We toured Westgate Resort back in 2003. And yes they did try to talk us into buying a timeshare there. We declined but the salesperson asked us if we wanted to try it out by purchasing a weeks vacation and we did. We went January 21, 2005 and stayed 5 nights of our 7. We were first told we could split the week but found out when we placed our reservations we couldn't and since we didn't have enough vacation time we could only stay 5 nights instead of the 7. Our 2 bedroom unit was very nice. We never heard another person even though the other two units in our building were occupied. The staff was very nice and accommodating and yes they asked that we meet with them again and again the salesperson tried to sale us a timeshare and again we declined. We felt like we were under no pressure to purchase. My advice to anyone if you have doubts about buying the timeshare purchase a week's vacation to see if it is right for you BEFORE you buy or sign on the dotted line! This resort would be great for a family with young children. From what we could tell there were lots of activities to do plus there will be more (they told us) in the future. Our children are grown and we just didn't think it was right for us. Plus, when visiting the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area we like to stay in different places and different cabins so it wasn't for us but....even though we didn't buy we still got great service from the staff and everyone was very friendly and the unit was as nice as a cabin would have been.

Do not purchase anything from these people! We have never been able to get reservations. The maint. fee's are much higher than we were told. Everything you read about the pressure and payments is true. Look at ---- We were set up on Auto-pay out of our account. They owe us money from duplicate payment taken out. Can not get anyone to help. So we stopped paying and closed out account so we now hear from them. They have offered to void our contract if we pay them $1000.00
I don't think so I'd rather spend that on a attorney! We need to get together for one big lawsuit!


Mike
Nashville Tn
mikebillie021602@yahoo.com

We were there the week after Thanksgiving, 2004. We too endured noisy evenings and called security many times. Some times it helped & other times it didnt.

We also had problems with our fireplace not working. 3 calls and 1 day later it was fixed.

So much for the promised improvements, there are none. Over 4 years we recieved promises with nothing ever happening.

We had to watch our grandson swim outdoors in 30 to 40 deg. weather while we sat on chairs in our winter atire.

The front desk was less than friendly, actually down right RUDE & We were not given the rooms that we reserved 10 months in advance.

The rooms show extreme wear and tear,& they say what do you expect? Where did our $400.00 + maint. fee go?

There are many new hotels in the area that are a better value and happy to have you stay with them.

We didnt find 1 person there that really new what was happening. They kept referring us to someone else and they didn't know anything either.

We just left the resort yesterday, December 31, 2 days early because management kept giving us excuses for our complaints. The walls truly are paper thin & you can hear people sitting in their rooms having normal conversations- imagine how loud it was when we had rooms full of kids playing & screaming until 3:00 am!!! Security was very nice & asked one room to quiet down- after the 3rd time in one night they were finally quiet. Then at least 2 other rooms had kids that were up half the night- there was no way for us to tell which room they were in, so we felt like we couldn't ask security to disturb all 5 other families in our cabin. When the water is turned on in another room, it sounds like an airplane flying through the room... I was on the phone once & had to hang up because I couldn't hear! 95% of the extremely loud noise was just from everyday sounds like flushing the toilet & having the TV on- you can hear everything!! The place is also infested with ladybugs- very annoying. We had invited my parents who came & left after 1 night after not sleeping until after 1:00 am from the noise- I'm embarrassed that we even asked them to come.

When we asked to be moved there were "no other vacancies, we're booked up. The contractors who built these rooms didn't insulate between joining walls, there's nothing we can do." That's not my fault- why should I have to suffer for management's incompetent construction design !?! They basicly told us it was just our tough luck. After our 5th night with only a couple of hours of sleep, we decided to cut our losses & leave. Management is supposedly going to "look into" giving us a credit for our week.

We tried unsucessfully over 1 1/2 years ago to book in Orlando, where we really wanted to stay. There are NEVER any vacancies.

There's nothing to do here. With the noise level, there's no chance of just relaxing. Westgate Smoky Mountains keeps telling us every time we check with them that they're in the process of building all these great amenities- indoor waterpark, movie theatre, etc. This time we could actually see some building going on, but who knows when it will be finished- they'll probably charge some ridiculous fee. They told us meals would be provided- another lie. They provide meals for their numerous selling parties which leaves no room for owners who are staying there... they said it just gets too crowded & that owners can't eat there anymore. It's just hot dogs & chips anyway- 5 star food quality???

They lied to us up front & told us if we ever came under financial strain that we could "simply" sell the timeshare back to them since they're in such high demand. About a year after we bought in, we had some unexpected expenses come up & really needed to get rid of this- they told us that Westgate never buys back timeshares. They said that no one could have told us that because they've never done buy backs...in other words they said we were lying. We've also checked into selling this through a realtor- it's very expensive with little chances of selling. Ebay is flooded with people trying to sell their timeshares for Westgate, so there's little chance of selling there.

My husband and I are extremely frustrated & feel there has to be some recourse. Does anyone have any tips or info to help us? Please post any suggestions you have- thank you!

Don't be fooled- they're sugary sweet until they have your money, then they throw you to the dogs. This has taken up so much of our time- a truly horrible experience!!!