Watershed Cabins, Bryson City

I loved EVERYTHING. I am not a mountain/woodsy type of girl. My husband and I went to have some alone time and connect. It was perfect. The setting was perfect. We stayed in the Woodland Lofts and OMG. It has a contemporary feel with the elegance of nature. We grilled, we went horseback riding,enjoyed the fire pit, enjoyed the hot tub, enjoyed watching the football game. It was very clean, it had the added luxury of a washer and dryer with WIFI., wine glasses, coking utensils, a mini kitchenette. This was a perfect weekend, I only wish we could have stayed longer. It was a much needed weekend. I'm trying to get my whole family back for Christmas.

My boyfriend and I are a young couple and feel so lucky to have found Watershed cabins! We stayed at Tree House D and had one of the best vacations we have ever had! We adored it so much that we are staying at Tree House C this weekend. I'm not surprised to see Watershed at the top of the list for places to stay in the area! We camp a good bit but we love to stay at Watershed to relax. Having a gas grill to grill steaks and fish is wonderful as well! I can't sleep tonight because I'm so excited for the weekend and I can't wait to sleep on the giant bed after a soothing time in the hot tub. They say you get what you pay for but with Watershed you get so much more! It's the best value for anyone looking for a romantic get away!

We have stayed in watershed cabins for more then five years and they are the only cabins we will stay in around Bryson City. We have stayed in bearfoot(which is no longer available),call of the wild,cabins in the clouds,watershed 2,hikers rest,time flies, born to be wild and acorn bend, the most recent of our stays. We have experienced some minor glitches, like hot tub issues, but management hase never Ben anything but the most responsive to our calls. Acorn Bend was amazing and so private, we would recommend it to any couples looking for absolute privacy. For anyone who is not prepared for a mountain stay in winter, stay in the city. If you are looking for a great mountain experience, watershed cannot be beat,

We stayed in Fontana View #2. They upgraded us because the fireplace didn't work in the orginal cabin we booked. Thanks to the management for the nice upgrade! The cabin was unbelievable. Deluxe accomodations. The beds are so comfortable. Plenty of pillows. The kitchen is well appointed. So much room. The view off the deck every day was magical. We watched the sunrise and sunset everyday. We went mountain biking most days at Tsali which is very close to the cabins. And we went hiking in Pisgah one day. The fall colors were so beautiful. Very romantic. This is my second time staying at the Watershed cabins.

fantastic, fantastic, fantastic! Spent a week at Trails End and loved each moment of it. A beautiful place to call home for a week!

We loved the views and the cleanliness of the cabin. We also loved the quailty of the appliances and cookware of the cabin. The first trip up the mountain is a bit scary because it does not seem as though a cabin that nice could be on the road that it is on but boy were we suprised. October Sky has a GREAT mountain view and the privacy a honeymoon couple or a romantic gettaway needs... We enjoyed the view and the hot tub most of all. We left the cabin for about four hours one day to check out the Natahala Outdoor Center. We really enjoyed the white water rafting guided tour for first timers. Only a few minutes away down the mountain....But back to the cabin the pictures on the internet are not doctored in fact they do not compare to the beauty and peacefulness of the cabins. My wife and I have told all our friends about this place and we are planning our next trip as soon as we can. I often read reviews when traveling but I have never taken the time to write one but this time I just had to. AWESOME PLACE !!!!!!

This was our third trip to Bryson City, NC and each time we have stayed with Watershed (Dreamcatcher is definitely our favorite!). As my previous review has stated, there is no detail of comfort that is overlooked. The cabins are well maintained, very clean, well stocked with the necessities and set up for luxury and enjoyment. We like the short drive to Cherokee, NC (Harrah's Casino), easy access to Nantahala River activities and the Great Smoky Mountains State Park (which, due to weather, we were unable to explore as we had planned). All in all, and as usual, we highly recommend Watershed Cabins and will be going back as soon as we can! Thumbs WAY up!

We cannot wait to go back. My wife and I went up to stay in the one bedroom and had a great time. We brought our teenagers and stayed at the Eagle's Nest which was so much fun. The cabins are a real class act!! Thanks Watershed!!!

