Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn
Chattanooga, TN 37402
(877) 228-7143
- Price Range:
-
$$
6 reviews for Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn
Good location, comfy, and free wi-fi!
They've got 3 buildings plus the train cars. Each building has a pool; building 1 has an indoor pool and buildings 2 & 3 have an outdoor pool. Even in the middle of a hot and muggy summer, the outdoor pools were FREEZING cold. Too cold for my tastes.
Rooms are comfy and clean and big. Some are nicer than others. I stayed in a regular room, not the train car.
The lobby is big. The "gardens" around the train cars are nice. They have a couple restaurants on site, a cafe, and also a couple bars. 1 bar is open late night which is located next to building 2's pool. Security is friendly too.
For an unknown reason, the fire alarm in my building went off around 1:30am one night for 10 min. It was LOUD. Hey, at least you know the fire alarms work.
Ehhhh...... if you have kids, it's fine.
If you don't have kids, don't bother.
The entire facility is just marginal. Everything is pretty old. Some things poorly maintained.
The restaurant is marginal. Breakfast was ok (but you can' t screw that up).
One benefit is one "hub" of the Chatt transit buses is located here.
Again... if you have kids and want some stuff to keep them occupied, pools (2 outdoor, 1 indoor) .... it's fine. But If you don't have children, I would choose to stay elsewhere ... probably the Sheraton or Courtyard by Marriott.... which are both closer to the attractions downtown.
It was ok...rooms could stand a bit of updating, property has an unusual lay out...but, The kids loved all of the train themed stuff, the restaurant with the singing waiters/waitresses was a BLAST! the ability to do lots of stuff without leaving the property was a plus for us.
All in all, a good experience.
I stayed here for a girl's weekend about a year ago. I'll be upfront and say it was a yucky weekend: cold and rainy, not fun. Also, I'm not really into old places; depending on the type of old, I find most of them a tad creepy. That may have had something to do with the experience. Also, we didn't stay in a train car. I may have had a totally different experience in the train car.
Pros: friendly, helpful staff. They weren't able to actually help us that weekend (they had some bizarre Anime conference filling up the place) (the Anime conference actually made this a pro, though, because really: 40 year old Caucasian men dressed as 19th century Samurai warriors...or, worse, in red pleatherette space suits? Really??), but they really tried hard to help us.
Also...free shuttle service, all over Chattanooga. There's a station located right next door.
The rooms were clean. They were average, regular hotel rooms. That looked clean. No bugs, no smells, no strange objects left behind by previous room guests. And that's fine with me.
Cons: if you don't stay in a train car, there are 3 buildings of rooms. Who builds a hotel with THREE buildings? None of them connected. To get to the lobby/check in desk, god help you if it's pouring rain...and you're booked into Building 3 (I speak from experience).
The area...is it safe? They said it was, but that's not how it felt driving in. It may have been the run-down crackhouse-looking building down the street...or the unshaven man walking down the street drunkenly, jeans hanging down to his calves, beer can in hand. I don't know. It probably is safe...it just didn't LOOK safe. Is all I'm saying.
Also: I highly recommend you do not make eye contact with the people at the shuttle station who are barely lucid, and cursing wildly...to no one.
Last con (and then I'm back to positive): the restaurant. Stick to breakfast, stick to the breakfast buffet. HORRIBLE service if you order from the menu. There was a funny smell in the lobby. The breakfast buffet nicely covers it up each morning, though.
However! The shops on the grounds are seriously cute. We were goofs and got dressed up for a silly group picture in their old timey photo shop. The dining cars (we went to the pizza one) were cool. There was an older guy tending bar the afternoon we arrived--I forget his name, but he was great. Very helpful, informative, entertaining, and friendly.
I won't stay there again, unless my 3 year old nephew (a lover of all things trains) begs me to go with him. But if you've never been, I'd say give it a shot and see what you think. If you don't care about staying in a train car (and you don't mind a possible long hike through a cold rain), book your room through http://hotwire.com...I think they come up as the 4 star hotel in chattanooga (I totally disagree with this 4 star rating, by the way...3 stars, maybe. But 4? Hotwire, please).
Just bring an umbrella and good walking shoes. A can do attitude always helps. Maybe a can of mace too, just in case.
Yeah, that's right--I stayed in a train car. I stayed on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Pros: I was on a train car!!!! On tracks!!! It's got beds and dressers and a television and a bathroom. It's a hotel room but really, it's a train car!!!!
Cons: 30 gallons of hot water. Then, well, you take a cold shower or wait a few hours. The car sort of sways and shakes very slightly when the wind blows. But that's because it's a train car!!!!!
The hotel is gorgeous. The main lobby is the terminal with gorgeous architecture. The gift shop and restaurant have lots of choices and are staffed by some of the nicest people (ooh, cute boy in the gift shop too! I sang the ballad of cute boy until he overheard me and I ran out and ate a moonpie, for shame for shame).
Staying on a train car instead of in one of the buildings is pretty costly, but that's because it's a, say it with me, TRAIN CAR!!!!
Truly a unique experience.
The hotel is a fabulous piece of history! A must STAY if you will be crashing in the area! Cool architecture, friendly staff made me feel soo welcome during my stay. Definitely an experience and nice accommodations! Will certainly stay again next time I'm traveling through!