Location right in the heart of Maggie Valley. SUPER FRIENDLY STAFF! VERY biker friendly! VERY customer-oriented! By the "looks" of the Clarketon, you may want to ride on by, but this is one of those cases where looks can be deceiving. I PROMISE, I mean NO OFFENSE by that! But obviously, it's not one of the big chain hotels. There are pros and cons with that: my ONLY con was that there was not a coffee maker in the room. But, honestly, they had coffee available for us in the office that is WAY better than those little coffee pockets, anyway. AND you don't have to fuss with making it yourself! Our stay there was quiet and relaxing. So, Hubby and I took a 5-day road trip on our Harleys (the longest for me, so far) at the end of May/beginning of June (from SC) to check out the new SkyBridge in Gatlinburg. We visited Cherokee, Gatlinburg, and Maggie Valley. We don't typically make hotel reservations on these kinds of trips because our "itinerary" never works out as planned, and we typically end up staying wherever we land. We stayed here one night (May 31, 2019), and I think we got the last room. The rooms are clean and the owners are SUPER, SUPER nice! That night, hubby and the owner(s) sat around a bonfire in a firepit that was dug into the ground. Pretty cool, by the way...that would've been MUCH easier than the raised one that we built at our house...wish I had thought of that! Anyway, I need WAY more rest than hubby does, especially since we were headed back to SC the next day, so I was thankful that he wasn't bored and cooped up in the room all night. The next day, as I was about to get in the shower, I realized that my pits and legs definitely needed a shave but didn't pack a razor. Hey, this "packing light" business meant SOMETHING had to stay at home! So hubby went to the office to see if they had a disposable razor and she couldn't find one. I went ahead and took a shower and figured hubby would love me, regardless, hairy pits and all; I'd just have to make sure I didn't make any grandiose movements with my arms! I finished my shower, so probably 15-20 minutes had gone by, and I hear a knock at the door. Y'all! It was the owner with a razor! I can only imagine that she kept looking, since she said that she usually has them on-hand. Now, THAT is good customer service! I was very appreciative! My stay at the Clarketon has definitely taught me that bigger/fancier isn't always better. I will definitely be more likely to seek out a local-owned/mom & pop hotel/motel on future road trips! read more