The hotel was nice, the front staff very friendly, but the mexican restaurant in the parking lot is worth staying there again. We were driving up from FL and decided to call it a day and stopped there, asked the front desk where a good place to eat was and they said the restaurant in the parking lot . They were right!

We chose this hotel because of its proximity to our travel to the Smokey Mountains. The location is right off the interstate and convenient to continuing on the next a.m. to the park. The staff at the hotel are wonderful. The desk clerk was very welcoming - it had been a long day's drive - and he went and brought us fresh coffee and fresh baked cookies to take to our room. The next a.m. the breakfast area attendant gave us a personal tour of the breakfast choices and showed us how to use the pancake machine as well as point out all the various choices of food. They had an extensive choice of hot breakfast items. Our room was large and comfortable - very clean - and furnishings new. The room was quiet. The parking is a little lacking but the desk clerk offered available parking in the adjacent lot which we did with no hassle. The hotel is a step up from the typical Holiday Inn Express and is worth the price to have the friendly staff, comfortable room and varied breakfast. We would definitely stay here again.

I know that this hotel is right at the Smokey Mountains, but I'm not sure this is the way to market it. Even though the room we had was designated as non-smoking and the air unit was vented to the outside, unfortunately, the bathroom vent wasn't. When we turned the bathroom light on, the fan came on automatically and pulling smoke into the room. (So I left it off and used the hall light while I was in there.) The next morning on our way back from breakfast, the smoke in the hallway was pallatable.

The people who worked there, with the exception of the breakfast host, were not the greatest. The guy who checked us in that night seemed to have to work at being friendly. When I had to come down to change rooms because the fan in the bathroom was banging (we hadn't even taken a single item off the luggage cart), I interrupted his cigarette break. He asked me if the clanging stopped, I guess expecting me to think it would stay that way the whole night. Not a chance I was willing to take, so he relented and switched our room. Unfortunately, he did not transfer the information for a late checkout to the new room, so the maids knocked on our door twice before 11AM (despite the "Do Not Disturb" sign being on the door), and right at 11AM the front desk called us to see if we were planning on staying another night. Mind you, the only reason we consistently stay at HIE is for the late checkout. We occasionally stay in the room until 2:00 PM, but mostly I just don't want to have to be rushed out the door. And, on this occasion we already had the luggage loaded back on the cart and were heading downstairs when the phone rang. I guess we must have been the last one's still in the hotel and they were chomping at the bit to get the last room cleaned.

Other than that, the room was what you would expect and the sleep we got that night was good. The host at breakfast was very friendly and made a point to give us a tour of our food options. As he got ready to clean up, he made a point to ask those of us there if there was anything else we wanted before he removed the food. He went out of his way to make us feel welcome and taken care of. The rest of the staff could take a few pointers from him.

Our recent stay here was very nice. The room was comfortable, the beds had nice linens and pillows, the bathroom was clean and had plenty of towels and amenities. The heated pool was clean and relaxing after a long day on the road. A whirlpool or jacuzzi spa would have been nice. There's an exercise room next to the pool but it only has 3 workout stations. The breakfast area is large and has most of the standard continental breakfast choices found in other hotels. The staff was friendly and helpful. There's a Mexican restaurant and Waffle House located just a few steps out the front door of the hotel with numerous other dining choices located near by. I could hear vehicle noise from the highway but it wasn't terribly loud or distracting. I'd definitely stay here again the next time I'm in Lenoir City.