So these are the main facts. I wish I had more as my commitment is to know everything I can about potential risks to my guests, but this guest was completely uncooperative. I am not going to accuse him of making up facts or retaliating against Watershed for offending him with our smoking policy, but I did make every attempt I could reasonably make to be informed about this. My attempts included speaking directly with a physician. I definitely want to point out that my discussions were about hot tubs, infections, bacteria, staph, etc on a very general level and absolutely did NOT apply to this specific patient, but I was specifically interested in how an infection could be so serious to last over 5 weeks. The doctor (again, NOT speaking of this specific patient but was speaking only hypothetically and in general terms) said that what is usually a minor infection can be a 5 or more week ordeal for someone who is immune-compromised from other health problems. The doctor made a statement so profound that I wrote it down word for word: "there may be underlying contributing medical conditions that may make people more susceptible to infections and prolong medical treatment". I hate that this discussion even had to be published. It is surely my preference to talk about all the good things people say about Watershed Cabins. But since we are on the subject anyway, I am going to go ahead and point out some things that a lot of people may not want to think about on vacation with regards to hot tubs. Hot tubs must be properly maintained AND properly used to be healthy. Hot tubs are hugely popular features and I don't want to scare people off, but I do want anyone who uses a hot tub to be aware of some very important facts. You absolutely must leave the floating chemical dispenser in the water. You absolutely must limit your usage time and the number of people in the tub. No hot tub has a chance of being safe if you are going to have a "hot tub party" with an excessive number of people (probably spilling beer or other contaminants) for an excessive length of time in the water. Use a tub as directed and you will enjoy it without incident. A bit of additional advice: ask your cabin management company who cleans their hot tubs... if their housekeepers maintain the hot tubs then ask what qualifies them to maintain a hot tub. I personally get in the hot tub of every single cabin that I stay at, and I stay at Watershed Cabins quite frequently. I know our policies and practices are good, and I hope anyone reading this will experience that some day. We have over 6,000 customer names in our database and every single one of them had a stay at a cabin with a hot tub (all Watershed Cabins have hot tubs). Each of these stays could have been 2 people or could have been 15 or more people, but the fact of the matter is that you can't keep this many people going in and out of hot tubs safe without strict policies, well-trained staff, and quality supervision. That is Watershed's commitment.

The gentleman who posted the "beware" about our hot tubs is just wrong. I believe he is wrong about the source of his infection and I know that he is wrong in saying that "management.. did not even respond to the problem". I personally addressed this issue with him, and he wrote to me "do not bother me further". I welcome anyone reading this to contact me and I will share my documents and support I have with regards to this issue. I contend Watershed has done nothing wrong in this case, and I will open my records to prove my points. Here are major points about this case: 1) This guest arrived to a hot tub that had just had a complete change of water. I explained to him in my email that he arrived to cold and cloudy water because it was fresh out of the well and thus cold, and the cloudiness is normal with some well-water and goes away after the tub has filtered the water for several hours. Sediment is a naturally occurring product in many wells (when it is severe, we require our cabin owners to install in-line sediment filters at the home). It is harmless and rarely visible in drinking water quantities but is visible when you fill a large vessel like a bathtub. We sometimes filter water as we are filling tubs to minimize this, but it significantly slows down the fill time and during busy times, we must use unfiltered water direct from the well to fill the tubs and then let the built-in tub filters take care of clearing up the water. It is also very valid to point out that cloudy water is not at all necessarily unhealthy water, as we balance the pH and add proper sanitizing chemicals to the water and verify that it is balanced before every guest arrives. 2) our hot tub staff are all either certified themselves or supervised by someone who is a Certified Pool and Spa Maintenance Technician. It's not easy to get this training in Western NC, but we made it happen because it is just that important. 3) Upon checkout, our experienced housekeeping staff AND the owner of the cabin verified a cigarette smell in the cabin and witnessed butts in the trash can. Indoor smoking is against our rental policies, and we notify departing guests promptly if there is any risk that damages will be charged to them as a result of their stay. We commit to arriving guests a clean and comfortable cabin, and had the smell not dissipated, we would have enforced our contract against the departing guest. He apparently was offended by this and I feel his response was a bit overly-defensive: "I do not appreciate your questioning, and lecturing me about the smell of smoke. I will not justify your accusations with any response." Note to smokers: we are serious about our smoking policy and will hold you responsible for lost rents if an arriving guest can't stay because of smoke smell... this sort of commitment to our guests is why Watershed Cabins has a reputation for impeccable cleanliness, and anyone you ask in town knows it as well as lots of online reviews (thank you very much). 4) The stay was June 25 but the first we ever hear about this guest's "infection" was 5 weeks later, and when I requested more information from him to get a clearer picture of what he was accusing, his response was "To ask me for anything, records or otherwise, is another indication at what an awful establishment Watershed Cabin really is". All I was questioning was whether the infection was indeed a staph (he spells it "staff") because we are well aware of infections (I encourage everyone to Google "pseudomonas folliculitis" to gain an appreciation for hot tubs and the importance of proper maintenance... we know this information because it's our job to know it and protect our guests against it). The staph infection he describes is not at all consistent with the the bulk of internet data on hot tub infections. To the contrary, the most common description you find on hot tub infections is that they are usually minor and recovery rarely involves medical treatment. continues...