Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel

Reviews 3

BR

Brandon Hill

We just finished a stay at this hotel. We had a groupon deal and it was cheap enough. The historic pull had us excited, but after arriving we werent as impressed. As you drive up and walk in things seem nice, old historic looking train station. We were greeted by the front desk staff who did an ok job of getting us checked in without hassle. They seemed young an inexperienced but got the job done. It would have been nice to have seen them dressed as someone would in a train station or something. Or at least they should all dress the same or similar. We ultimately stayed in Building 1 the building seemed old and run down but its "historic" so I let it slide. It looks like they are working on the building, from reading other reviews sounds like this has been going on for some time. Its a little dark and the ceiling tiles are stained from water leaks. (common guys... go to Lowes and buy some tiles) The pool looked nice and clean but we didnt use it so I cant comment there. The room was sub par even for the price. Reminded me of a run down Days Inn. The bed sheets were clean and smelled clean. The bed was really hard reminded me of an old bed you would find in your grandmothers house. The room itself looked very dated but its "historic" right? There was no fridge which seemed really odd to me but not a huge deal. We were lucky enough to have a quiet room, although hall traffic was jarring at times as big doors slammed. The things that did bug me were that the room was in disrepair. Thermostat for the HVAC was just hanging from the wall, these things need to be secure and level to function properly. The toilet seat didnt fit, I mean really didnt fit it hung over the front of the bowl probably 3-4 inches. Really!? Who installed that? The lid also had some hairs on it making me think it hadnt been cleaned or was cleaned in a hurry. The room itself was mostly clean other than some cob webs hanging in the corner, more of the "historic" feel I guess. The vent and the smoke alarm needed a good cleaning or painting. The sliding glass door that led outside didnt latch. That didnt seem safe o_0 but we were on the second floor so someone would have to work at it to climb in. Overall I think this place could have some potential. I think they should play more on the train theme and clean up the joint. You can be "historic" and not be run down and dirty. The station overall would be a good visit, but unless they make some major changes I wouldnt go back. If I want to visit again Ill just do as others have said and stay somewhere nicer and just visit the train yard. I really hate to see a place like this go down but I feel it wont be around many more years at least not at its current pace.

A

A Private User

Okay, well Ill start off by saying that, my fiance and I purchased a package that came with the Aquarium tickets, IMAX tickets, model train tickets and choo choo bucks. If these tickets were not included, I would have been VERY unsatisfied! The over all hotel was cute (on the outside) the old trains, and boarding stations were very neat and the little shops were a nice thing to do, once. The front desk workers (the two we worked with) were great, very helpful and always had a smile. Onto the room...well we stayed in building 1 of 3, and when we walked in, it smelled OLD. I sprayed the room with a deoderizer (it helped a lot). When I walked into the bathroom, there were hairs from certain parts of a body that I do not like to think about, around the shower and floor. I also took clorox wipes and wiped down everything (door handles, tv remote, telephone, toilet, shower, sink...anything I could) made me feel a bit better about the cleanliness...but for those who do not have those with them...eww. They really need better house keepers.(one house keeper was complaining about something while cleaning the room two down from us...she was quite loud). The overall room was not very inviting, the chairs were not comfertable at all, and the bed was HORRIBLE...i think i would have slept better on the cold ground outside...it was hard as a rock, and the bedding was OLD...thank goodness i took my own pillow! The hotel was in the rough part of town...i was quite scared when I went to get gas in my car...went in to pay, and the clerk didnt say a word to me...at all...and didnt smile...SCARY! Onto other things...well the free bus ride was nice, but kinda scary. The aquarium was very nice and the imax was cool too...DO NOT watch The Light Before Christmas....it was a waste of money...watch something different. Lets see...eating out was a bit scary too, and at TGIF there is a worker that sings every song and she is horrible!! The last meal we ate down there, we drove 20 minutes out of town to the mall, that meal was very nice. I suggest everyone do this. I also think that everyone should go to the battlefield, it was really cool. Last but not least the model train museum was not worth it, the desk worker was rude and the model trains werent that impressive, ive seen a lot better. Well i hope that this has helped you, if you plan on visting Chattanooga, I would not suggest staying at the Choo Choo. If you do go, please do visit the hotel grounds to see the trains, but other wise book your tickets at another hotel.

MI

Micki Meter

My husband surprised me with a "romantic" night at the Choo Choo. I thought ,"oh no" because several years ago I had stopped with a friend to look at the trains and I thought the hotel looked rundown at that time. Building 3 looked in desperate need of a pressure wash to get the black mold off the outside as we drove up to it. The smell of sewage as we got out of our car should have turned us around at that time to go find another hotel, but I didnt want to hurt my husbands feelings so I thought I would give the inside a chance. We couldnt find our room since there arent any room number signs in the Lobby. As we walked the corridors the smell of mold, wall paper falling off the walls and lack of air conditioning was another warning sign. The positive comments I can make about our room was that it was spacious, led directly out to the pool, and was quiet. The bed had 6 small old worn out pillows, no duvet and wrinkled dust cover. Now on to the worst part, the bathroom. Positive: two sinks. Negatives: 1. rusted shower curtain rail 2. broken tiles in the wall through the sheet rock that was crumbling 3. Worst of all was the tub. It was obviously rusted out and had be covered with two sections of rubber matting glued down. No way anyone would take a bath in that tub. 4. carpet dirty and frayed in doorway. 5. wallpaper had brown stains like coffee had been spilled. My husband complained to management who gave him the "historic and renovation" story. He realized his words were falling on deaf ears so he also gave them a written list of problems. It seems like management doesnt know how to or cant afford to make unhappy clients satisfied. Its obvious they dont care as they continue to use unacceptable rooms. I would not suggest staying here until they finish their "renovations", then look carefully before you commit to a night. Dont trust the website as their pictures are of bygone years and misleading.

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