The location, minutes from Cherokee, Bryson City and the Great Smokey National Park is ideal.
The setting is like a fairy land, with a waterfall and rapids just a few short yards from the deck. Truly spectacular!
The only problem was the v-e-r-y s-l-o-w Internet. Seriously, download speeds just under 1 Mbps; upload 0.35 Mbps. This is about the speed of dial up Internet from a generation ago. I brought our Apple TV, hoping we might be able to live stream movies. Not a chance.
You might ask, “If you’re in a pristine location, close to so many outdoor activities, why would Internet speed be a big deal?” Well, my wife and I are in our mid-70’s. We just like to escape the dog days of Florida summers and head for the mountains. Aside from a few sight-seeing adventures, we enjoy activities which are pretty much the same as our routines back home, many of which require high speed Internet access (e.g. minimum download speeds of 25 Mbps).
Aside from that one issue, we would certainly return. The venue is clean and very comfortable. Welcome touches included a bundle of firewood for the firepit that is a few feet from the aforementioned waterfall, pool and ping-pong tables, a large screen TV and a reasonably well-equipped kitchen.
We left a list of suggested, minor improvement for the owners. We enjoyed a wonderful week in the mountains, particularly being lulled to sleep, listening to the waterfall, with temperatures that welcomed open windows in August.
Tip: when suggesting that entry instructions be printed prior to attempting to enter the key code, take note! We neglected to take this advice and had to drive down to where we could access a Verizon cell signal to get the instructions. In addition to lousy Internet, there was no cell service. (Although a VOIP telephone is provided.)