find area information and some good stuff about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on this site.

You can find the coupons at http://www.visitmysmokies.com/coupons.aspx. 

And don't forget - we're still offering 15% off all available nights between now and May 24.  You can find more information at either of our Web sites.  Just click the "Specials" page for all the details.

We expect to be in Gatlinburg in early May, and we'll update you on more goodies while we're there.  So keep watching...