Finally, here are my thoughts on a dog-friendly Red Roof Inn!
This past weekend, we finally left for our 760 mile road trip I began preparing for last month.
I mentioned it in my blog post Summer Road Trip With Dogs – Our Ultimate Checklist.
Either way, it took us from our Fayetteville, NC location to Memphis, TN with an overnight stop at a dog-friendly Red Roof Inn in Knoxville, TN.
Dog-Friendly Red Roof Inn Knoxville, TN
This particular Red Roof Inn is located at 1315 Kirby Road | Knoxville | TN | 37909 | 865-584-3911.
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored product review. I did not receive any kind of compensation for this review ~ neither in product-form nor in $$$-form! This is solely me expressing my personal opinion! Red Roof Inn is not responsible for the content of this blog post.
Initially, I didn’t want to stop anywhere for the night and make the trip in one go.
However, I have to say that both the pups and myself were glad that I reconsidered and decided to spend the night in Knoxville, just about halfway.
We were all glad to get out of the car, stretch our legs, and enjoy a comfortable, clean motel room.
That said, we stopped twice for 20 min potty breaks on our way through the Great Smokey Mountains. But we were bummed that we didn’t have the time to stop for hikes!
We would have had a blast cooling off in the refreshing mountain water and exploring some of the trails in State Parks we kept seeing signs for.
However, since we rolled down our windows and turned off the AC, we still got to enjoy the good mountain air!
We didn’t have to turn it back on until the very last leg of our trip on day 1, about an hour outside of Knoxville.
Truly Pet-Friendly Policy: Dogs Stay Free At Red Roof Inns
The Red Roof Inns are truly pet-friendly hotels as they don’t just allow our furry friends – they don’t even charge for them!
Their official pet policy allows one well-behaved pet per room per night:
- One well-behaved family pet is permitted unless prohibited by state law or ordinance
- Service animals are always welcome
- Pet must be declared during guest registration
- Please keep your animal on a leash when outside your room
- In consideration of all Red Roof guests, pets must never be left unattended in the guestroom
- When you walk your pet on property, please be considerate and clean up after your pet
Originally, I found out about Red Roof Inn on Twitter.
So I tweeted at a representative and asked what their policy was for 2 dogs, since I’d be needing a motel that would allow both Missy & Buzz.
The person I tweeted at told me to call the location I was interested in ahead of time to find out whether or not they’d accept 2 dogs,.
Lucky for us, they did!
Jeff, the clerk I talked to on the phone at the Red Roof Inn location on Kirby Road in Knoxville, TN, was very polite & helpful.
He gave me the tip to leave a note in the remark section of my online reservation that said I’d be staying with 2 dogs.
He said this might help get a room on the first floor.
Well, that didn’t happen since we ended up on the 3rd floor, but it didn’t bother us too much.
It meant that the pups got to experience riding in an elevator again!
Up until then, they had only done that once at a friend’s apartment complex in Washington D.C.
Our Non-Smoking, Deluxe Room For $87.94 at Dog-Friendly Red Roof Inn
I decided on a non-smoking, deluxe room for a grand total of $87.94 ($75 per night + $12.94 tax) with 2 full size beds, one of which would be for the pups.
It came with a:
- Fridge
- Microwave
- Flatscreen/wall-mounted TV
- Desk
- Full bath
- Laminate floors
Laminate floors are great for feeding raw meals
Those floors would have been super easy to clean in case of an accident, but the pups didn’t have.
The one downside of them was that they were a bit slippery for the pups when they hopped up on their bed.
By the way, I brought a huge quilt my mom made specifically for her “grand-pups” and laid it out on their bed.
However, they were perfect for the pups’ raw meals I brought along in a cooler filled with ice.
Some of the ice dripped on the laminate floor when I took the raw dog food out of the cooler.
Now that was a quick clean up!
I just needed a small towel from the bathroom, wiped up the water, and placed it underneath the pups’ bowls (one small towel per bowl).
