Holly Ridge is in a great location just off the strip in Gatlinburg. There's even a nice public park just up the road. (Mynatt Park) We were especially appreciative of the new playground at Mynatt park which was ideal for our 2 year old to burn off some energy.
Overall our unit was clean and spacious, but a bit dated. Our unit had been slightly remodeled. There was new carpet, and tile, and the major appliances had been recently replaced.
The kitchen had plenty of storage and newer appliances. We found everything we needed to cook. The washer / dryer was also located in the kitchen.
The bathrooms were functional, but very much in need of an update. The water was extremely hot, most likely to compensate for a somewhat undersized water heater.
The living area had a couch, loveseat, chair, fireplace, TV & VCR. The couch had a fold-out bed The springs on the loveseat were worn out, which caused you to sink way down. A DVD player would have been nice. Is anybody is still carrying around VHS tapes?? At least there were inputs on the TV to plug in you own game or player. There was also cable with a pretty good selection of channels. There is also NO Internet service. Yet another update that is sorely lacking. Some of the neighboring Inn's have wireless networks, but you need a password to get through their portal page. The cell reception was so bad that my air card was pretty much useless. Dial-up would have been faster. We pretty much had to leave our cell phones near a window to get any reception at all.
The master bedroom had a king size bed, long dresser, large closet and TV. The television only had a coax input. Therefore, you couldn't plug in a DVD player or game unless you brought along your own RF modulator. The bed seemed old and wasn't very comfortable.
The second bedroom had a queen size bed, long dresser and large closet. Our unit did not have a TV in this bedroom.
I was most disappointed by the management. We booked our 2 week stay some 4 months in advance. When I called to confirm our reservation a few days in advance, it took them several minutes to find my reservation. We were informed at that time that there was no iron, ironing board, hair-dryers or Internet service. They also didn't offer any explanation about why they choose to ignore these now basic ammenities of even the cheapest hotel chains. However, our biggest shock and disappointment came at the start of our second week. The lack of organization became even more evident when another family was issued keys to our condo and came walking in at 11 o'clock at night. We were up until after midnight waiting to get this very unsettling ordeal straightened out and were barely offered an appology. They explained that "accomodations" had put us in the wrong condo the week before. Almost like we were in the wrong place and it was somehow our fault.
On the whole, our stay at Holly Ridge left us yearning for the comforts of home. The unit was clean and met our basic needs, but the surroundings weren't that inviting. It was a little like staying at Grandma's house. That combined with the lack of some "modern" conveniences and no longer feeling safe in our condo, we cut short our stay.
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