October is a wonderful time to visit the mountains of Tennessee. The tree leaves adorn the mountains with an array of beautiful colors. The air is crisp and clear. The sun is still bright and warm. It is much too beautiful outdoors during that time of year to be cooped up inside a hotel room. A cabin nestled deep inside the Tennessee woods beside the river is a much nicer choice. Too expensive? Not at all!

Park Side Cabin Rentals in Gatlinburg, Tennessee offers a variety of rental cabins appropriate for groups of all sizes. Whether you need a small cabin just large enough for a couple’s romantic retreat or a cabin large enough for an extended family vacation, Park Side Cabin Rentals has just what you need.

Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove)

Parkside Cabin Rentals - Gatlinburg, Tennessee

My husband and I enjoyed a two night stay in a small, one bedroom cabin. We did an online search for an inexpensive place to stay in the Gatlinburg area and came across Park Side. Small cabins rented for about $94.00 per night. I thought the price sounded too good to be true but we needed a place to stay and all hotel rooms were booked. Larger, more luxurious cabins were too expensive and the photographs posted online looked appealing so we decided to “take a leap of faith” and we booked the cabin.The staff was very accommodating. We were going to be driving into the area during the “wee hours” of the morning. When we explained that we would not be there until about 3:00am, they accommodated us by leaving a key with a map and directions to our cabin outside in a box by the front door. There would be no staff available upon our arrival.

We reached the office building and spotted the large, white envelope with our names written on the front. We were exhausted and eager to reach our cabin and get some rest. We did have a difficult time finding the cabin at first. The road leading to the cabin was not well lit and we did not recognize any of the landmarks indicated on the map. We wondered how old the map was and how much the area might have changed since the map was printed. Becoming desperate, I searched the paperwork for a street address. Finally, on the back page, was a street address that I plugged into our GPS unit. According to the unit, we needed to turn around, but the trustworthy machine indicated that we would reach our destination within five minutes. I was relieved that we had not traveled too far out of the way.

 
We pulled up the cabin and I immediately wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. I am a “clean freak” and very picky about where I stay. Cleanliness is everything to me when I am away from home and the outside of this cabin did not appear satisfactory. I reminded myself that it was “pitch dark” outside so maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. We were exhausted and we had no place else to go unless we turned around and drove three hours back to our home. We resolved to unload our belongings and made our way around to the front door. We could hear the sound of the rushing water of the river below and I wondered what it would look like the next morning in the morning sunlight. The lighting on the porch was very dim so we had to feel our way to the door lock. I wondered exactly what we were feeling our way through, but decided that as long as the bed was free of bugs, I would survive the night.

 
We opened the door to the cabin, turned on the light, and I stood there for a moment, exhausted but in awe of our surroundings. The little cabin was absolutely adorable. It was simple, clean, appealing – nothing like the outside had indicated. There was a leather couch on one side of the room and a table with four chairs on the other. On the far wall, between the comfy looking couch and table, was a gas fireplace. On the fireplace mantel sat a television set and a basket which held magazines. The windows were protected by wooden blinds. The kitchen area was well kept. The refrigerator was nice and cold and the utensils inside the drawers were clean. The light inside the bathroom and the wooden towel rack were both cracked, but the toilet and tub were clean and ready for use. The cracked light didn’t really bother me. After all, cabins are supposed to be a little rustic. We made our way into the bedroom where we found a double bed adorned with a quilt which featured bear and deer habitats. The bed had a “tree trunk” frame and was equipped with matching night stands and lamps. There was a dresser at the foot of the bed. On top of the dresser was another television set. We pulled the quilt cover down, fluffed our pillows, and settled into a night of peaceful sleep – what was left of the night anyway.

The next morning, we walked onto the front porch and enjoyed the beauty of the river just down the embankment in front of the cabin. There was no walkway to the water, but just standing there looking over the porch railings into the water and listening to the sound of the rushing water was pleasant enough. We spotted an outdoor grill which had been lined with clean aluminum foil. We decided to put that to good use later that night. There was a large hot tub on the porch. It was covered and clean. Later that night, after enjoying grilled burgers from the newly lined grill, we decided to try the hot tub. Our only “complaint” was the hot tub. The water was much too hot. We tried to find a way to turn the temperature down, but we were unsuccessful. We both love hot water and usually enjoy hot tub temperatures as hot as we can stand, but the water inside that particular hot tub was so hot that that it could have caused burns. Our cabin did not include a washer/dryer unit, but we did not ask for one. Other than that, our stay at the small, riverside, Park Side Rental Cabin was most enjoyable.

We highly recommend them if you are ever in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area. There are other cabin rental companies with much more luxurious cabins, but for us, price is of most importance and Park Side offers nice, clean rentals for an affordable price.

 
Their brochure lists the following amenities (Be sure to ask for amenities that you desire because not all cabins contain all amenities ):

 
1-5 Bedrooms, Sleeping 2 – 17
TVs, VCRs, PlayStation 2
Jacuzzis
Indoor Wood burning/Gas Log Fireplaces

Decks With Charcoal Grills
Hot Tubs
Rustic Furniture
Full Kitchens
Pool Tables
River Views/Mountain Views
Washer/Dryers
Outdoor Wood burning Fireplaces
Game Room

Contact Park Side Cabin Rentals by phone at: 1-866-747-6181 or 865-436-5053
Park Side Cabin Rentals Website: www.parksidecabinrentals.com

Address:
Park Side Cabin Rentals
125 Dudley Creek Road
PO Box 54
Gatlinburg, TN 37738