Although the pools were nice and the breakfast bar was nice that's about it. The Floors were absolutely FILTHY!!! After crawling around our room for 10 min. our baby's knees and feet were literally black. And when you walked on the floor with wet feet in the bathroom it left black marks. This is not only disgusting it's absolutely insanitary!!! Ironically enough 2 days after we got home our baby has come down with hand foot and mouth syndrome. They need to replace all of the carpeting and clean them regularly. We've stayed at a lot of hotels and never the Ritz either and I have NEVER seen carpets so dirty. Unfortunatly because of this we will never stay here again. And by the way, the "restaurant" is only open for breakfast and we never did see the pizza place open.

On the whole, this was a nice hotel. It was clean and the staff was very friendly. It's an older hotel and it looks it in some spots, but the room was clean. The only complaint about the room was that it was warmer than we prefered. We had it set on 60, but it never got below 73 (I have a themometer on my clock). It got to 73 after we pushed the curtain away from the vent. We were only there 2 days, so it was no big deal.
We went for a swim in one of the indoor pools and it was quite nice. The temperature was perfect and it didn't have an overpowering smell of chlorine. The jacuzzi was really warm and felt nice.
We didn't walk down to the main drag, as it was 1/2 mile. We found a non-paying parking spot on a street behind the main drag. Since it wasn't on the main street, it was quiet.

The free breakfast was decent. The grits were a little under cooked, but there was a nice selection and plenty of food....it wasn't a continental breakfast which was great!

We're not planning to go back...too touristy for us, but it was nice enough to recommend to friends.

After reading the bad reviews, I was very uneasy about staying at this hotel. I brought the Lysol just in case! However, I was pleasantly surprised upon arrival. The room was not smelly and for the most part clean. There was dust and the carpet was stained some, but no big deal. I knew I wasn't staying at the Ritz.. Our room had a view of the creek and my son and I even went down to skip rocks one evening. The inside and outside pools where clean. Nothing to complain about. The breakfast each morning was delicious also. The trek up and down the hill to the strip was tiring at times, but we considered it good exercise. I would recommend this place to anyone.

Wow...after reading some of the reviews here I must say that I was angry that I had booked this hotel and dreaded my stay. I went prepared to be a jerk if the place was as horrible as presumed. Quite the contrary...the hotel staff were above average on being friendly, the room was nicely decorated and what I expected for the price I was paying. We weren't looking for room service or 5 star comfort or we would have booked it. We just wanted a place to sleep during a weekend family get away. The Garden Plaza worked just fine. The place was quiet, comfortable and affordable. There was a choice of an indoor or outdoor pool, a hot tub, a little playground for children under 7 or 8, an arcade, a babbling brook and plenty of parking. The hotel is situated off the beaten path, up a bit of an hill, so if you have trouble walking, I wouldn't advise staying here. There are plenty of nice places to eat at the bottom of the hill. The on site restaurant is only open for breakfast, which you get free coupons for and they have a nice spread of food from eggs, biscuits and gravy to cereal, fruit and yogurt. There is a pizza place on site, but it wasn't open. This is a pet friendly hotel, and this weekend happened to be the greyhound convention or something, but it was quiet and people cleaned up after their pets. The room did have a pet odor and some carpet stains, but I always carry my febreeze and lysol spray when I stay at any hotel. The tub area could use an update to match the vanity and sink area and other updated decor, but it served the purpose just fine. Overall, unless you have an allergy to pets or you don't like walking uphill, this is a nice place to rest your bones after a day in the smokies.