Holiday Inn Express Knoxville-Strawberry Plains by IHG

We stopped overnight on our way to Chattanooga. We checked in at around 9:30pm. Employees at front desk were very friendly and informative. Room was on 1st floor with king bed. Clean, quiet. Breakfast was worth it. Eggs were firm not watery, pancakes, sausage and biscuits and gravy along with cereal, muffins, yogurt, continental etc.

Property was very clean

Nice hotel. Overall hotel looked clean (most important to us!) and updated. Room was clean and beds were comfortable. This is the type of property we look for when traveling. Great restaurant across the street which was a bonus.

I stay at Holiday Inn Express, Strawberry Plains periodically throughout the year as it's midway on the drive from my VA home and elder care for my mother in Louisiana. On Thursday night, August 1, 2025 between 11:30pm and midnight I arrived at the hotel without a reservation because I wasn't sure I was going to make it that far that evening. But I had already checked online and found availability. According to hotel reception staffer McKenzie, the hotel's programming was not working, keeping a man with a reservation as well as myself waiting for possibly 20 minutes, the man longer than myself. McKenzie moved from attempting to help me to help Reception Staff-in-Training, Robert, with the waiting man. I watched on line as the three available rooms decreased to two, yet McKenzie insisted I wait. McKenzie became baffled with the programming, and non-responsive to the customers to the point of unjustified total rudeness with me. After enough of McKenzie's rude behavior, I asked for my drivers' license, told McKenzie she was a liability to the hotel, rude and possibly incompetent, and I left. Upon reflection on my previous experiences at this hotel, this was unusual and I did not want McKenzie's behavior to interfere with my travel experiences going forward. I went back into the hotel and again asked for a room. After waiting too long again for McKenzie's tortured antics on the hotel's computer, she told me the hotel's computer system couldn't handle someone booking and checking-in after midnight because it was another day. I found that statement totally ridiculous, so I booked online to ensure I didn't lose one of the last two available rooms. McKenzie yelled at me for booking online and handed my drivers' license to me indicating I should leave. Across the street, I easily booked into Hampton Suites for the same exact price, with courteous and competent staff.