Gatlinburg Holiday Inn Sunspree

I worked at the Holiday Inn Gatlinburg, as it was known then, in the mid 1980's as a desk clerk. Room 413 was still used as a guest room at that time. There were very few times that the room could be occupied for the entire night. Most guests would check in, go to the room and return to the front desk and request to be moved with in a few minutes. This was usually because "the room had not been made up". We had to put it on the newest housekeepers lists because the ones who had worked there for a while would not clean it. If it were unoccupied, there were usually complaints about the noise from that room. I can recall one guest's comments as if it were today that the conversation took place. When he checked out he told me, "I almost called the police last night because the man next door was beating his wife. If I had had a gun, I would have taken care of the problem myself." The room was unoccupied the night before.

Part of my job was to fill the cola machines in the Tower on Wednesday of each week in winter. We always rented the Tower to groups on weekends during winter because most times the groups consisted of teenagers and if we isolated them they wouldn't bother other guests. One night, it was dark when I started filling the machines. None of the rooms were occupied, all housekeeping and maintenance personnel were gone for the day and the security guard had not come on duty yet. We kept the entrance chained and padlocked. We were to unchain the doors and rechain and lock them from the inside once we were in. This was the first time I had started this late. Even though I had no knowledge of things to come, I usually tried to finished prior to 5:00 pm. The first 4 floors were uneventful. I would complete one floor at a time then return to the storeroom on the first floor to get more drinks. As the elevator approached the 5th floor I could hear what sounded like one hugh party. I even called the desk on my radio to make sure we hadn't overlooked rooms that may have been occupied. When the doors opened, it was quiet as a tomb. Chills run down my spine as I type this some 20 years after the fact. I heard no more sounds on the 5th and continued with my task, hastily. The 6th floor was uneventful.

The 7th floor was the worst. As I left the elevator and started to open the cola machine, I heard what sounded to me like a small dog whimpering. The sound was coming form the end of the hallway. I worked in Gatlinburg for many years at several different establishments and it wasn't uncommon for people to leave many different items, including pets. As I approached the end of the hallway, the sound seemed to be coming from the next to the last door on the right. I could hear the sound until I got almost to the door. I am not sure but I think the room number at that time was 768. The sound stopped and at this point I knew that job didn't pay enough. The drink machines on both the 7th and 8th floors were left empty. It seemed as though I couldn't get out fast enough. I never refilled the machines alone again.

There are other encounters I experience in the 11 years I worked in the Burg. I have never seen a figure but have heard things and felt things surrounding me. Gatlinburg is a beautiful mountain town that is advertised as hosting over 10 million visitors each year. I am sure this figure refers to living visitors only.

By: timestopper48@bellsouth.net