Our story is changing and we want you to come along and experience the journey. 

This is our story.

Some three and one-half decades ago, the Leon Catlett family chose to offer a long-term lease on their farm along the river at the Sevierville-Pigeon Forge boundary. The timing seemed right because the Apple Barn gift shop and restaurant, the neighbor to the west had become a popular destination. A local attorney organized a limited partnership made up of young businessmen in the area, who named their enterprise AppleCat, L.P in recognition of the apple orchard location and in honor of the Catlett family. 

To “exceed exceeding the expectations of their guests, “the partners chose the Comfort Inn franchise of Choice Hotels and then built 69 rooms using the Comfort Suites interior prototype rather than the standard Comfort Inn room. Trotter and Associates, a Gatlinburg architectural firm, admired the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney World and adopted a similar design for the exterior compatible with the apple tree theme. Hoping to set a higher standard for the newly developing section of the Parkway, the partners relocated the Apple Valley access road, installed a traffic signal at the intersection, and arranged a space on-site for the Pigeon Forge Trolley.

For the first two months after opening for the 1991 summer season, every unit sold out – 100% occupancy. So, it was not long before the partnership added another 42 rooms and an indoor pool. The first general manager, Barbara Hauther, accepted the partnership’s initial Comfort Inn of the Year Award. In addition, her successor, Linda Russell, duplicated that feat on several occasions before her retirement in 2016. Jarrod Wilson has maintained the hotel’s Ring of Honor statues every year – signifying the top 1% of all Comfort Inns worldwide throughout his tenure. 

Because of the uniqueness of its exterior appearance, apple motif, and consistently high reviews by its guest, the hotel “moved up” in the franchise hierarchy – at the invitation of Choice — to its “Ascend” brand. Honored to join this elite category, on December 31, 2022, the hotel will become known as The Inn at Apple Valley, allowing more flexibility in guest amenities than the Comfort Inn “cookie-cutter” design. But, the best is yet to come!

Same Owners and Same Award-Winning Staff