After spending Thanksgiving back in Hampton Roads, VA to spend time with family, Shae, Truffles and I headed to the 17th state (18th if you include Washington D.C.) on our 50 state road trip – Tennessee.
Our first stop was Chattanooga, a city in the southeast corner of the state which is near the border of Alabama and Georgia. When looking into our accommodation options there, I was initially considering a low-priced property on Airbnb that was in Rossville, just over the border in Georgia.
In the end though, we booked a five night stay at the Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain as it was in a great location and offered good value when using points thanks to a promotion that Radisson Rewards was running at the time.
We had a great stay there and it was one of my favorite hotels from this past year; we’ve stayed at more than 40 hotels in 2018, so that gives an indication of how much I liked it. Here’s a complete review of our stay at the Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain and why I enjoyed it so much.
Check-In
We stayed a couple of nights in Winston-Salem, NC on our way from Virginia to Tennessee. Despite starting closer to Tennessee, we still didn’t arrive at the hotel until about 7:30pm.
Rosie was working at the front desk and she was lovely. I’d booked a 1 king room as that was the best room type available when using a standard number of points, but I asked if it was possible to be upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite seeing as I have Gold status thanks to my Radisson Rewards credit card.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a positive answer seeing as Gold status isn’t top-tier with Radisson Rewards, but Rosie happily agreed to the upgrade, stating that we should’ve been upgraded ahead of time due to my status. Shae and her mom got an upgrade to a 2 bedroom suite at the Country Inn & Suites Williamsburg East (Busch Gardens) recently, so we might have to stay at Country Inns more frequently if all properties are so good about room upgrades.
After giving our dog Truffles lots of love and attention, Rosie gave us our keys to room 322.
1 King Bedroom Suite
We entered straight into the suite’s living room. The bedroom was at the far end of the suite, with the bathroom on the left between the living room and bedroom.
Living Room
On the left side of the living room was a sofa bed and TV.
The living room had an armchair and a side table…
…along with a desk and office chair.
The living room felt nice and spacious thanks to the empty space either side of the desk. A couple of minor improvements would’ve been to have a coffee table or ottoman in front of the sofa and armchair, as well as a different color scheme on the walls. While it seemed newly decorated, the gray on all the walls was a bit bland. Country Inn’s color scheme in general seems to be gray and so that’s presumably why that color was used, but it makes it feel a little sterile.
To the left of the desk was a dry bar which had a mini fridge and microwave, along with the coffee maker.
To the left of that was the room’s closet. This had an iron, ironing board, luggage rack and blanket/pillow set for the sofa bed.
Bedroom
The king bed was very comfortable and the blackout curtains worked well. Both sides of the bed had a couple of power outlets and USB ports which was helpful.
On the opposite side of the room was another TV on top of a dresser.
The TV channel selection at the hotel is pretty good, with almost 50 channels available.
One slight complaint is that the thermostat was a little goofy and didn’t seem to control the temperature and fan in the way that it seemed to be set. There’s also a fan above the bedroom door to aid air circulation between the bedroom and living room. That was good to have, although it’s pretty loud in the living room, so we had to turn the TV volume up a little due to that.
Bathroom
The suite had a good-sized bathroom. The sink and large vanity were on the left, the bathtub with shower on the right and the toilet in the middle.
I’m not too sure what brand Country Inn & Suites uses for their toiletries, but they were fine.
Breakfast
Breakfast is free for all guests when staying at the Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain. Even better, it’s served until 9:30am on weekdays and 10:30am at the weekend – perfect for my late-rising self.
There are lots of tables and chairs in the breakfast area, so we never had a problem finding somewhere to sit.
One of my favorite things about the breakfast they offered is that they had a great variety of hot options. Most hotels rotate their hot options, but it felt like this hotel had an even greater variety. On different mornings they had scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, pulled pork, bacon, pulled chicken, tortillas, biscuits, sausage and more. The pulled pork and pulled chicken in particular were nice additions.
The other options seemed to remain the same each day:
The breakfast area had a coffee and tea station…
…while there was a separate coffee and tea station between the breakfast area and lobby.
Amenities
The Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain has several amenities guests can make use of. In the lobby they have their Lending Library which is where you can borrow a book and return it at any Country Inn & Suites property in the future. We visited Chattanooga at the start of December, so the hotel was nicely decorated for Christmas, making it a warm welcome when entering.
The fitness room was fairly sparse, although it had a few pieces of equipment.
