Chattanooga, United States

The Hotel Chalet

Price per night from$151.84

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD151.84), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Hotel Chalet Photos

Style

Loco motif

Setting

Southside stalwart

Explore

More hotels in Chattanooga More hotels in United States

In Chattanooga, on Tennessee’s side of the Appalachian Mountains, The Hotel Chalet is switching Terminal Station’s tracks from transport hub to boutique base. Thoughtfully restoring the Beaux Arts landmark and its mid-century railcars into a clutch of creatively dressed bedrooms, this is a hotel rooted firmly in Southside’s heritage. That's not to say there aren’t contemporary comforts aboard, too; its outdoor fire pits, poolside service, a locally revered restaurant and prime Southside access are just the ticket. 

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A daily drip coffee and pastry each from the Lobby

Facilities

Photos The Hotel Chalet facilities

Need to know

Rooms

127, including four suites.

Check–Out

Noon, and check-in is at 3pm. Both are flexible for $75, on request and subject to availability.

More details

Rates don’t include breakfast, but options are available from the Lobby for between $10 and $25 each.

Also

A Chalet King, Double Queen and Suite have been adapted with wheelchair-friendly entrances and accessible bathrooms for guests with limited mobility. All communal areas, including the swimming pool, courtyard and restaurants, are accessible, too, and there are reserved parking spots for placard holders.

At the hotel

Direct access to the Choo Choo campus, courtyard, patio, outdoor fire pits and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: 55-inch smart TV, USB and USB-C ports, Bluetooth speaker, minibar, tea- and coffee-making kit, free bottled water, umbrella, clothes steamer, bathrobes and natural bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Sleeper Deluxe rooms are set across a historic collection of converted Pullman carriages with original features intact and plenty of modern comforts (including a velvet-upholstered sofa and cushy king-size bed). For more space, the McArthur Suite occupies a carriage in its entirety, with a separate living area and well-equipped kitchenette.

Poolside

The hotel’s outdoor pool is open 11am to 9pm and heated year-round. Plush sunloungers and scalloped pastel parasols make post-dip rotations easy during the summer, while winter cold plunges are complemented by fire pits and heaters.

Packing tips

Leave your whistles and striped hats at home to make space for Main Street market finds.

Also

Adorned in rich-red tones and perfectly mismatched patterns, the hotel’s small-but-stacked gym is a delight for your eyes as much as your endorphins.

Pet‐friendly

Dogs under 50 pounds are welcome in all rooms for a one-off charge of $50 each. See more pet-friendly hotels in Chattanooga.

Children

All ages are welcome; over-18s are charged as adults. Sofa-beds and rollaways are available in the Sleeper Deluxe and McArthur Suite, the Chalet Suite also has a sofa-bed, and all Double Queens are set up for four.

Sustainability efforts

The Hotel Chalet has helped preserve Chattanooga Choo Choo’s storied legacy with careful restorations to the station’s original Pullman carriages, turning their historic form into a handful of rooms and a seasonal bar. They work to protect its future, too, with a ban on single-use plastics, rigorous recycling schemes, low-flow fixtures, energy efficient lighting and a commitment to the city’s small-scale suppliers.

Food and Drink

Photos The Hotel Chalet food and drink

Top Table

Secure yourself a seat around the fire pit during the evening and you’ll find s’mores kits magically appear for star-lit roasting sessions.

Dress Code

Blue-and-white stripes feel the only fitting way to honor this historic station’s past.

Hotel restaurant

The hotel’s restaurant was named Elise’s Daughter as an homage to the train station’s original architect Donn Barber and his wife, Elise. Much like its moniker, menus draw inspiration from the surroundings with Southern staples elevated by organic produce from Chattanooga’s sustainable suppliers. Crowd-pleasing brunches run into the early afternoon at the weekend, and throughout the week, dinner dishes contrast the morning’s overflowing breakfast burritos and hot cakes with fresh fish from the local market, pork chops paired with seasonal succotash, and flash-fried beans with a legendary house-made ranch. If it’s something easy you’re after, the Lobby has pastries, breakfast bites, sandwiches and coffee from 7am. 

Hotel bar

Just through Elise's Daughter, the Parlor is an intimate living room-style space that pairs light Belgian-inspired bites with classic cocktails. The station’s original Caboose has been converted into a namesake bar, serving all sorts of summery tipples alfresco as the weather warms. 

