Treetop Hideaways

This last week, my friends and I stayed in a Treetop Hideaways TREEHOUSE and it was so much fun! I’ll let you know how we got to stay there, and what it was like.

THE CONTEST

We first heard about  Treetop Hideaways when my friend Melissa won a contest on Instagram. Walker County, Georgia, started a #walkerrocks campaign on Instagram to promote outdoor living. Melissa hikes a lot and tagged one of her Instagram posts with the #walkerrocks hashtag. Sometime later, they messaged her to tell her she had won a stay at Treetop Hideaways and some tickets to Rock City!

I’m not sure if they are still giving away prizes, but if you are doing anything outdoors in Walker County, post your pics on Instagram, tag them with #walkerrocks and see if you get anything! Melissa didn’t even know she was entering a contest when she posted her picture, so it’s always worth a try! Walker County includes the majority of Lookout Mountain, the whole Chickamauga battlefield area, and down around Lafayette and Villanow, so you have a lot of options for outdoor activities of all kinds.

TREETOP HIDEAWAYS

Treetop Hideaways, as we found out, has two treehouses to rent. The Luna Loft is a bit more rustic, with a composting toilet and a smaller footprint. But it also sits higher up and has large windows facing the setting sun, so it generally has better views.

Melissa chose the Elements treehouse, which sits lower on the hillside and has an *amazing* bathroom. C’mon, let’s look around.

ARRIVING AT THE TREEHOUSE

From the base of Lookout Mountain, drive south on St. Elmo Avenue until you reach a fork to Chattanooga Valley Road. For those in the know, this is where Rock City’s Blowing Springs Farms fall corn maze is located. The entrance to Treetop Hideaways is located on the right just down from the maze.

There’s a small wooden sign directing treehouse guests up the gravel driveway. Make sure you have your GPS on or you might miss it!

The gravel drive is short, but the parking area is shielded by a stand of bamboo. Drive past this circle and you’ll find parking for about 3-4 cars and a mulch path towards both treehouses. Leave your flip-flops and heels at home–it’s not much of a hike, but you’ll need relatively decent shoes to make it up the hill.

There are lights along the path to the treehouses, and from what I can tell, they stay on pretty late. The path starts from the parking lot, then splits to go to each treehouse. Up is Luna Loft, to the left is Elements.

ELEMENTS TREEHOUSE

At the end of the string lights, there are steps up to the front door of the Elements Treehouse!

Out front, there is a small seating area for two next to the front door. Katie & Melissa sat and read here for a bit before I arrived.

Walking in the front door, you are presented with a sweet little sofa for two with a couple little tables nearby.

To the right of the seating area is a deep sink with a small fridge and trash can behind the cabinet door. There’s no microwave.

THE *BATHROOM*

The REAL star of the show in the Elements treehouse–TREEHOUSE mind you–is the spectacular bathroom.

First of all, it’s huge! There’s a long counter with a unique sink and a proper flush toilet on the right side of the room. The floor is even heated! That feature was unexpectedly delightful.

Remember, the Luna Loft only has a composting toilet and their entire bathroom is the size of a small closet.

But the shower, OH THE SHOWER–it takes up almost the entire left side of the room, save for where a TREE COMES THROUGH THE HOUSE. It’s all glassed in, including the tree–it’s not actually in the shower with you. But the whole arrangement #1, reminds you that you are, indeed, in a treehouse. And #2, lets in a lot of natural light without sacrificing a bit of privacy.

There are FIVE shower heads, one “normal”, three body jets, and one directly overhead. You control the whole situation, including the temperature, with a keypad next to the shower. It took a bit of poking around to figure this out–you turn it on with the big button at the top and the top “normal” shower head comes on. But then it shuts off. But then it comes on again! It’s at this point that you can push the three buttons below the temperature readout to turn on the rest of the heads–button 2 is overhead, button 3 is the body jets.

