Sleepy Bear Motel

2.0 star property

Photo gallery for Sleepy Bear Motel

Terrace/patio
Comfort Room, 2 Queen Beds, River View
Exterior
Reception
Seasonal outdoor pool

Reviews

9.4 out of 10
Exceptional

Popular amenities

  • Pool
  • Parking included
  • Free Wi-Fi

Explore the area

View map
820 East Pkwy, Gatlinburg, TN, 37738
  • Place, Cupids Chapel of Love
    ‪3 min walk‬
  • Place, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
    ‪3 min drive‬
  • Place, Anakeesta
    ‪3 min drive‬
  • Airport, Knoxville, TN (TYS-McGhee Tyson)
    ‪69 min drive‬

Room options

Comfort Room, 2 Queen Beds, River View

9.4 out of 10
Exceptional
(23 reviews)
  • River view
  • 28 sq m
  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Queen Beds

Comfort Room, 1 King Bed, River View

9.2 out of 10
Wonderful
(17 reviews)
  • River view
  • 28 sq m
  • 1 bedroom
  • Sleeps 2
  • 1 King Bed

Similar properties

About the area

Gatlinburg

With a stay at Sleepy Bear Motel in Gatlinburg, you'll be within a 5-minute drive of Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and Anakeesta. .This motel is 2.1 mi (3.4 km) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 11.2 mi (18 km) from Dollywood.

What's nearby

  • Cupids Chapel of Love - 3 min walk - 0.3 km
  • Traffic Light #2A - 6 min walk - 0.5 km
  • Historic Ogle Log Cabin - 2 min drive - 1.7 km
  • Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies - 3 min drive - 2.0 km
  • Anakeesta - 3 min drive - 2.0 km

Getting around

  • McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS) - 69 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Cliff Top Bar & Grill - ‬5 min drive
  • ‪Ole Red - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Tennessee Cider Company - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Subway - ‬3 min drive
  • ‪Pancake Pantry - ‬4 min drive

About this property

Sleepy Bear Motel

Motel with free parking, near Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
Sleepy Bear Motel offers 55 accommodations. This Gatlinburg motel provides complimentary wireless Internet access, with a speed of 500+ Mbps (good for 6+ people or 10+ devices). Housekeeping is offered once per stay and change of towels can be requested. Housekeeping is provided on a limited basis.
Recreational amenities at the motel include a seasonal outdoor pool.
Make yourself at home in one of the 55 guestrooms. Complimentary wireless internet access is available to keep you connected.
A complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast is served on weekends from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM.
The front desk is staffed during limited hours. Free self parking is available onsite.
A complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast is served between 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM on weekends.

Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
  • In-room WiFi speed: 500+ Mbps (good for 6+ people or 10+ devices)

Parking and transport

  • Free secured self parking on site
  • Limited on-site self parking

Food and drink

  • Free cooked-to-order breakfast available on weekends 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM

Things to do

  • Seasonal outdoor pool

Family friendly

  • Seasonal outdoor pool

Conveniences

  • Limited-hour front desk

Guest services

  • Change of towels on request
  • Housekeeping (once per stay)

Accessibility

  • No lift

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 4:00 PM; Check-in end time: midnight
Minimum check-in age: 21

Check-out

Check-out before 11:00 AM

Special check-in instructions

The front desk is open daily from 7:30 AM - midnight
Front desk staffed during limited hours
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools

Renovations and closures

The property will be renovating from January 14 2026 to January 21 2026 (completion date subject to change). The following areas are affected:
  • Guestrooms
During renovations, the motel will make every effort to minimize noise and disturbance.

Access methods

Front desk (limited hours)

Pets

Pets not allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome

Payment types

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards and debit cards; cash is not accepted

We should mention

This property does not have elevators
The seasonal pool will be open from May to August

Sleepy Bear Motel Reviews

Reviews

9.4

Exceptional

Rating 10 - Excellent. 174 out of 229 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 42 out of 229 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 9 out of 229 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 229 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 2 out of 229 reviews

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.8/10

Staff & service

9.0/10

Amenities

9.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

8/10 Good

Candace, TUCSON

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The staff was very personable and went above and beyond other motels. We were particularly pleased that it was not in the middle of downtown and parking was easy. Very close to the National Park. We enjoyed the restaurants recommended to us. They even helped us find a faster route back to Knoxville!
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Kaylee, Waldorf

Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Callie

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The balcony was relaxing
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Munmun

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Curtis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We absolutely loved our stay! The staff were friendly, attentive, and very helpful. The location was ideal—far enough from the busy areas to feel peaceful, yet close enough to reach all the main attractions within minutes. The view from our back door was beautiful, and the area felt both safe and secluded. Highly recommend!
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

8/10 Good

LESLIE

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
The room was comfortable and close to Smokie National park
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Kevin

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

4/10 Poor

Ross

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The room was clean, the balcony view was very good, breakfast was good & cooked how I asked it to be, the staff was very friendly. The bathroom on the other hand was a very bad experience I’m 5’9”” tall & had to duck down about a foot to get under the shower head, the water kept going from all hot to all cold we could not get it to stay at one temp. There’s no place to hang the towels when your finished, the area at the tub is so tight that you have to step between the tub & toilet to close the door, we found to to be a big inconvenience
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Marzena

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Shane

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Room was very clean. Excellent staff and the balcony overlooking the creek was a bonus.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2025

6/10 Okay

Denise

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
We had a great family reunion vacation occupying 3 rooms. It sits in a great location, but there is plenty of highway noise. The balconies sit by the river, but the patio was not clean enough to sit and enjoy. The mattresses are hard on the hip bones. Maybe some good pillows would soften the blow. The office doesn’t open early for lobby coffee, so we went across the street.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Jamie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Staff was very friendly and informative. Room was clean. Quiet area to stay.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

David

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Lydia

Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Glenda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025

10/10 Excellent

matthew

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

8/10 Good

Yilin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2025

6/10 Okay

Charles

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
no breakfast
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

James

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

MARY

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Really great place to stay with balcony overlooking the stream. Very nice staff and super clean and convenient.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2025

8/10 Good

Ashley, Bessemer city

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Great room for great prices. Just a little out of the way of the main strip but quiet. Only complaint was our toilet was rocky and sounded like it was going to break when we sat down. Would stay again.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2025

8/10 Good

Linda

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This is a clean place to stay. The bed was very comfortable. It isn’t 4 or 5 stars. The bathroom is tiny. The road noise is very loud at night. It is nice not having to get in all the Gatlinburg traffic to have a place to stay. Breakfast would have been nice. Mike was super accommodating for our late arrival.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Susan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic place to stay. Loved the balcony and river. The owners/staff are the best!! Clean, friendly, and that will be my place when i go back!!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025

10/10 Excellent

Anthony

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Amazing stay the two ladies at check in were very kind, room was clean and the breakfast cooked to order was good. Thank you for your service
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025

8/10 Good

Jensine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Super clean and comfortable. There was a trolley stop right outside which is a great way to get around Gatlinburg and avoid driving in the traffic there.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025