Riverside Motor Lodge

The Riverside Motor Lodge is a cheap hotel with an outstanding location in the middle of the main strip in Gatlinburg. It is easy to walk to all of the town’s attractions from the hotel, including Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. In addition, the hotel is close to several nice restaurants. Unfortunately, that is where the positive attributes end. The hotel was built in the 1920’s and it shows its’ age. The lodge feels more like a nursing home than hotel. All of the patrons were seniors, possibly because they give an AARP discount. The hotel is decorated in mauve, dark green and wood tones. Everything looks very 1970’s. The carpet looks like it is a hundred years old. On top of that, the rooms are not very clean. There was a layer of dust in the corners of the bathroom and bedroom. It looks like the housekeepers never give the place a deep cleaning. The bathroom was done in mint green tile and space was limited. There was no room on the bathroom counter to set toiletries and basic items like shampoo and hair dryers were not provided.