Owned a rental up there for a few years. Lost it in the big fire. It rented often and I also had arcade games. Pool table, air hockey, sit down mame cocktail etc. The games all seemed to be an afterthought. Here is what I learned about owning a rental in Gatlinburg. Rentals are huge with honeymooners and folks celebrating anniversaries. Go with 1 bedroom if you can. As you climb the bedroom count ladder, your audience shrinks. Don’t occupy your own property on holidays cause that’s when all your renters want it! Got to have a hot tub and prefer an old school whirlpool tub indoors too. Allow pets if are OK with that. Keep it maintained. Visit it regularly to review maintenance needs.
As others have said, view means everything. I estimated the view alone on my property was worth $75K. If a remodel is called for, make it “look” like a cabin. Use lots of tongue and groove pine. Lastly, get a professional rental management company for several reasons. If not, you will deal with renters, issues, missing blankets, forks, broken keys in locks, etc. Also, not sure what the revenue share is now but the management company used to take 40%. That was the best 40% I ever spent. They worked their butts off to get me rental nights (and their 40%) and trust me ... the winning formula is NOT rate per night or what percent you keep, it’s nights rented period.
Good luck up there. Beautiful area