My son and I spend 3 nights and 4 days at this resort recently. I had not been to the Gatlinburg area in 18 years and he had never been! We booked the stay through their "sales" department and paid $35 per night (a steal of a deal). Yes our room was a little small; but we only spent a little time in there, we wanted to see the moutains! Although our room was small, the bathroom and shower were wonderful!! The bathroom is tiled as well as the "walkin" shower (its HUGE). The kitchen is a galley style and with basic equipment. The best perk is a dishwasher (now that's a vacation!!). Our "tour" was booked on Thursday at 9am. We were prompt and so were they. We had a nice but simple breakfast and then our tour with Lisa. She was nice, friendly and the conversation was smooth. They do have lovely condo's/apartments and I wish that I could have afforded to "buy" in. We finished our tour, talked finances, and I explained my budget; they were nice and tried to get to a price I could afford, but in the end the answer was no. They said thank you for our time and pointed me towards "check out". We were awarded another 2/3 vacation for our time and were on our way for our last day in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. My tour last exactly 90 min, no more and I felt no pressure. That being said the only complaint that I had was Wednesday night at 3:30 am we were awaken by security speaking loudly into his radio that the room next to us was clear. Then 15 minutes later a family with two LOUD children arrived; in addressing other reviews, YES the walls are paper thin. However, that seem to be the only problem we had. Parking was not a huge problem, I was able to park every night in front of our building; we did not arrive back until after 9pm. We did express checkout when we left; that went smooth as well. We had a great time and would visit other Westgate properties. Now I realise that other people have had horrible experiences, but I went into this "Deal" with the idea that I had saved over $200 dollars in accomodations. We spend that on activites and enjoying ourselves. My son had a blast , the only two things we didn't get to do was the childrens park on site and riding the Trolley (which stops at the beginning of the property) into Gatlingburg.

I booked Westgate last minute because 1. I got a GREAT price from a travel website and 2. I knew my daughter would flip over the waterpark. We went into it knowing there were reviews about the noise and they were right. Granted this is really very much a family oriented hotel so there is going to be a lot of kid noise, even if the walls are thin. Other than that we had a great time. The little studio we booked was cute and had what we needed while we were there. The water park was a huge hit with my daughter, I think it was a tad overpriced but was still a good time. The staff we dealt with were extremely friendly and helpful.
If you have children and are looking for a nice clean place with lots of activities than Westgate really is a great choice. If you're traveling without kids and are looking for a quiet, romantic hotel stay in Gatlinburg, keep looking.
The best part was even though they are a Timeshare hotel we were not asked even once to listen to one of their spiels - that in itself made my trip all the more enjoyable!

We travelled with my parents to Gatlinburg Tennessee. They are in their 70s, and have health issues. We traded our timeshare into Mountain Loft, and theirs into Westgate. They hated Westgate, and we thought it was okay.

Westgate is a very high-occupancy resort. My first impression was that the company who built it was trying to make a lot of money by cramming the maximum number of condos onto a piece of land that was much too small to accomodate them all. I would call it Westgreed Resort, instead.

The parking is a nightmare. I cannot begin to tell you what a headache the parking was for my elderly, very stressed parents!!!!! Both of my parents cannot walk very well, and every night, my Dad could not find a parking place ANYWHERE NEAR his condo. Being deaf, he also does not use a cell phone to ask for help. So, he would drop off my Mom at the door, then back up the entire length of the street (down hill!), park at the bottom of the huge hill and walk the entire way up it to his condo room. I was worried about him each and every day, fearing he would fall and kill himself. I dreaded the phone ringing for fear it would be a helicoptor survivol flight.

Of course the condo people said there were handicapped spaces he would use, but we did not see any close, or they were always full. The lots were completely filled and many of the spaces were taken by resort marketing vehicles (vans), many of whom took up TWO spaces when they only needed one!!!!! They have a bazillion golf carts running around the property, and said they would happily drive him anywhere he needed to go. Unfortunately, using the phone to call them required being able to hear, so he couldn't do that.

We stayed at Mountain Loft which was great, and had easy parking. I wish my parents would have traded with us, but they were too stubborn. My kids stayed with them sometimes, and they were able to use the indoor water park, which they loved.

The tiny efficiency condo they received in exchange for their one week, two bedroom unit at a Marriott in Florida made my Dad really mad, too. It was basically just a dark hotel room with a kitchenette. There was a granite vanity in the bathroom, and the wood was lovely, but who cares??????

My parents stayed on the street level and said they were kept up at night by kids running around above them (my Dad couldn't hear it, but he felt the floor pounding).

I would not recommend Westgate unless you KNOW you are going to be in a large unit, and if you are going to be there off-season. Also, I would only recommend it to families with kids who don't mind noise. Any stay there during peak season is not worth the nightmare parking, in my opinion. Having seen both, I would recommend Mountain Loft over this complex ANYTIME, to ANYONE. My Dad made me promise I would let Interval know how angry he was about this trade.

This place is so beautiful. There's a hot tub right in your room. The bathroom and shower are super clean and roomy. The fireplace is wonderful. The staff was very friendly and accomodating. That water park is fantastic; a definite deal maker as far as hotel extras. We have a reservation on May 2, 2008 for the 3rd year in a row.