Townsend Gateway Inn

We stayed in one of the cottages. They were quaint. The owner was friendly and interesting and gave us a food basket both nights. It was great to stay in a small town away from the mayhem of gatlinburg. Recommended.

Great little Inn on the quiet side of the Smokies. We were in town for a weekend half marathon and chose this for its vicinity. We were not disappointed at all. Rooms were quiet, beds were comfortable, owners were very nice and accommodating and the rocking chairs on the porch were a perfect place to relax and watch the evening roll in.
With the little local restaurants within walking distance, the great walking trail outside the doors a IGA nearby for groceries and the entrance to the park just down the street, we will be back for weekend getaways.

We spent two nights here in one of the cabins. While we had originally reserved one of the King rooms, the owner upgraded us at no charge. Nice.
The place has been recently renovated and is definitely not one of those tired run-​down motels. The bathrooms are new and everything shines. Appliances are new and everything in our cabin was in good shape. We liked that there was a recycling bin.
The owners are always on site and some of the friendliest folks you’d want to meet. We spent some time talking to Mike. You need to talk to Mike. Nicest guy I’ve met in a long time — even gave me a premium cigar someone had given him (haven’t smoked it yet, Mike).
The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is the low water pressure. I like strong pressure for my showers it was a little lacking here. Otherwise a great experience. We will definitely be staying again.

We don’t have a lot of money and we needed somewhere to spend a quick night or two that allowed dogs. We actually chose this place because of the reviews on TripAdvisor, and we weren’t let down.
We were driving back from Destin to OH and I knew we’d be getting there late as traveling with small kids always seems to make 8 hour drives take 12. The office had just put the key in my room and left me a note when we arrived, they were about to go to bed but caught me at the last minute. All of the staff I met were friendly and nice.
You can tell that the owners take pride in what they do. This is an old motel and most of the time when you stay in an old motel you get old motel stuff, smells, looks. They have spent a lot of time updating this place. New laminate floors. Somewhat modern TVs. Nice furniture and decorations. Bedding wasn’t resort quality but was definitely above motel quality. You could see some of the details like in the bathroom where the baseboards were freshly painted and caulked and the bath was bright shining white. While they don’t have a continental breakfast, they did stock a basket in our room with coffee and teas, muffins, danishes, chips, and snacks. I believe this is what more Inn’s should do, we really enjoyed that.
There were two things I didn’t really like… our room was a bit cold. There was no central heat, just an old plug in heater that was turned on a little too late. It has a special plug that plugs into only two spots in the room… I wanted to move it to the other side of the room near my wife and the super cold tile bathroom floor, but that plug didn’t work, room 17 btw. The floor was so cold it was almost painful. We ended up putting towels down to make it easier. The other thing was I wanted to leave our dogs out in the room while we went to the Smokies where they are not allowed. I told the maids we didn’t need service but they insisted they had to go in and empty the trash and restock our basket. I couldn’t get them to not go in the room, so I warned them the dogs were in there and may bark and growl, yorkies, but they’re not mean, but that they would probably try to dart out the door.
Later I asked the maids if the dogs gave them any trouble and they said no, that they didn’t even bark, just watched them. She said she even petted the one that sleeps in a suitcase (Charlie, our smallest yorkie, loves sleeping on clothes). So, while I didn’t really want them in there, it turned out okay and they did a great job on the room. Next time I’ll leave a $ 10 in there with a note to walk the dogs for a little bonus, maybe it will work?
Despite the crowd, the place was pretty quiet and I loved that you could hear the roaring river on the other side of the road. Rocking chairs out front were great to sit in and just look at the stars and listen to the outdoors. I think we paid about $ 70/​night which was $ 179 after taxes for two nights, they charge $ 15 for the pets for the entire stay, not per night which is a plus. Beds are full size in the room we stayed instead of queen so they’re a little small, but okay.
We would definitely stay here if we visit the Smokies again. Townsend is a lot quieter and nicer than Gatlinburg which is the Myrtle Beach of the Mountains with equally big crowds.

After wearing out the local chain hotel and not having friends to bunk with, I tried a new spot in the mountains, Townsend Gateway Inn. It is one of the old 12 unit, mom and pop, side of the road motor courts of the 40’s and 50’s. But like new.
The Gateway is owned by 2 brothers and (I think, a sister). And they have personally renovated each room. There is no bulk purchase of Holiday Inn framed prints and surplus furniture. Each room was done independently with simple quality.
We stayed in room 6 and loved the large space and the fixtures. Some folks called it a hardwood floor but it is more of the processed finish planking that you see at Home Depot. But I loved it! No funny odors or suspicious stains or questionable care of a mystery carpet. You know this floor is clean when you see the shine!
A review on another website complained that Gateway was not serving coffee or breakfast early enough. Must have been a long wait as Gateway has no restaurant and you make your own coffee in the Mr. Coffee provided in your room.
We arrived late and called from the outside phone at the office. One of the brothers came down to let us into our room.
There was a basket of snacks and goodies awaiting us inside.
After a day on the road, it was nice to sit in the rocking chairs and listen to the mountain stream (Townsend folks call it a «river»).
You can go up the road a mile of two and stay at the Best Western and be just another Smokey Mountain tourist or you can pick the Townsend Gateway Inn where you are treated like a special guest of the coziest little inn near the gates of Cades Cove.