A Review of Our Stay at Friar's Fifth Cabin from Mountain Laurel Chalets

Photo of Friar’s Fifth cabin from Mountain Laurel Chalets website.

I want to preface my review by saying we were offered a complimentary stay at this cabin. However, I will still offer my honest opinion of what we thought about the entire experience. A big thank you is in order to the owner of Friar’s Fifth cabin and Mountain Laurel Chalets for giving us the opportunity for a nice, peaceful stay in Gatlinburg! The customer service was amazing on both ends, and I was left with the impression this is also passed on to vacationing guests as well.

My modus operandi has never been to beg or ask for any special treatment. I actually enjoy a certain level of anonymity here. But when someone initiates a gracious offer, I won’t decline unless it doesn’t fit my interests, or the kind of content I put out relating to Gatlinburg. I didn’t expect to receive this particular proposal. We haven’t booked a cabin since 2015, so when I heard from the owner, I was surprised. Needless to say, I accepted this “getaway.”

Right off the bat, though, this really did feel like an adventure. By that, I mean the road to the Friar’s Fifth cabin. Yes, I live here in Gatlinburg now (get it), but that doesn’t mean I’m accustomed to or comfortable driving mountain roads (my wife and son included). Look, I’ve spent 46 years of my life in Ohio where the roads are mostly flat, straight, and make you sleepy if you’re not careful late at night.

Nonetheless, we made it up safely after checking in at the Mountain Laurel Chalet office on Ski Mountain Road. Our code to enter the cabin worked the first time, and we were in! It’s a cute, open floorplan on the main level, with a high ceiling making way for a loft area upstairs. This contains a second bedroom and bathroom, in addition to the one on the main level, The loft also has a jacuzzi tub, plus an additional sink and countertop and cupboard area on the other side. This is unique and reminiscent of an older style of home building—but I could be wrong.

We had a nice bag of goodies courtesy of Mountain Laurel Chalets on the dining room table waiting for us, along with a pleasant hand-written note from the owner welcoming us. This is also something we didn’t expect and weren’t used to, based on our previous two cabin stays in 2013 and 2015—not an often occurrence for us anyway, so it was much appreciated.

The fireplace underneath a big screen television mounted over a custom-made wooden mantel attached to the stone fireplace took center stage. In my opinion, this really adds to the feel of the home, giving it a rustic characteristic common in many cabins. Bears, mountain scenery, and flowers made up the theme in pictures on the walls. This is also a winning combo for us, as we’re making our own place look similar.

Not every cabin has a classic arcade game table in addition to the more omnipresent board games, so this added a nice touch. I don’t care how old you are, sometimes it’s more desirable to have a different kind of distraction from the dizzying array of technology available at our fingertips. So I like that cabins are being furnished to lure people away from these attachments as an escape—which is what a vacation should be.

There’s no denying it had the look of a Smoky Mountain cabin, and I enthusiastically support it, no matter how many there are, each one has its own way of conveying this theme to guests. And since we love everything about the Smoky Mountains, that’s a slam dunk.

We also had no issues with the cleanliness in our cabin. Even the hard to reach and easily dust-collected areas had little of it and at least looked recently dusted; that meant cords, windowsills, pictures, and bases of furniture items. We’re not super neat-freaks ourselves, but obviously you want things to look reasonably clean and presentable. The cabin was virtually spotless, and gave us everything we needed for a comfortable stay.

The touches given to the cabin were discreet but tasteful. I liked the fact it wasn’t trying to make you feel overwhelmed with anything. Maybe if you have a big group, you want an overly furnished cabin. But for the 3 of us—or maybe 3 or 4 other guests—this was perfectly done.

If you want spectacular mountain views, this isn’t your cabin. You can see the mountains if you peer through the leafless trees in the winter, but I’m surmising you won’t see much once the trees fill out. I know this may disappoint some of you; however, that shouldn’t deter you from staying here. You can have the best, most beautiful mountain visuals, but what difference does that make if your rental cabin isn’t clean, comfortable, creaky, or decrepit. Our experience thankfully provided none of these nightmarish downfalls, and I think you will feel the same.

I hope you consider Mountain Laurel Cabins or even this particular cabin for your stay. The only odd thing about staying here was the fact our home in Gatlinburg is just 4 miles away, and it wasn’t exactly a staycation because none of us were actually on vacation. But again, we are super glad we were provided the opportunity for another short rental cabin visit!

Thanks for reading and subscribing to my publication. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more reviews, news and personal anecdotes related to our life here in Gatlinburg in the days, weeks, and months to come. I’m certainly not done!