Lodging in Knoxville
 

We are just passing through Knoxville for 1 day in April, but would like to stay the night in an interesting (but affordable) place. Any B&B's or hotels come to mind that you would recommend?

I live in Knoxville, and unfortunately, one thing that we do not have is a nice historic hotel like in Nashville (The Hermitage) or Memphis (The Peabody). Virtually everything is a chain - Hampton Inn, Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc. If a chain works for you and you want to be downtown, stay at the new Hampton Inn, or to be near downtown's Market Square area (restaurants, shopping), stay at the Hilton. If you don't want a chain, your best bet is probably going to be the new Cumberland House Hotel, which I'd say is our nicest hotel. (http://www.cumberlandhousehotel.com/) Also, Maplehurst Inn is a downtown bed and breakfast, but from the website's pictures, in my opinion, it looks old and worn out. (http://www.maplehurstinn.com/) Sorry we don't have more to offer - this is one of my (many) pet peeves about Knoxville.

Thanks, Becca! I am currently researching B&B's in the area: have you ever heard of Mountain Harbor Inn in Dandridge? It has gotten mixed reviews, but looks beautiful on the website.

Becca,we just purchased land in Louisville in a waterfront community near Maryville. What are your thoughts on Maryville as a place to go shopping,dining or out to a movie? We did not get to see much of the town. Do you think it is safe,clean etc.?

I'm not Becca, but I did grow up in Knoxville. Maryville is a smallish town that does have a mall (foothillsmall.com) and a movie theater. It's safe and, I'm assuming, clean. Lots of people retire there, so I'm guessing it's a pretty nice place to live.

However, if I'm guessing right about where your property is, you're probably pretty close to West Knoxville as well. If you take Pellissippi Parkway in (I-140), you'll be close to the Turkey Creek development, which has just exploded over the last several years. Every time I come home there are more stores and restaurants there, and there's also a large movie theater. The whole West Knoxville area has tons of retail, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.

The downside to all that development is traffic, of course. It's not awful, but you may prefer going to Maryville just to see a movie, etc. West Knoxville just has more to choose from. Hope that helps!

This has helped a lot. I did go to Turkey Creek and there is a lot to do. You are correct there was a lot of traffic around there. Maryville was only 10 minutes away,it seemed like Turkey Creek was around 25 minutes from the property. We are still not used to all the highways and back-roads though. Thanks again.