Graystone Lodge, an Ascend Collection Hotel

Graystone Lodge had a lot of pros and a few cons. The Location is wonderful, it is 10 minutes or less to Tweetsie, King Street, Dan'l Boone Inn, Comeback Shack, and many other restaurants/shopping experiences. Parking was easy. The Atmosphere is very friendly. They have cookies at the front desk, and i have to say this is one of the friendliest staff i have experienced. They have a seating area with books and puzzles and a nice seating area outside with a firepit. We had multiple rooms. The King Room was very spacious, the Queen Room not as much but still it was fine. Three out of four of the Queen beds were lopsided...like they aren't turning the mattresses. They have one drawer and a hutch type closet where you can hang clothes. If you like all your clothes in drawers there is not a lot of space for that. I had called to ask if the bathrooms had a bathtub and was told yes, but for our rooms that was not the case (we had a toddler and a bathtub would have been helpful). The fridge was good and cold. I really liked the shampoo/conditioner/body lotion they offer in the rooms. The pool was a good size, heated, and offered plenty of seating options. The free breakfast was wonderful. It includes a waffle station, scrambled eggs, quiche, a breakfast protein (we had sausage patties or sausage links depending on the day), country ham, bagels, toast, yogurt, etc. What soured the trip was the cleanliness...there was a stain on the wall and i found a pringles type top between the mattress pad and the mattress...i felt something during the middle of the night and pulled it out the next morning. There was also an unused tampon under the blanket. I did go to the front desk, the lady said she could give me a discount, but management could offer a larger one. I did tell her i wasn't worried about the discount as i got a good rate, but she said she would pass it along to management and i never heard from management while i was there about the issue. We caused an issue with our door, we got locked out - it was our fault. We were told a maintenance person would be up to help at 8..but when i called a little after 8 i was told that maintenance was not coming in due to a family situation. Completely understandable but i would think maintenance would always have a backup plan. Two of the staff came and helped us get in, and would not accept a tip. We had roomkey issues with all three of the rooms. I think there may have been a widespread issue as there were alot of people at the front desk about it. The light on our bathroom window went out and maintenance was unable to fix. It was just little things that left a bad impression on an otherwise really great hotel. The picture on their site makes it look different than it is, but we weren't bothered by that. Overall this is a good value if you get a discounted rate.

AC did not meet our needs.

The rooms are clean and comfortable, the dining area is spacious and inviting. The staff were outstanding - friendly and knowledgeable about the area. We will certainly consider staying there again.

I would like it if it were a bit more economical. In the future, if we don't stay at this Ascend property, it will be because we went with a more affordable option. Budget is important.

The breakfast variety is awesome. Housekeeping is great