We stayed at Angelia's place from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve. We had some snow on our way and Angelia even sent us weather updates. The snow definitely made the mountain roads a little scary, but also, stunningly beautiful. Our first night there, after 6 inches of snow, the power went out but we were tired anyway so off to bed we went. The next morning, she brought us a duraflame to get the fire started. She offered to put us up in a hotel or let us check out, but honestly, it was fun. We had some fun laughing about it, had some family time without electronics and the power came on the following evening. She is looking at generators in case this happens again, but it wasn't her fault, the 6 inches of snow brought down trees and then lines.
The communication from before we booked to after we left was top notch. You will not be on hold like some companies waiting for a company rep. Anything I asked her received a speedy reply and she was very accommodating with any request. Angelia goes above and beyond.
We went hiking 4-5 days using the Townsend entrance, or Gatlinburg. You are looking at a 40 min (Townsend)to 1 hour and 15 min (Gatlinburg)drive, but it is well worth it . Gatlinburg is like a bad marriage between Vegas, Wisconsin Dells, and a Carnival. We are not fans. We only had to go thru Gatlinburg once that was enough. There is also an entrance really close to Heavenly Views-- Abrams Creek for the campgrounds which is closed in the winter. I looked at tripadvisor and a guy said he went that route to Abrams Falls and said it was great. He parked by the ranger station. We never checked this out but FYI.
Our hikes included Look Rock (walkable from HV), Middle prong fork, Cades Cove and Abrams Falls, Mt Leconte via Alum Cave, and Ramsey Cascades Trail. We only needed our hiking boot cramp ons for Mt. LeConte. I highly recommend all these trails especially Mt LeConte if you are fit. Middle Prong and Cascades trails are musts for any who loves waterfalls. We went in the winter which I highly recommend. In the summer, I heard it gets too hot although you can cool off in the water where its safe.
Side note, while they do not frequently get snow here (we were lucky), I highly recommend a vehicle with 4WD or AWD.
Stay here for the views, the cleanliness, the hot tub (wonderful), the access to the owner if issues arise. Drive a little further to hike, it's worth it!