The Sydney James Hotel in Gatlinburg Tennessee is truly a gem. A wonderful hotel for anyone to stay in while on vacation in Gatlinburg. You might be asking yourself why I consider the Sydney James such a great place to stay at in this quaint little mountain town. Granted you have a bundle of choices of hotels to stay in, but I would recommend you give the Sydney James a long hard look. Some of the reasons why I like the Sydney James are, off the main drag, within walking distance to downtown, within walking distance to a park, next to a mountain stream, excellent views, nice pool and Jacuzzi, high quality rooms, and the food in the onsite restaurant is very good.
You might be asking why I consider the Sydney James being off of the main drag a good thing, but I do not know many people that while on vacation would want to hear the roaring sounds of traffic all night. I know some people like being close to the downtown area and just have to open the door to the city, but I prefer to relax on vacation. So if you like a nice relaxing location that is still located close enough that you can walk to downtown this is the perfect spot for you. Not much traffic goes by the hotel because it is off the main path, but you do have some traffic. When I last stayed at the Sydney James most of the rooms were also on the backside of the hotel away from the road and over the mountain stream.
Now some people like to walk to town, while others still prefer to drive even though your close to the downtown area. Either way will work, but I know from experience that parking in Gatlinburg is not cheap. I typically had to pay close to ten dollars to park for the day. However, if you eat at some restaurants they will validate your receipt for you, but you have to leave the parking lot right after you finish eating otherwise you will have to pay the full charge. However, if you prefer not to pay the parking fee and do not want to walk then a trolley stop is located right in front of the Sydney James. Either of these methods will get you to downtown, but I prefer the exercise and walk to town most of the time.
If you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of downtown a park is within walking distance as well to the Sydney James. While I personally did not go to this park because I ran out of time on my vacation I did notice it and drove by it in my car while touring the Historic Motor Nature Trail. The park looks lovely and from what I could see from the road did have a picnic area. This park is within a short walk even closer than downtown to the Sydney James.
The Sydney James location does provide it with a great mountain stream. This stream has been running each time I have been down to the Sydney James. The stream if you get a creek side room and open your balcony door will just lull you to sleep. The sound of the water running by will relax anyone no matter how stressed out you are. You can easily sit out on your balcony for most of the night and not even have a worry in the world because of the stream.
The excellent views that the Sydney James provides you will take your breath away. Not granted it’s not the views that you could get at some of the other hotels, but it is worth it. The views come mainly from when you’re walking up the street to your hotel. The scenery of the mountains surrounding the town will stun you. Now granted the Sydney James does have some excellent views overlooking the stream that runs next to it, but most people will want different views. You can get these by walking around and looking while staying at the Sydney James.
The pool and hot tub will allow you or your kids to enjoy swimming. The pool that I have used has been the indoor pool. Inside of it you have a nice little cave area that you can hide in and enjoy the relaxing times. The pool temperature while not as warm as I like for swimming it was warm enough to swim in. However, I was not able to swim for long periods of time, but that could have been due to a multitude of reasons. The hot tub though, once all the kids got out of it was very warm and nice! The hot tubs water is warm enough to relax away your aches and pains, while at the same time the jets are strong enough to feel like you are getting a massage. The Sydney James also offers a sauna, but I did not use that because you have to ask for the key from the desk first so little kids cannot get in to the room and get hurt. Which is an excellent precautionary measure that I strongly agree with because they put safety above letting you have carte blanche access to a room that could easily hurt kids.
The high quality rooms are outstanding and well worth the price that you pay! I know from staying in various hotels in Gatlinburg that the Sydney James has some of the largest rooms that I have seen. Granted I had a suite at each hotel, but comparing the Sydney James to the rest of them you can expect to have about twice the room. The beds are very comfortable, they reminded me of my bed at home minus the dog laying on it. The TV while situated across the room from where the bed is, is large enough to see from the bed unlike some hotels that just give you a small TV. The suite that I stayed in also included a couch that was located next to the TV and it was comfortable as well, but it was also a little bit on the firm side. The refrigerator worked wonderfully and managed to keep my food nice and cold. The bathrooms while the shower curtain did tend to stick to you while showering it was not as bad as some places that with the curtain sticking to you the water would be pouring out of the tub. This did not happen at the Sydney James and the curtain sticking was only if you touched it.
Now most hotels have an on-site restaurant or they provide a breakfast bar. The Sydney James is no different, except the quality of the food far exceeds the price. My husband and I were even late getting into the restaurant on our first day there and they were cleaning up, but they took the time and effort to make us a meal for a cheap price! Granted it kept them open an extra half hour to hour after cleaning up, but they really care for the guest. The food I would have to compare with most of the restaurants that are in town and would probably recommend the Sydney James food over some of them that is how high of quality the food is.
All things considered I would definitely take into account the Sydney James each and every time that you travel to Gatlinburg. With the excellent amenities that are available here you will not want to stay anywhere else when you travel. The people really know how to treat the guest well and take care of any issues that arise during your stay right away. Some of the pluses of the Sydney James are the nice views, the excellent rooms, the high quality food, the pool and hot tub, within walking distance to downtown and a park, and much more than I could even begin to tell you about. So next time you’re in Gatlinburg enjoy your stay and have a great trip!
