The Smoky Mountain Vacation Rental Forum

Episode 5 Don't Build Your Business on Borrowed Ground

If you vacation rental reservation are all coming from one platform, you are not building a business, you are renting one. In this episode Tom Goodwin unpacks what the data actually says about chanel dependency in the short term rental industry, and why it deeply matters for cabin owners and operators here in the Smoky Mountains.

Episode 4 Managing From Four Hours Away: What 20 Years of Getting It Right Looks Like

Tom Goodwin sits down with Paula Elliott, owner of Goldilocks Haven in Chalet Village — one of Gatlinburg's most storied vacation communities — for a conversation about what professional self-management actually looks like over the long haul. Paula bought her three-bedroom cabin in 2004 with her late husband, spent nine years learning the ropes with a management company, and has been self-managing from Indiana ever since. What she's built over 20 years isn't passive income — it's a system built on trust, relationships, proactive communication, and genuine care for guests, neighbors, and the community she's been part of for decades. In this episode, Tom and Paula talk through the infrastructure every long-distance owner needs, why setting expectations with guests prevents middle-of-the-night calls, how to think about the local workforce with the respect they deserve, and what it really means to be a good neighbor in a market that's changed dramatically since 2004. Paula also shares her honest take on the wave of new investors entering the Smokies — and what she wishes someone had told her from day one. If you own a cabin in the Smokies and you're doing it yourself, or thinking about it, this conversation is one you'll want to hear more than once.

Episode 3 What Great Hospitality Actually Looks Like — And Why It's Getting Rare

Think about the last time you were a guest somewhere and walked away thinking — that felt like they actually cared. Not just clean, not just functional. Like someone thought about you before you arrived. Like you mattered beyond the transaction. How long ago was that? Now here is the harder question. Is that what your guests experience when they stay at your cabin? In Episode 3 Tom Goodwin makes the case that genuine hospitality is the single most underutilized competitive advantage in the Smoky Mountain vacation rental market right now. The properties are getting more elaborate every year. The amenities keep growing. But the human care for the people staying in those cabins is not keeping pace — and that gap is both the biggest problem in this market and the biggest opportunity for anyone willing to close it. Tom shares the story of Dot Egli, co-founder of Mountain Laurel Chalets, who built one of the most guest-loyal businesses in Gatlinburg's history on five simple words — love people and care for them well. He also speaks directly to self-managing owners about why their size is actually a hospitality advantage, not a liability. Great hospitality is not expensive. It is intentional. And it is available to every single person listening to this episode right now.

Episode 2 What's Really Happening in This Market — The Honest Version

div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> When was the last time someone gave you a completely honest answer about how the Smoky Mountain vacation rental market is actually doing right now? Not a projection. Not a pitch. Not a number someone pulled out of a report to make you feel good about signing a contract. Just the truth. That is what this episode is. Tom Goodwin has been watching this specific market for over 30 years — through fires, through a pandemic, through the wildest boom this market has ever seen, and through the correction that followed. In Episode 2 he cuts through the noise and gives you the honest picture of where things stand right now. What actually happened between 2020 and 2024. Why those years were never the new normal. What the correction means for your cabin. Why high occupancy is not automatically good news. What metrics actually tell the real story. And most importantly — what you should be doing about it right now. The market is not broken. But it is maturing. And maturing markets reward quality and punish mediocrity. This episode tells you what that means for you.

1st Episode 25,000 Cabins — Are We Doing This Right?

SHOW NOTES When was the last time you sat down with another cabin owner or property manager in the Smoky Mountains and had an honest conversation — not a sales pitch, not a comparison of numbers, just a real conversation about how to do this better? If you're having trouble remembering, that's exactly what this forum was built for. In Episode 1, Tom Goodwin — CEO of Mountain Laurel Chalets and a 30-year veteran of the Smoky Mountain vacation rental market — opens the show with the story behind it all. How Dot and Ralph Egli got engaged on top of Mount LeConte, moved to Gatlinburg before the roads were paved, and started welcoming strangers into their home simply because that's what good neighbors did. That was hospitality before it was a business — and that foundation is what this forum is built on. Tom gives an honest picture of where the market stands today: roughly 25,000 vacation rental units in Sevier County, over 130 organized management companies, national brands making big promises, and a wide range of quality that affects every operator in the destination. The truth is, a bad guest experience anywhere in the Smokies leaves an impression on all of us. He makes the case for abundance over scarcity — why the strongest markets are built by operators who want each other to succeed — and lays out the four core values that will guide every episode of this forum: transparency and trust, hospitality first, generosity and abundance, and professionalism with humility. This isn't a hype show. It's not a sales pitch. It's a forum — built for cabin owners, self-managing owners, and property managers who care about how this is done and want to do it better. Let's build something together that's bigger than us. KEY TAKEAWAYS * The most enduring hospitality businesses are built on genuine care — not strategy. Community before commerce. That order matters. * A bad guest experience anywhere in the Smokies leaves an impression on the whole destination. You're not just managing a property — you're contributing to a shared reputation. * Scarcity thinking costs more than you realize — in knowledge, in relationships, in reputation. Abundance is a daily decision, not just a feeling. * Ask yourself: Am I operating from abundance or from fear? * The question this forum keeps coming back to: Am I bringing real professionalism and a genuine heart for hospitality to what I do? TIMESTAMPS * 00:00 — Opening question: When did you last have an honest conversation about this market? * 01:45 — Welcome to the Forum — what this is and who it's for * 04:00 — Why "forum" and not "podcast" — building together vs. broadcasting * 07:30 — The origin story: Dot and Ralph Egli, Mount LeConte, and two bedrooms at $20 a night * 14:00 — The honest state of the market: 25,000 cabins, 130+ companies, and a wide range of quality * 18:30 — Abundance vs. scarcity: why the strongest markets are built by operators who want each other to win * 23:00 — The four core values of this forum * 25:30 — Season preview and what's coming in Episodes 2 and 3 * 27:00 — A Night on Ski Mountain — April 24th at Ober Mountain * 29:00 — Three honest questions to sit with and sign-off LINKS & RESOURCES * A Night on Ski Mountain — April 24th, 6 PM at Ober Mountain, Gatlinburg. Free, open to all, RSVP required: mtnlaurelchalets.com/rsvp [http://mtnlaurelchalets.com/] * Mountain Laurel Chalets — mtnlaurelchalets.com [http://mtnlaurelchalets.com/] * Subscribe on Apple Podcasts — [link] * Subscribe on Spotify — [link] * Follow on YouTube — [link] CALL TO ACTION If this resonates with you — if you're a cabin owner, self-managing owner, or property manager who wants to be part of this conversation — subscribe and join us every week. And if you're in the Smokies, come meet us in person. April 24th at Ober Mountain. Register at mtnlaurelchalets.com. Let's build something together that's bigger than us.