THE BEDROOMS

On the main floor, just past the seating area, is the main queen bed. It’s pretty comfortable, with a padded, wedgy sort-of headboard that is comfortable to lean against–great for reading in bed. There are two small tables on either side of the bed and overhead lights on either side as well.

On the left of the room is a small closet, and on the right is a door leading out to a small deck with pouf seating.

Up a steep ladder is a loft area, big enough for two twin mattresses with a small nightstand in between. A little of the air conditioning does feed in here, but there is also a provided fan, which helps a lot.

There is NOT room to stand up, however. Even sitting up in bed uses the space provided by the large skylights. Since Melissa won the contest, she slept in the queen bed. Katie and I slept up here.

THE FIRE PIT

We ended up spending most of our evening down at the firepit. A path down below the back of the house leads to a park-style grill and four chairs around a metal firepit. Plenty of firewood is stacked around and a box contains kindling, charcoal, and a lighter.

PROVIDED SUPPLIES

Included with any stay at Treetop Hideaways is a bottle of wine and two plastic wine glasses. On our stay, it was Pinot Grigio. There was also four packets of pour-over coffee. I didn’t use these, but it seemed like real coffee in self-contained filters, not anything instant. One package of tea, four squares of yummy granola bars and a kit good for two s’mores rounded out the treats basket.

Also provided in the “kitchen area” is an electric water kettle for preparing your coffee or tea, a cutting/serving board, four hot drink cups with lids and sleeves, four bamboo bowls and four small bamboo plate/tray things. These are biodegradable and you can throw them out after use and not worry about them living in a landfill for too long. You’ll also find four sets of wooden utensils wrapped in paper napkins. 

In the fridge, you’ll find mini-moo creamers, canned sparkling water, and regular bottled water.

In the bathroom, Good Fortune Soap provides the bottle of hand soap by the sink and two large bottles of shampoo and soap in the shower. They even seem to have their own signature “Treetop” scent of rosemary spearmint, which I liked quite a lot. If you want to buy your own, just head to Good Fortune down the street in St. Elmo. In fact, I think all of the provided treats are local.

All linens and plenty of bath towels are also provided, plus a bath mat and a kitchen towel.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

SPONSORSHIP

I’m not sure how this worked, but Dove Men+Care seems to have sponsored the building of the Elements treehouse. The evidence is subtle, but it’s there–on the “reclaimed” sign indicating the way to the treehouse, you can see faint “Dove Men+Care” lettering in the background. In the bathroom, there are towel hooks with “D” and “M” on them. I puzzled about this for a while until I realized it must stand for “Dove” and “Men+Care.” And of course, you’ll find a sample size of bar soap to use or take home next to the granola bars.

AMENITIES

The beds are pretty comfortable, but none of us seemed to like the pillows. They were pretty lumpy! Also, there was supposed to be Wifi, but it never seemed to work while we were there. It didn’t matter too much–we weren’t there long and being online wasn’t a priority for us. There’s no TV or other provided entertainment, so bring a laptop if you want to watch anything (provided your wifi is working) or bring a book or hang out around the firepit like we did!

HIKING

The path leading to the Elements treehouse doesn’t stop at the treehouse (although the lights do.) The path continues around some rocks and apparently goes all the way up to Rock City! That must be a climb, however. The treehouses are at the very bottom of the mountain and Rock City is at the very top. There does seem to be a stream nearby, and supposedly there is a waterfall not too far off.

COST

Staying here without winning a contest is pretty expensive! Luna Loft is around $300 a night and Elements is a little under $400. But even so, they stay pretty consistently booked. We had to choose a Thursday night in order to have a stay that was within a reasonable amount of time. That being said, if you have the money, I can’t recommend it enough!

DISCOUNTS

Treetop Hideaways seem to host events, such as open houses, bonfires, even little concerts–there’s a small amphitheater at the base of the Luna Loft. Sign up for their newsletter to hear about upcoming events and for last-minute discounts on bookings.

PHOTOS

Check out more photos below!