My mom is looking for a place for the whole family [11 of us] to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next summer. She has turned up some vacation homes for rent near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Anybody ever booked one of these - she has seen some at Starr Crest [www.starrcrest.com] and Cobbly Nob [www.cobblynob.com]. We need activities to accomodate ages 10-72

I hope this doesn't double post..

Check out oakhavenresort.com in Sevierville, Tennessee. They have 6 bedroom cabins.

You might want to go to tripadvisor.com to read the reviews on this place.

Their cabins are better than the photos on the website...and the website photos are superb!

I've heard good things about OakHaven as well. We rented through another company (I don't recall the name, but it's not one you are considering) and were disapointed when we arrived that though there was a tv, it was not hooked up to the vcr/dvd and there were no network/basic cable channels. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but we have two small children and dh and I had been looking forward to watching our regular shows after they went to bed - no luck!

Make sure you check the location carefully. Some of the homes are on hillsides that make parking difficult and have no room for outside activities. We saw some very run down rental homes and cabins when we were there last year so I would make sure to check all information.

Ask the cabin owners if they have any prior guests you can contact to talk about the condition of the cabins. There may be a rentors.org guestbook on the websites, if so, read those comments and try to contact past guests if you need to. Try looking at vrbo.com, vacationrentals.com, etc., if you need more of a selection. There are a lot of vacation rentals by owner sites out there and you should be able to find something nice.

'Amidst The Smokies' is the place for you. This is a 3 bedroom cabin in Starrcrest II,that has a hot tub, jacuzzi, pool table, internet access, Playstation II, X-Box, widescreen TV, and sleeps 12.
www.starrcrestresort.com/amidstthesmokies.php

there is a fabulous brand new 7 bedroom cabin in gatlinburg called "view from the top". it is managed by chalet village. there are lots and lots of pictures on there website.www.chaletvillage.com.we are going in july and cannot wait! the views look amazing! the cabin just rented for the very first time in late may,so it is really brand new. we really love the decor of the cabin as well as the views.it looks like a first class operation. it is the nicest cabin i have seen and i have looked at alot. it has lots of parking . we love being right there in gatlinburg.hope this info. will help. have a great trip.

We've had family trips to houses in Cobbly Nob twice and they have been great, although I would agree to ask how the access to the house is - some are quite steep and tight. Both houses were well-equipped with big TVs, pool tables, hot tubs, DVD players.

We were ages babies to 90 and we had a great time. Smoky Mountain National Park is gorgeous. The aquarium in the town was also very good - well done and educational for kids and adults. A group of us went to Dollywood not expecting to actually like it and we all loved it. In all, it was a really fun week for all of us.

One more thing, and I can't speak for the other properties mentioned, but Cobbly Nob is located so that you can take a by-pass to the National Park if you don't want to deal with the hassle of Gatlinburg traffic. The traffic in winter was impressive and very frustrating if you got caught in it. I don't know how summer season is, but it is worth considering because sitting in traffic is not fun, no matter how many family members are doing it.

I HIGHLY suggest Oak Haven Resort. That is if you haven't already left for your vacation. I see your post was sent last year about a trip this summer. I have stayed at Cobbly Nob and Oak Haven. They are both about the same distance from Gatlinburg. The best thing about both is there are alot of bypasses to beat the Gatlinburg traffic. I was there in April of one year and on the main strip it took almost two hours to get where we were going. After that we tried the bypasses and it took us 15 minutes to get from Sevierville to Gatlinburg. Big suggestion: Buy a map and learn the bypasses. Also, traffic is much worse in the summer. The climbs to the cabins at Cobbly Nob are pretty steep. You only have one significant drive up at Oak Haven. Feel free to contact me with any other questions.