Hotels Near JCPenney in Knoxville

Best hotel loved the room Will definitely stay again

Very nice hotel, clean, bright and convenient, right on campus. Parking is $ 20, which is a bit expensive. UTK is much more beautiful than when I was studying, I like it. Cumberland Avenue in front of the hotel is wider and cleaner than before.

Janice, formerly known as ”Strephanie the Old Fashioned Queen” provided service, attention, and delicious drinks to a degree that most hotel bartenders would dare to travel to. Janice had looks. Janice had sex appeal. Janice was punctual, most of the time. However Janice had skills that would put East Tennessee's best bartenders to shame. Her attention to detail was undeniable as seen in the large, delicious, smooth ice balls in my old fashioneds. I once saw a man walk up to Janice, hold his empty wine glass up to her, and say, ”more please.” Janice filled his glass promptly, way past where I would've filled it, and accepted a $56 tip. Great work, Janice, for an average Pinot Grigio. That guy was a total tool, though. Janice was ”Bright as a Button” and her smile radiates throughout the bar...and my dreams. I'll miss you, Janice. Until next time, 8:55 will always be a memorable time in my heart. You know why. Ring my bell, Steph, ring it.

I'd stay here again. Room was dated but clean, quiet, and comfortable. Friendly front desk staff. Very convenient location just off highway with lots of restaurants around. A good value for the price.

This hotel has all the makings for a premier city hotel: location, being adjacent to the convention center, as well as downtown restaurants and more; the appearance is very nice, from the lobby to the room itself; and the staff shows that approach to service one looks for when traveling. All of this and more, and it sounds like we are headed for a nice quality stay: But not so fast…. The Good: The lobby is simply beautiful, with clean modern lines, but still giving that welcoming feel. The front desk help was simply amazing: Abbi and Abbey were genuinely friendly, knowledgeable and prompt: Enjoyed my conversation with them, and the valuable information learned. And of course there’s Ed, an older “guest relations”type gentleman, who greets everyone with a complimentary glass of champagne; and somehow remembers the names of each and everyone he speaks too; remarkable. The rooms are modern and inviting; even the bathrooms have a nice upscale feel to them. So far, I’m overly impressed, especially in this price range…. But The Bad: Not a deal breaker, but when opting to pay more for a room with a view, we didn’t exactly get one from our 3rd floor room. A friend of ours booked a normal room, and ended up on the 5th floor with a view; and for much less money. Feels like paying for an upgrade is a waste of money. Also: Off n on during the night, emergency vehicles were blasting up n down Henley Street with the sirens blaring. I certainly understand being in the city, you’d expect this on a normal basis; but the walls of the hotel certainly showed their thinness. These sirens were very loud, and we weren’t even in a room facing Henley. This isn’t the fault of the hotel, but still worth noting. And then there’s the $28 fee for valet parking(no self parking). It just seems a bit much in my opinion. The valet guys do a nice job, so I’d rather tip them more, as to see the hotel charge this much. The Ugly: I hate to find anything that qualifies as a deal breaker, but… We returned from dinner, and couldn’t get the tv to tune in: I’m not sure why it said “no signal or connection”… No big deal, as we were worn out from all the youth basketball games we attended, but it would’ve been nice to at least watch a few mins of something. But the one major letdown I cannot overlook, was an A/C unit malfunction. We woke up to a pool of sweat, and called the front desk. The gentleman showed up, looked at it, and said he could have engineering look at it at 7am. Well, not sure what he thought we’d do for sleep, as it was simply too hot to just doze on off: And strangely and disappointingly, no one ever followed up the next day. Of course this type of hotel design doesn’t have windows that can be used for ventilation, so there was no relief period. I don’t think either of us rested much if any, so it pretty much ruined the entire stay. Things happen, but maybe an offer to move us to another room, which wasn’t an easy task in the middle of the night,

Good value for the money spent

We've stayed here before. Our first visit wasn't the greatest but the location was convenient so we gave it another try. There were remodeling improvements in the overall room decor and buffet so the appearance was much improved since our last stay. The buffet area is small. I appreciated the staff member who kept the tables cleaned up and the buffet tidy. She was on the job, friendly, and checked if we needed anything. The location of the buffet is basically in the reception area with foot traffic going back and forth. If you are unfortunate enough to get a table next to the foot traffic, you have to deal with a draft from the front door. The food fare was standard. I'm gluten free so there were limited options. The room looked okay but the inside of the fridge wasn't clean, there were dried ring marks from someone's beverage still on the bed side table and there was a shampoo dispenser in the shower that was essentially empty. These little things make me question how well the room was cleaned. It took a while for the room to warm up and the bed covers were more appropriate for a summer than for a winter stay. There were no extra blankets or towels. We usually have no problems with the check in process and you don't realize how friendly staff is until they are not. The receptionist was almost sullen, and definitely not friendly. We were not greeted, not recognized as reward members, and barely acknowledged. She did not inform us as to our room number, breakfast hours, nor direct us to the location of the elevators which is typical reception protocol. The check out receptionist was just the opposite i.e. very friendly. Would I recommend staying here? I guess I could say it's ”clean enough” but not up to Holiday Inn Express standards.