My husband and I actually live in Knoxville and have held our company Christmas Party at Maple Grove about 8 years ago. We were at a wedding there about 7 years ago. The place was a beautiful historic home that Knoxville was very well known for.

Now fast forward to this month...we went there for a little overnight for our Anniversary....I was utterly shocked.
First, it looks NOTHING like it used to!! The landscaping is virtually nonexistent...not a flower to be seen. The beautiful white home with ivy down the front has now been stripped of all the ivy and painted a hideous tan color.
We stayed in the nicest suite, which was a bargain at $200 per night. It was very pretty and spaceous, with a beautiful bed. But, the enclosed patio was so filthy and disgusting we couldn't have possibly sat on it. The firecplace wasn't working. The tv was literally from the 1970's with a twistknob. Another door from our room led to a courtyard area which was cluttered with leaves, dirt and actual bags of garbage!! The ceiling of our room had tons of water damage and the entire room and bathroom was in need of many repairs.So, we pretty much holed up in our room and didn't venure out.

The breakfast was very good. You pretty much tell the cook what you want to eat. He whipped up a greek omelet which was great.

This is a very sad situation because this is supposed to be a beautiful historic home and it is falling apart. We will not go back and we will not recommend for anyone we know to either stay there, host a party there or get married there until it is treated to much needed improvements and given the TLC that it deserves.

While this property is quaint and charming like something out of a Southern romance novel, the problems outweigh its character. I'll outline the problems below:

1) The smell of natural gas from the various fireplace gas pilots and the large gas-fueled restaurant-sized kitchen rises to the rooms. It made our throats hurt after the first night.

2) We never met the innkeepers/owners. Our only contact was with the maintenance man and the resident of the pool house. The maintenance man was doubling as the chef in the morning (how weird is that!) and the pool house resident was doubling as the innkeeper. The maintenance man didn't fix an appetizing breakfast on the days we were there. Sad.

3) The place needs a good cleaning and some serious maintenance. Other reviewers here have noted this. I can appreciate that it's the oldest house in Knoxville, but why does it have to look this rundown?

4) It became clear to us over our stay that the Maple Grove owners can't decide whether they want to be a Wedding Chapel, gourmet restaurant, or a B&B. We felt that they spend more time doting over restaurant clients and wedding reception plans than the guests of the B&B.

5) They don't mention the train when you make your reservation. Maple Grove Inn sits near a main train line and at the sounds of the trains and their horns seem like they're coming right through the inn. If you're looking for a quiet getaway, then this isn't it.

I just stayed at the Maple Grove a few nights ago, for two nights. I was in Knoxville on business and a friend suggested I stay there.

What an experience! I felt I was in Gone with the Wind. I stayed in the Maple Suite, which was bigger than the apartment I used to live in in NYC. The room was really spacious, with a great four-post bed. Very nice marble bath too.

I think I was the only guest in the place, which made it pretty quiet (though there was an incessant buzzing in the room that made it impossible to sleep without ear plugs).

The people working at the B&B were very polite and friendly. Real Southern hospitality. And they cooked up a big yummy breakfast each morning.

Definitely a good mid-week bet. Also seemed like a very nice romantic getaway, though I was there alone on business.

Stayed at the Maple Grove Inn in 2003. Expecting the same quality as other Select Registry properties, we were very disappointed.

Upon arrival, it was not clear which door should be used to check in. A young man was eating fried chicken at a table, and it turned out he was the greeter.

The room (dogwood) was large and the bed was comfortable, but dead bugs were in the windowsills, and the bathroom needed some updating. Chipped and flaking paint.

The landscaping lacked a lot. There were flower pots with only weeds in them. The herb garden was sparse. Grass needed mowing in many placed throughout the property.

The pool was a disaster. The poolhouse was in major disrepair, the green plastic chairs very faded and some painted over with green paint that showed the fading even more. The pool was dirty-looking. I never saw a guest get it in. Probably the same concerns about it that I had. Many walked down to it with swim suits on, only to look around and leave.

The breakfast was good, but the young man who served it had no reply to our pleasant greeting of "good morning." He just looked at us and asked if we wanted orange juice. We asked him a brief question about the history of the inn, and he gave maybe a five word answer.

The young lady who was the offical receptionist was the only one the Inn that appeared to have any kind of hospitality industry skills, and she was not there the whole time.

If you are looking for a nice, charming, friendly country inn, you may be very disappointed. There is potential for this to become that kind of property, but investments in both the physical facility and hospitality training are needed.