Did you know there was once a whirlpool tub in the Tower Room?  Unfortunately, it leaked – all the way down to the main level.  So we had to take it out.  Then we had to decide what to do with that room.  For awhile, we had an exercise machine up there.  But several guests have told us that the best use of that room is for sleeping.

Our plan was to put a futon up there, so guests would have a place to sit, as well as a place to sleep.  But every futon we looked at just seemed to be uncomfortable for either sitting or sleeping.

Then Phyllis had an idea.  She asked me, “What if we could move the queen sofa-sleeper from the Bonus room (second level) to the Tower Room.”  So that’s what we did – and it worked great until apparently one of our guests had some trouble with the bed mechanism.  We don’t know what happened, but Ingrid (our cleaner) found that the bed wouldn’t go back into the couch frame.  We tried to straighten the frame, but there were just too many parts that had been damaged.

So it was time for a change, but that’s not real easy when you’re four levels up!  Actually the only way to get the sofa-sleeper up to the Tower Room was to bring it up over the roof from the main deck where the hot tub is.  So we knew that was the only way it would go out.  And we certainly didn’t want to go through that with another sofa-sleeper.

Our solution was a daybed and a trundle.

So here’s what we have now in terms of sleeping space:

• Main level – the king bedroom suite – a king bed with large closet and attached full bath.  And at the request of several guests, we got the TV cable installed and have added a TV in the bedroom.

• Second level – the queen bonus room.  We can’t really call it a bedroom because there’s no closet.  Also, the doorway doesn’t allow us to put in a real door, but we’ve added an accordion door to the door opening to provide some privacy.  The closest bathroom is either up or down one level – but it may be easier to go up two levels to the Tower room and use the half-bath.  We’ve added a nice TV cabinet with a big 32″ TV (our best bedroom TV, to make up for the lack of other things).  And we have shelves and hangers for your clothes.

• Third level – queen master suite with TV, VCR, large closet and attached full bath.

• Fourth level – the Tower Room – the twin daybed and trundle is there, complete with two brand new mattresses.  We left the TV up there and, of course, the half-bath and washer/dryer are there.  This is now a great room for relaxing and reading – and will be a fine place for the kids to sleep.

So that’s it!  We now have TVs in every bedroom (in addition to the living room TV), all hooked to Charter Cable.  Smoky Mountain Tower is now an even greater place for up to 8 people.