Love the location of this Lodge.
Felt like we couldn't get any closer to the heart of Cherokee, NC.
The two rooms we booked were nice and clean, the night clerk was readily available when we arrived (late around 11:00 PM) , just an all around good experience. Will definitely stay there again.

We originally had plans to visit Mexico for Labor Day, but the incoming hurricane forced us to make other plans. At the very last minute, we decided to visit Cherokee instead. Almost every hotel, motel, and inn was completely booked for the weekend; this Econo Lodge was almost the only place left with rooms. The rates for the Labor Day weekend ($117/night after AAA discount) were apparently much higher than the normal rate. The hotel, it turns out, was centrally located--at the intersections of the two main roads running through Cherokee. About one mile down one road was Harrah's Casino, and one mile down the other road were most of the significant Native American historical sites. Moreover, it was within walking distance of almost all of the smaller shops, souvenir places, etc.

The room was spacious, clean, included a mid-sized refrigerator. The TV was quite small (about 17 inches), but we didn't come to watch TV anyway. The staff was generally friendly and helpful, although in the mornings, a number of staff members (and friends?) seemed to be loitering around and talking "secretly" to one another; this was a little unprofessional, I thought. The breakfast was sparse. There was dry cereal, microwave oatmeal, and donuts. (At least the donuts were Krispy Kreme, so that makes up for the lack of other items.) Unfortunately, on one morning, we arrived at 9am (breakfast was supposed to be served until 10am), and almost everything was gone; there was no coffee, only a few drops of orange juice, and a few donuts left.

There are few if any decent restaurants in Cherokee. Across the street was a restaurant called Granny's Pancake & Steak. The name says it all. It was quite an unusual, quaint, local diner; it was like stepping back into the typical local Souther diner from about 30-40 years ago. Unfortunately, this was the only restaurant even halfway decent. There was a buffet 1 mile up the 441 highway (don't remember the name--Luftee Family Restaurant, I think), which was horrible; turns out it was a former Ponderosa. There was also a local place called Paul's. We sat there nearly 20 minutes without anyone even taking drink orders. After waiting the first 10 minutes, I told the hostess that we were waiting for service. She promised someone would be with us "soon"; after nearly 10 more minutes of waiting, we just left. The restaurant was not full, so it's difficult to understand to terrible service.

The town of Cherokee is somewhat small. After a day or so, you've pretty much seen everything there is to see (except those who come to the casino, which we did not care to do). We had the hotel booked for several nights, so we took one of the days to drive through the Smokey Mt Natl Park to Gatlinburg; it's only about 35 miles away, but the road is very steep and winding, so it takes at least an hour to navigate. Gatlinburg is a huge, crowded, tourist trap, but it is a little nicer and cleaner than Cherokee, so it gave us something to do while we were in the area. If you are stationed in Cherokee for a few days, I would recommend taking a day (maybe two) to visit all of the hiking trails and lookout points on the road connecting Cherokee and Gatlinburg. If we had walked on all the trails, it would have taken several days. If you stay at this Econo Lodge, you'll be well situated to visit all of these trails and won't have to deal with all of the crowds that those staying in Gatlinburg have to deal with.

Overall, I would rate the hotel around a 3.5; I'm giving it a 4 because there is not much else in Cherokee that is any better.

We had stayed the night before in the Ramada in Cherokee (a bit further out from the town center). The 'Unto These Hills' show got cancelled due to rain so we altered our plans to stay on another night. The Ramada was full so we relocated to this Econolodge.

This is easily the best Econolodge we've stayed in (out of aprrox 8). It's new and clean. Some rooms with a mini fridge. Its very central to Cherokee and is far enough off the road to avoid noise.

Breakfast was basic (cereal and pastries), however, no different from any other Econolodge.

Overall, very good for the price.

We were planning on camping, but the KOA was charging over $40 a night for a tent site! For $30 more we got a great room. It really was nicer than I had expected. I would recommend this motel and would stay there again.