What "sleeps 30" really means
The number on a listing is a sales figure until someone shows you the beds. Here's how to test it in five minutes.
Count real beds, not "sleeps"
Ask for a bed list by room. A "sleeps 30" count can include sofa beds, trundles, and children's bunks. That's fine for cousins, and much less fine for 30 adults. Add up who will actually share a bed, and who needs their own.
Divide people by bathrooms
This one number predicts how your mornings will go. Take your headcount and divide by the bathrooms.
| People per bathroom | What it usually feels like |
|---|---|
| Under 4 | Easy |
| 4 to under 6 | Workable with a loose morning |
| 6 or more | Plan on lines, or rent a second building |
Check the permitted number in Tennessee
Advertised capacity and permitted occupancy are different things. Tennessee treats larger rentals differently from a house.
The State Fire Marshal's office says a rental home of 30 days or less stays in the one- or two-family class only with 12 or fewer occupants, 3 or fewer stories, and under 5,000 square feet. At 13 or more occupants, 5,000 or more square feet, or 4 or more stories, it's classed as R-3 under the building code, and it can't use the sprinkler exemption that smaller homes can.
In some cities and counties local officials handle this instead of the state.
Sevier County, home of Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville, says rentals outside city limits need a yearly permit and inspection, covering things like smoke alarms, escape routes and carbon monoxide detectors. The county says owners inside city limits should contact their city.
A county fire marshal document goes further. It says a dwelling isn't legally occupied if it goes over the number on its certificate of occupancy. It also says Sevier County certificates issued from January 2016 on limit overnight rentals to 12 people, and that homes built since then that hold more need a permit from the State Fire Marshal's Office.
Ask it plainly: "What is your permitted occupancy, and who issued it?"
A good operator answers that in one line. If the answer is lower than your headcount, find out before you sign.
Check whether it's one building
Camps and retreat centers often add up several cabins. That can be great for a youth group and poor for a reunion that wants one big room at night. Our listings say when capacity spans more than one building. A number marked "in one building" is the largest building a campus publishes, and "group size" means the operator states a group, not beds.
Then check the table
Sleeping 40 doesn't mean seating 40. Ask for the most people who can sit down at one meal. It's the question most listings don't answer, and it's often the reason a group chose the place.