My husband and I are planning on going to Gatlinberg the first or second week of October. I would like to stay in the heart of Gatlinberg. Any suggestions for lodging would be appreciated. Also would this be a good time to go? I know there will be alot of congestion during the fall but hoping this will be either too early for leaf watching and kids will be in school by that time.

There's tons of places to stay right in the heart of Gatlinburg...Hampton, Fairfield, Comfort and Ramada are probably the best of the chains. Plus, there are tons of other hotels. The website gatlinburg.com is really good to check out your lodging options. Be prepared to pay premium prices during October. I swore off Gatlinburg in October last year when it took me over an hour to get from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg.
In short, during October in Gatlinburg..the leaves are changing, Dollywood has a great Harvest Celebration and most of all.....It's Football Time in Tennessee!
Tons of traffic...

Thanks ICEEU2. That does it, I'm not going in October at all. What about the end of Sept. My husband is having surgery the first of Aug. and we were trying to find a best time to go. We were thinking about staying at Best Western Chalet. It seems there are so many options in lodging it becomes overwhelming to say the least. We are going to go on a Wednesday and come home on a Saturday.

We went many years in October--always crowded. We had to make reservations many months in advance to get the accommodations we WANTED at that time of year. You may be able to get them for Wednesday, but not for Friday. The end of September would definitely be better, but still will be crowded. (There are always people there--but I still love it.) If you could go earlier in the week and miss the weekend altogether you would probably be better off. Have you ever been there? There are plenty of hotels on the main strip and River Road to try. We like the Hampton (close to the park) and there is a Clarion right across the street. Ramada is right downtown too. You can easily walk the whole strip and there are trolleys you can take too if walking is hard for you. If you stay far up on Airport Road, Rt. 321 or near the Rocky Waters Motor Inn (for example), you will have a farther walk into the main drag.

I would start trying different hotels to see who has a vacancy. Most probably have a 48 hour cancellation policy, so you may be able to get accommodations better to your liking closer to the time you leave and still cancel ones that you already made.

We like to stay in town, spend our days in the mountains and come back to eat, shop etc. and not have to worry about parking. There are ways to avoid the main strip when driving--if you are coming from the north there were excellent instructions on how to get to Gatlinburg, avoiding Pigeon Forge and Seiverville on this site.

I just realized that you are probably coming from Indiana, so I copied the driving instructions.

Author: LLindaC
Date: 07/20/2004, 05:05 pm
Message: Sara Lou, if you're going to Gatlinburg , TRUST me and take 75 and enter Gatlinburg from the Northeast. If you take the Sevierville exit(411), do NOT take the Pigeon Forge/Dollywood/Gatlinburg turnoff. You will be inching between stoplights in a seeming parking lot full of cars. It took us over 2 hours to get into Gatlinburg. Now, we either take 411 till it hits 416, then go south till you hit 321, or continue the loop on Interstate 40 and get off at exit 440 or 443 and take the backroads in. 321 has been widened and is an excellent road and you won't ruin half of your vacation getting there. Take this from an ol KY girl who has been there many, many times.

hoosiergirl....check out these 2 websites.......neither are in the heart of Gatlinburg, but both are great places
oakhavenresort.com
hiddenmountain.com
Oak Haven is wonderful!
Hidden Mountain is pretty good also.

Thanks, ICEEU2 and MAJ for all your information. This is just what I was looking for. I definitely will take the driving instructions. I have been there but it was many, many years ago and can't remember much about it. Also will take your advice and go earlier in the week.

Hoosiergirl,
I just wanted to say, if there's still time, don't stay at the Best Western Chalet in Gatlinburg. My husband and I stayed there and we didn't really care for it at all. We had a suite up in the actual chalet part too. It is sectioned off nicely and high up with a nice view, and very quiet, but the room we stayed in wasn't that big and semi-dirty. It had a small deck that had spiderwebs all over it and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in about 6 months, so we couldn't even sit out on it to use the view, all I did was stand out there and take a few pictures...
It had a mini-refrigerator, a tiny bathroom without windows, and a very plain bedroom. The only good things about the "suite" were the california king bed and the jacuzzi bathtub in it. We were pretty disappointed with our accommodations that visit, needless to say.
After that visit we have rented cabins and been pleased with each visit very much. I just wanted to warn you, because I was fooled by the BWChalets' website and gyped out of a nice sum of money that could have been better spent toward a good cabin instead. Hope this helps.

Best place to stay in the heart of Gatlinburg in my opinion is the Clarion Inn and Suites...at the farther end of Gatlinburg on the main strip..only 7 years old and very nice..

Just came back from G-burg a couple of weeks ago. Depending on when you are arriving (we arrived on a Friday night UGH!), you will want to heed the advice to not come in at exit 408, Hwy 66. I didn't get anywhere near Pigeon Forge before traffic just stopped, only about 5 mis south of I-40 in Seveirville. Took the advice copied above and turned around and went back to I-40 to exit 435, Hwy 321. It was actually about 50 miles out of the way but hit no traffic at all that way.

I'd never go there again on the weekend. During the week, the place was bustling but not outrageously crowded like the weekend was.