There was an indoor swimming pool which was an OK temperature.
We hadn’t had guest laundry facilities at any hotels we’d stayed at over the previous month, so we really appreciated the fact that this hotel had both a washer and dryer. It was $1.75 per load which is reasonable.
If you need laundry detergent, the laundry area has a vending machine with detergent available.
If you’re hungry or thirsty during your stay, there’s a pantry in the lobby with food and drink, as well as a selection of toiletries.
The hotel offers free cookies in the evening which were always soft and delicious.
Also in the lobby was a business center with a couple of computers and a printer.
It was too cold outside during our stay to take advantage of it, but the hotel has a nice fire pit out front.
Pet Policy
The Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain is a pet-friendly hotel. They charge $25 per pet per stay which is very low compared to most other hotels that charge some kind of pet fee. We only travel with one dog, so I’m not sure if there’s a weight limit or a limit to the number of dogs per room as that information isn’t listed on their website.
It doesn’t look like they ended up charging us a pet fee in the end which made things even better!
The hotel has grassy areas around the hotel, including a dedicated pet-walking area at the back of the property.
Chattanooga has a dog park called Chattanooga Chew Chew Canine Park which is 10 minutes away. There were separate large and dog sections and were a good size. The only problem for us is that it’s right next a skate park. For whatever reason, Truffles absolutely hates skateboards and so we left as soon as we arrived as she turned into Cujo at the sound and sight of the skateboards.
Service
Service was very good at the hotel, with all of the staff we interacted with being friendly. As I mentioned earlier in the review, Rosie in particular was lovely.
The lady in charge of breakfast was also incredibly hard-working. Breakfast was always well-stocked and it was kept extremely clean and tidy. The only problem was that this meant I felt a little awkward trying to get photos of breakfast as she was always out there working!
Check-In & Check-Out Times
You can check-in from 3pm, while check-out is at 12pm.
Wi-Fi
The Wi-Fi was pretty good. The speed was fine, although I think we had to reconnect every 24 hours.
Location
The hotel seems to be in a good location. It’s just off I-24 and is only ~10 minutes from most of the activities on Lookout Mountain (including the Incline Railway), as well as only being 10 minutes from downtown Chattanooga.
There are lots of restaurants and grocery stores within a few minutes too.
Parking
It’s free to park at the hotel and there are a lot of spaces available.
Cost
We booked our stay using points. The Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain is a category 3 property and so costs 28,000 points per night which isn’t bad. Radisson Rewards was running a promo when we booked our stay though which offered a 20% rebate on points redeemed. That means it had a net cost of 22,400 points per night.
If we’d paid cash, it would’ve been $128.43 per night. That means we got 0.57cpp (cents per point) of value which is more than you’d usually expect with Radisson Rewards points. It seems like they have cheaper cash prices at other times though, so it might be better to pay cash than redeem points at other times of the year.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed our stay at the Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain. The staff were great and it was so nice getting an upgrade to a one bedroom suite with Gold status.
The breakfast had an unusual (in a good way) selection of hot options at breakfast, while amenities like an indoor pool, guest laundry and the Lending Library are good to have.
If you’re traveling with a pet, the pet fee of only $25 is awesome even if you’re only staying one night, but even better if you’re staying longer as it’s charged per stay rather than per night.
If we return to Chattanooga in the future, this hotel will be the first place I look at.
Truffles Approval Rating
Truffles gives the Country Inn & Suites Chattanooga-Lookout Mountain four paws out of four – pawfect! The $25 pet fee was low (and didn’t end up even being charged to us), plus there was enough grass around the property. Having a one bedroom suite meant that it was silent at night, so there was no noise to bark at.
Our Rating
Room = 4.6 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.6 / 5
Food = 4.8 / 5
Location = 4.6 / 5
Service = 4.7 / 5
Overall Value = 4.7 / 5
Total = 4.67 / 5
Address
Country Inn & Suites, 3725 Modern Industries Pkwy, Chattanooga, TN 37419
Hi-I am regrettably late beginning to read about you all and your amazing trip. I will have lots of reading to catch up on this winter here in Northern Wisconsin! Must tell you how much I appreciate details of your trip and reviews of hotels and activities. Details, photos and honest opinions. Lengthy, not just a few words. You thoughtfully tell all. I’m impressed and grateful. Makes for great reading. Safe travels and have fun!
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy all the reviews 🙂