Are you a water bug and wished you could go to a water park all year long? Well you can! The Wilderness at the Smokies has an indoor water park! Plus they offer outdoor water park (in season) plus other amenities like game room, rope courses and an adventure at the Adventure Forest. (I didn’t get to review those other amenities.
The Wilderness at the Smokies, Room Review
I got another blessing, I was able to review The Wilderness at the Smokies. I did get to review it during the off season, their peak season was over with. With that said, I only got to review the hotel room I was in and also the indoor water park area.
I am breaking this review into two blog post, this one about the hotel and the next one about the indoor water park. Make sure you follow my blog so you don’t miss that review!
Check-In & Check-Out
At the Wilderness you can get your arm bands at 12 noon the day of check-in, however your rooms check in is around 4 p.m. I went to check in to get the arm bands so we can enjoy the indoor water park while we wait for our room to get ready and the friendly lady, Pat at the front desk, said your room is ready, so we can go to our room. Now your room may not be read at your check in, however mine was at this visit.
Check-out is by 11 a.m. the morning you are departing.
My daughter and I got to go on this visit. We checked into our room, 12103, building 3 I think it is. Our room has a rustic look to it. It had two queen beds, and a bunkie over one of the queens, plus a queen sized sleeper sofa. Plus a two person trust table.
This room also had a coffee pot, mini-fridge, microwave, ironing board and iron, plus even a hair dryer. I am sure the hair dryer is a must for you ladies so your hair won’t stay wet from all the water bug fun.
Energy Saving!
One thing about the Wilderness at the Smokies is that they are trying to go green. The heating and air is controlled by your room key. In order to change it from the energy level saving settings you must put your key in the slot by the door. Don’t worry they do give you an extra key for that. They ask when you leave the room to remove the key from the slot and then put it back in when you return. Don’t worry your room won’t get too cold or too hot doing that. It just puts it to energy saving mode, so that way they can keep to cost of production down and not pass it onto guest by increasing their rates.
Also note that if you open your balcony door for more than 30 second, it will automatically turn on the energy saving mode as well. This helps keep the cost down and also helps to save energy.
Electronic Safe
This room even had an electronic safe you can use to store your valuables, best of all you can set the code for the safe.
Other Room Types
The Wilderness also has many choices of room types you can pick from including one with two bedrooms and and living room. This type of room also includes a full kitchen, a stove and full sized fridge. I do not know what that room is like, because I never got to see it, I only know what my room look liked.
My room was nice and clean, I mean very clean. I believe they take pride in their rooms.
TV’s and More!
This room also has two flat screen tvs. One one each side. The main bed side, my tv had a green line in it but it was barely noticeable to me. The other side where the bunkie is also had a dvd player. You can rent DVDs down by the lobby or you can bring your own to watch. When I was watching tv I was watching the Christmas Hallmark movies. I don’t have cable at home, so this was a treat to me, I believe also to my 16 year old daughter. I think she had it on Disney watching some of those teen shows.
Inside of the building 3 was also a Polka Dot Pots, where you can pick a ceramic, paint it and then love it. It will be ready the next day or it can be shipped to you. I passed by the spot where Polka Dot Pots was and it looked like the kids there were having fun.
Dining in the Wilderness
Now this brings me to dining at the Wilderness at the Smokies. You can pick from several places to eat inside the hotel, including a restaurant and grill or you can have it sent to your room. I didn’t want to order from them, since I am a single father, the food prices were a bit pricey. I was also on a limited budget. So I looked for a phone book and there was not one there. So I had no clue who delivered. So I went to the front desk and asked them what pizza places that deliver. They printed out a sheet of pizza places and high lighted two. There were other ones that you can drive to and eat at. I wanted to have it in my room.
On the other hand if you have younger kids, you could eat at The Thirsty Miner Restaurant located next to the Wild WaterDome, the indoor water park. Kids will eat free, you will get one kids meal with the purchase of an adult buffet. This is subject to change with out notice, but was available at the time of this blog posting.
No Phone Books
I said so you all have a phone book on the computer that you can print out and the guy at the front desk said, well yes, to a point. Only those we add into the database and it often needs updated. I am actually trying to work on updating it. The guy at the front desk told me you have two choices Pizza Hut (865-453-8001) or Papa John’s (865-429-4455) to deliver. He told me I suggest Papa John’s. I said I like them the best any ways. He said that the Pizza Hut they get complaints about them and they have got bad reviews. So I ordered from Papa John’s. I called near 7 p.m. They told me I will have an hour wait. Well 30 minutes later, I got my pizza. I had to meet the guy in the lobby. I guess they don’t come to your rooms anymore. I don’t know if its The Wilderness policy or if it was Papa John’s. Nevertheless, you may have to meet the person in the lobby for your food.
Also with Papa John’s you will need the local number, not the toll-free number to order your pizza. You will need to know if you are in the main Wilderness building or not. This also helps with them to deliver the pizza. I was having an issue finding this info, but they helped me get it.
The Bible
On another note, I did notice they had the Gideon Bible in my room too. That was good to see. I love seeing those in hotel rooms.
Wi-Fi
The Wilderness also offers Wi-Fi at their facility too. You can connect your electronic devices, cell phones tablets and laptops so you can save on your data plan with your wireless carrier. Even the unlimited plans have a data cap like Straight Talk. I connected my cell phone to their wi-fi. I didn’t bring my tablet or laptop, so I don’t know how well it works, but I am sure it works well, I have seen others with these devices using them. Not sure if they were connected to their Wi-Fi network or not.
Pets?
Sorry pet lovers, you cannot bring your pets. The Wilderness has a no pet policy. Only service animals permitted. They also have a fitness center that anyone over 16 can enjoy. There is also no smoking, the Wilderness is Non-Smoking Facility. If it is found that you are smoking you can be fined up to $300!
Shhhh!
Quiet time is from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. So be quiet!
Tune in tomorrow (or follow this blog) as I write my second and final review of the Wilderness at the Smokies, I will review the water park part.
I’d like to hear from you, please feel free to share your comments below about your room stay at the Wilderness. Comments are welcome!
For more information visit: wildernessatthesmokies.com or call toll-free 877-325-WILD (9453) and make sure to tell them, you heard about them from CourageousChristianFather.com
I asked if I could do a review, I was given one night stay and admission to the indoor water park, after their peek season. I give a non-bias, Christian review.Â
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