Last orders

Elise’s Daughter opens for dinner daily from 4pm–10pm and at weekends for brunch between 9.30am and 2pm. The Lobby is open 7am to noon; Parlor pours 4pm–11pm (from 10am at weekends). During summer, the Caboose is open 3pm–10pm (from 11am at weekends).

Room service

You can order from Elise’s Daughter between 4pm and 9pm.

Location

Photos The Hotel Chalet location
Address
The Hotel Chalet
92 Choo Choo Avenue
Chattanooga
37408
United States

The Hotel Chalet is in the Southside neighborhood of downtown Chattanooga — a lesser-known city set in the state’s southeastern corner, where the Appalachian Mountains meet the Tennessee River.

Planes

Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport is a 20-minute drive from the hotel but only serves domestic routes. If you’re arriving from outside the States, you’ll need to make a connection in one of the country’s busier hubs such as Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Houston or Detroit. Staff can arrange private transfers on request.

Trains

For a hotel whose address features Choo Choo Avenue, you’d expect rail routes to be abundant; but the last scheduled passenger train left Terminal Station in the 1970s. Your nearest Amtrak station is across the border in Gainesville, Georgia (around a 90-minute drive from The Hotel Chalet).

Automobiles

Chattanooga itself is a walkable city, and the Appalachian foothills are easy to reach without wheels. If you’re hoping to see Tennessee’s further-flung corners, a car will come in handy and there’s parking at the hotel for $20 a night.

Worth getting out of bed for

Downtown Chattanooga’s Southside is home to what was once one of the South's most important railway hubs — Terminal Station. Its last train chugged out in 1970, when the Beaux Arts building was transformed into the community-spliced campus that stands (and houses The Hotel Chalet) today. There are restaurants, breweries, concert halls and comedy clubs across its 24-acre setting; and Main Street (with all its galleries, markets and boutiques) runs along the northern edge. For a better sense of locale, the hotel has horse-drawn carriage tours every Sunday. 

If you’ve chosen Chattanooga for its idyllic setting on the edge of the Appalachian foothills, we’d suggest starting with a train ride up Lookout Mountain, where you can spy eight surrounding states on a clear day. Hiking, rock climbing and hang gliding are additional ways to explore the storied range; while canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding and riverboat cruises help make the most of your proximity to the Tennessee River. 

Local restaurants

The Hotel Chalet shares its Choo Choo setting with a host of eateries. Nic & Norman’s is among the most beloved for its hand-crafted burgers, artisanal flatbreads, industrial interiors and live music. On Main Street, just outside the campus’ borders, you’ll find elevated Italian classics at Alleia, where locally sourced ingredients are prioritized and dimly lit tables set an intimate scene. 

Local cafés

Frothy Monkey is renowned first for its Nashville-roasted coffees, but all-day brunch menus and creatively packed sandwiches (with maple chicken, say, or farm-fresh eggs, cheddar and bacon) are worthy of equal attention. 

Local bars

An old-school atmosphere defines evenings at Backstage Bar, where over 80 varieties of whiskey (and 30 of Scotch) make for warming accompaniments to live sets and light bites. Hoppier flavors can be found at Tailgate Brewery, a taproom with a seven-barrel brewhouse and perfectly pillowy selection of chargrilled pizzas. 

Reviews

Photos The Hotel Chalet reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this heritage-steeped hotel in Tennessee and hung up their hickory hats, a full account of their city-cum-country break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside The Hotel Chalet in Chattanooga… 

The Hotel Chalet may be a newer addition to this Tennessean city’s Southside, but it’s built quite the head of steam already. A deft team of designers has taken cues from the hotel’s setting in the old Terminal Station, transforming out-of-commission sleeper carriages from the 1970s into opulent bedrooms with rich palettes, vintage chandeliers and cushy living spaces. It’s a considered approach that extends to the main house, too, where a second (non-rolling) stock of rooms makes for equally delightful picks, and a sustainably supplied restaurant, convivial lobby and year-round pool are appealing additions.

But this boutique base isn’t all you’ll find in the transformed Beaux Arts building — it also plays host to downtown’s independent comedy clubs, galleries, eateries and bars for on-your-doorstep entertainment. And if it’s Appalachian adventures you’re after, staff can help with everything from hiking routes and hang gliding to canoeing and river cruises.

Book now

Price per night from $151.84