Hales Bar Marina & Resort

Crappy from the get go! I very rarely post negative feedback but it just kept getting worse and worse. We arrived to check-in after hours about 8pm and the place was closed down. There was a note on the door to call the after hours line which we did for over 30 minutes straight and kept getting dropped. Eventually after walking to a bar nearby, the bartender helped us as the new the owner. About an hour and a half later we got the keys. We couldn’t even open the door to the cabin without brushing 100’s of spiders away… no exaggeration. My husband spent at least 20 Minutes cleaning off the deck and chairs so we couldn’t even open sit. Sliding door was broken and kept sliding open when the waves picked up, no towels on towel racks, we found them under the sink, the bed was like a cement slab with a sheet on top, place is overly dated and dumpy, and when my husband decided to fish off the dock he was profiled and questioned if he was actually staying here. We left a day early and decided to take the $250 loss, and to top it all off, they called to see why we left and then argued with me about it. Never again.

For the last 20 years (this year will be 20), my dad and I have spent a week at Nickajack fishing as an annual trip. Every year, we have stayed at Hales Bar Marina in floating cabins and in the land cabins - always with some problem. Like the year we got there and the 3 bedroom floating cabin we booked was in dry dock for repairs but they did not let us know until we arrived or the fact that every year we have booked the land cabins, they can never find the keys to the cabin when we check in. These are things that have been annoying but the thing that broke the final straw was when I booked this year. As repeat customers, prior ownership has given us a little bit of a discount for booking a week and coming back every year. The last two years, including this year, when I asked about it, I was told "we don't do that." Every yesr the cost goes up - this year it is the boat trailer parking fee of $9 a night. You are charging $275 to $300 a night for a land cabin that is finshed to cheap mbile home grade and now you want another $9 a night for a "parking fee" on a grass, not well maintained parking lot. The land cabin's decks are eat up by carpenter bees and the property in general is not maintained. There is a dock that has been damaged by fire sitting there for 3 ish years, there are two roofing rafters that have been sitting in the water by the marina for 5+ years. This could be a great property if someone took care of it and paid attention to customer serivce. But that is not the case. If you book a cabin, things to know: - Cabins are finshed at a cheap mobile home grade - Don't expect a quick response to inquiries - You will get nickle and dimed - transient slip fees at $1.5 per foot per night. So if you have a 20 foot boat, it is $30 a night - Trailing parking fee is $9 a night - Graduated pricing on weekend vs weekday (shown on webiste) I have been trying to call for the last 2 hours to cancel my reservaton (started calling around 3:30 CT this afternoon) and despite advertising they are open to 6:00, no one is answering the phone and the "mailbox" is full. Stay at your own risk.

The location is amazing, scenic and on the Tennessee River. Having an on-site distillery, dam, and market is very nice. I stayed on a friend's boat so did not see the rooms. The reasons for the low ratings are: The showers and bathrooms are very run down. One of the two bathrooms has two toilet seats side-by-side without a partition, a sink with a place to wash hands but no paper towels or dryer to dry hands, and a shower. The other bathroom is fine. The laundry facility has 3 washers but two of them were out of order. Two dryers with one out of order. The dock that goes out to the boat slips is full of fractures, cracks, and gaps which cause safety concerns for failure and trip hazards. I was concerned that I might fall into the water if the concrete were to give out. Disappointing experience

My partner and I just checked out of floating cabin #15. We stayed 2 nights. The staff was very hospitable and friendly. The cabin was perfect for what we needed with a great view of the water from the front and back porch. We did the distillery and haunted tour and the VIP paranormal haunted house tour. Both were wonderful. Klarisa was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of information on the history of the dam on the distillery tour. She also made great drinks and made great conversation. Emily did our paranormal tour and she was very sweet. Katie was great too... She did our tasting with us and made a couple of great drinks. Every staff member we encountered was happy to help and give us the experience we came for. The VIP tickets were worth the cost as we skipped straight to the head of the line and had a very small intimate group to do the paranormal tour on. I can't recommend this place enough. We will be back! Wes and Liz

Stayed in a floating cabin. There was a lot that we liked about it, and a lot we did not. The location and view of the dam and the cool factor of staying in a house boat is great! The fact that the couch was filthy (went and bought blankets to cover them), overall cleanliness, drain not working in the stand up shower, and the condition and working order of the stovetop and available pots/pans were less than desirable. We made friends with the cat, River, and the ducks at the cabin (they came up to visit often), and the goats Maryanne, Whiskey and Bourbon in the parking lot. The owner was very friendly; we just hope some upgrades and attention can be given for the inside of the cabin.