The 145-room Inn at Christmas Place is part of a complex of Christmas-themed properties established by the Biggs family. It all began 25 years ago with The Incredible Christmas Place store, which now includes a Christmas Village.
The Inn at Christmas Place President Carolyn “K-Kin” Fairbank Biggs, left, and CEO Marian Biggs have taken their Pigeon Forge hotel from its 2007 opening into the Top 25 U.S. hotels as rated by travelers on the website TripAdvisor.com.
Travelers like all the touches at The Inn at Christmas Place, including a mailbox in the lower lobby for people to write letters to Santa. The hotel even provides the cards.
PIGEON FORGE - It pays to celebrate Christmas 365 days a year. Just askThe Inn at Christmas Placein Pigeon Forge, rated one of the best hotels in America by a national website.
From decorated trees in every guest room, a singing Santa, a two-story glockenspiel clock in the lobby and fresh-baked cookies and milk served up each night, The Inn at Christmas Place is all about the holiday season.
Travelers apparently have fallen in love with the charms of the 145-room hotel in Sevier County. So many glowing comments were posted by contributors to the travel website TripAdvisor.com that The Inn at Christmas Place made the recently released2011 Travelers' Choice Top 25 Hotelson the U.S. list, ranking sixth.
"We couldn't believe it. Over all the hotels in the country, we were sixth," said Marian Biggs, who took a gamble 25 years ago with husband Hurshel Biggs and opened The Incredible Christmas Place store across the street after operating a smaller holiday-themed business across town.
There were few other businesses near the Christmas Place location at the time, and Biggs worried at first whether any customers would stop in. Her fears proved unfounded.
"We decided to go into Christmas in a big way," said Biggs, who still oversees the Christmas Place operations.
She said providing a livelihood for family members was the primary reason for opening The Incredible Christmas Place, which now includes a Christmas Village with a number of shops. Several of Biggs' children work in family enterprises, along with an assortment of in-laws, grandchildren and other relatives.
The Inn at Christmas Place opened in June 2007. The family's Partridge & Pear Restaurant, next to The Incredible Christmas Place, began serving meals in July. Christmas commerce is having an economic impact on Sevier County.
The inn employs 130 workers, both full- and part-time. The Incredible Christmas Place employs about 200 workers during peak season nine months of the year and the Partridge & Pear Restaurant employs 105. Combined, the Biggs' Christmas businesses employ 435 people.
The hotel's co-founder was Marian's son Keith Biggs, who passed away unexpectedly in August at age 48. His wife, Carolyn "K-Kin" Fairbank Biggs, now runs the thriving businesses and serves as company president. The recipe for success is simple, Fairbank Biggs said.
"We're a family business, so we try to do lot of touches that bring a family feel into it," she said.
The Biggs family hit upon a universal truth that ties into the holiday season as neatly as a bow on a present.
"There's a child in all of us. That's why we have so much fun with this concept," Fairbank Biggs said. "There's really a number of people who walk in and say, 'I wish I could just stay here.'"
Fairbank Biggs is a Yale University and Harvard Business School graduate. Her background was in banking and software development before her association with The Inn at Christmas Place and other family enterprises.
"The foundation of the inn comes from the store. The store really created four or five generations who come every year," Fairbank Biggs said.
The Biggs family is committed in several ways to "environmental stewardship," she said.
All the plants on display in the hotel and other businesses are grown in family-operated greenhouses, and stormwater from the parking lot is diverted into a landscaped pond rather than the city's wastewater system.
The pond is part of a well-manicured outside area that includes a fire pit for marshmallow roasts and storytelling events, and an aviary.
"It's such a wonderful experience for all your senses. It's a visual delight to see the landscaping and the buildings," said Dwight McCarter, hotel director of sales.
The Biggs family's commitment to the region also is reflected in all the winter- and Christmas-themed artwork on display through the hotel, including guest rooms.
"All the artwork or displays are by local artists," McCarter said.
Keith Biggs' advice to employees was, "Just be good to people," McCarter said. They take those words to heart, and the Biggs family puts a similar emphasis on those who work at the hotel, shop and restaurant.
"What (our success) goes back to is really the staff," Fairbank Biggs said.
About half the inn's employees were there when it opened, unusual in an industry characterized by high turnover.
"We want to be an employer of choice in Sevier County," Fairbank Biggs said.
A party was held for staff recently to celebrate the TripAdvisor Top 25 designation.
"People say they see the same faces when they stay here," McCarter said.
One couple from North Carolina has stayed at The Inn at Christmas Place 42 times.
"We've already had numerous guests stay with us 10 or 15 times," McCarter said. "There is not a day that goes by when someone doesn't hand you their key and says, 'I hate to leave. We had such a fantastic time here.'"
Praise from customersfor the hotel is effusive on the TripAdvisor website.
One traveler wrote that the inn excels at "bringing Christmas to life."
"From the wonderful beds to the nightly cookies, the singing Santa and the delicious breakfast, everything was as it should be," the traveler wrote. "The hotel staff was wonderful and provided first-class service from reservations to check-out."
Another TripAdvisor contributor wrote that the Inn at Christmas Place "is without a doubt the best hotel (worldwide) we have ever experienced. From the time you arrive at the door until you check out, everyone treats you as the most important person there."
TripAdvisor also recently released a list of the 10 Dirtiest Hotels in the United States. The Grand Resort Hotel at the Pigeon Forge Convention Center, just down the Parkway from The Inn at Christmas Place, topped that list. New management at The Grand Resort Hotel has said steps are being taken to correct problems. Leon Downey, city tourism director, is much happier to discuss how The Inn at Christmas Place has become such an asset to the community.
"It's quite a success story," Downey said. "They're very successful marketers and they do a great job for our business community. Their guests respond really well to their products."
The unique Christmas theme strikes a common chord in many people, Downey said.
"It just tells you that people will pay for a quality product," he said.
The Inn at Christmas Place is booked solid during peak tourist seasons like summertime and the fall, McCarter said.
"We think we're very competitive when you compare expenses," he said.
Each room features a decorated artificial tree. Room styles and prices vary.
"We don't like anyone to leave here unhappy," Biggs said.
Added McCarter, "It's all about taking care of our guests. It's all about the experience," he said. "If you're staying here on Christmas Day, you will actually get a present from Santa - we're the only hotel that does that."
Ken Little is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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February 15, 2011 6:21 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
TennVol01writes:
So, Pigeon Forge now has the "Dirtiest Hotel in America" and "One of the Best Hotels in America". I bet they could win as one of the most traffic congested cities in the nation too.
That makes two wins and one loss.
February 15, 2011 6:40 p.m. Suggest removal Reply to this post
We stayed there on our honeymoon two years ago. IT WAS AWESOME! We want to go back soon, but then my husband tends to grip about going to PF and spending money to SLEEP when we can drive back home to Maryville. He has a point, LOL! BUT my house and bedroom are nothing like The Inn @ Christmas Place and I wanna go baaaack!
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