Pardon Me Sir, Is That The Chattanooga Choo Choo...Hotel?

The arty, historic town of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a tourist destination, especially for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel guests. Tourists worldwide come to see the former train station that celebrates its centennial this year. It’s a song, it’s a hotel, it’s a destination, and it’s on the National Register of Historic Hotels. Like the entire town, it welcomes every convention that comes to town with several hospitable signs.  In the 1880s, the Chattanooga train operated on the Tennessee Railroad, and starting in 1909., steamed out of the station on Market Street in downtown Chattanooga until the station closed for good in 1973. Now those Victorian-era train cars flank the hotel’s famous Rose Garden, which tourists stroll through as they step down from their unique guest rooms aboard those same train cars.Sleeping in a train car provides a glimpse into an earlier era. The train cars still have the original ceilings, although the furniture has definitely changed since sleeping in a private car was the ultimate luxury, a status symbol. Whether you choose to stay in a train car or in one of the hotel’s three guest buildings (executive suites are also available), the romance and gentility of history as well as Southern hospitality, combined with modern conveniences, will make your stay an unforgettable one. You can see this in the high-ceilinged domed lobby originally built by Don Barber. You can see it in Sweetly Southern, Artifacts (devoted to civil war and Southern belle merchandise and memorabilia), the Little Lace Lady and Sweet Things, four of the hotel’s specialty shops. You experience it in the treatment you receive at this hotel. The hotel staff goes out of their way to make guests feel welcome, whether you’re dealing with Josh, the front desk clerk who advises you about local take-out late at night when you’ve just arrived, the security staff who also drive the free airport shuttle, or Theresa Kelley, proprietor of the Little Lace Lady, a scrapbooking and collectible shop right next to those mighty train cars. Theresa will cheerfully give you information about local attractions, shopping and dining. In addition to popular items such as Beanie Babies, the shop is your source for angels, handcrafted items by local artisans, and scrapbooks so you can preserve memories of your stay, such as the 19th-century-style portraits you can get from Old Tyme Photos.