When you see the words log cabin, don’t think Davy Crockett, according to Chuck McGinnis of Cove Mountain Realty in Wears Valley, Tennessee. “During prime vacation periods, you can get a cabin and all the goodies that go with it for pretty much what you’d pay for a nice hotel room.”

And the goodies often include a fully equipped kitchen, cable or satellite TV, VCR, fireplaces, plus central heat and air conditioning; most have decks or screened-in porches. Old Davy never had it so good.

“When the Downtowner Hotel I worked for was full, I felt like apologizing for putting our guests in cabins,” says Darrell Huskey, of the Wonderland Hotel, who rents these accommodations near Pigeon Forge. “Now, I’m amazed at how popular they are. I’d say that 25% of our calls are about renting a cabin.”