Around the Smokies, it is no surprise that small inns and B&Bs are still just as popular as they ever have been. In times past, this was the way that you stayed the night while you made the journey through the mountains and now they have become a more unique way to spend the night in the Smokies.
Back around the turn of the century there were boarding houses and road houses that allowed you to spend the night or a set of nights while you were traveling through the area. The first inns were probably in the home of a widow woman that had extra room in her home. Travelers through the area would ask in town if there was a place to stay and someone would point them down the road to a boarding house. The amount of time that it took to travel through the mountains meant that you would have to find a place to stay overnight. Overtime, these homes became inns and Bed & Breakfasts.
The main difference between Inns and B&Bs over other types of lodging is the personal touch that the innkeepers and owners of the Bed & Breakfasts put into your stay. You will be greeted, in a lot of cases by the own/innkeeper. Your room will is in a home or in an inn that might have a lot of history and the people that run the inn or B&B. They will be able to tell you the history of the house and a lot about the area. The atmosphere of a small inn or B&B is completely different then staying at a hotel or motel. At an inn or B&B you are treated like family. When you come down to breakfast each morning you will be greeted by a friendly staff that will get your breakfast for you. You can spend the even with others that are staying at the inn or B&B, passing the time by telling each other about your adventures form the day.
With B&Bs and inns on both sides of the mountains it is easy to find those unique inns and B&Bs that are loctaed just off the beaten path and bring you back to time in the past when everything seemed to move at a slower pace.