Side note: I initially wasn’t going to bring along fresh raw food for the pups, but changed my mind once I noticed that:
- I still had enough room in the car for one cooler and
- I saw that our room had a fridge when I researched the hotel online
All I had to do was transfer the raw dog food from the cooler into the fridge when we got to our room.
Then I refilled the cooler with fresh ice from the ice machine the next morning, right before we checked out.
We hopped back into our Pup Mobile after some free, hot breakfast the next morning and made it to Memphis, TN about 6 hours later.
Included in those 6 hours were:
- 2 potty breaks at rest stops along I-40
- One badly needed coffee break for Mommy at a Starbucks in Jackson, TN (just about an hour and a half outside of Memphis).
Finding A Dog-Friendly Red Roof Inn
If you’re contemplating spending a night with your pup(s) at a Red Roof Inn, you can search for one using the search bar on their website.
Read & Compare Red Roof Inn Reviews
I’d recommend reading their reviews as well.
Out of 3 Red Roof Inns in the Knoxville area, only the two locations for $62/night got good reviews.
The lowest priced one at $45 got terrible reviews, so that decision was a no brainer.
#YouGetWhatYouPayFor
Dog-Friendly Red Roof Inn Knoxville, TN: Bottom Line
We recommend this Red Roof Inn Location because we were very happy with what we got for the price we paid:
- Hotel conveniently located right off of I-40
- A comfortable, clean room with 2 full beds, fridge, microwave, flat screen TV, AC, desk (btw, great water pressure in the shower!)
- Free hot breakfast and free wifi
- Huge parking lot
- Walking area for the pups on the hotel grounds as well as right across the street (we took them for a half hour morning walk through a neighboring residential area).
Have you & your pup(s) stayed at a Red Roof Inn or other pet-friendly hotel? As always, we’d love to hear from you in our comment section!
Related Reading:
- Pet friendly hotels: La Quinta Inns & Suites
- Dog walking in Memphis with two dogs in tow
- How to feed raw when overlanding with your dog
Barbara Rivers is the founder of K9sOverCoffee and a raw feeding educator with over a decade of hands-on experience.
She has fed raw in the US and Europe since 2015, after her Boxer mix Missy’s cancer diagnosis led her to move away from processed kibble and commit to species-appropriate nutrition.
As a former professional dog walker, she developed deep insight into canine behavior, conditioning, and the essential link between proper exercise and long-term health.
Barbara completed online training with veterinarian Dr. Marion Smart and Labrador breeder Dana Scott and works for one of Germany’s leading raw dog food brands, BARFER’S.
In 2026–2027, she is completing a year-long raw nutrition certification for dogs and cats at THP School, founded by raw feeding pioneer Swanie Simon.
Through her blog and weekly newsletter, she provides clear, experience-based guidance to help dog owners feed raw safely and confidently.
Hooray!! Maddie LOVES a ho-tel. She is one well traveled pug! Lol.
“Bark Out Loud” to Maddie’s ho-tel fondness ;-)) This was the pups’ first hotel experience and it was pawsome! I see more coming up in our future.
Can you do a post on how to pay for your pets expensive vet bills/make payments/care credit etc? I just read a heartbreaking post about a little dog that didn’t get proper care and lost her puppies because the parents couldn’t afford the vets suggestions for emergency surgery. You seem like a great person to ask to write a post on how important it is to listen to your vets recommendations, seek out payment plans,get CareCredit, start a gofundme! I’m so disappointed in these young pet owners…
Oh wow, that’s so sad to hear and goes to show again how important it is to truly think about all the consequences dog ownership entails BEFORE welcoming a pooch into someone’s life. I did a post about comparing medical dog insurance companies – we have PetsBest for the pups and have had to use them several times – but will put one together on what you suggested. Thanks for that!
BTW, just saying that we were ever so grateful to have decided on getting doggie insurance. It’s a wonderful alternative if putting several hundred dollars into a savings account for the pups on a monthly basis is not an option:
https://www.k9sovercoffee.com/health/peace-of-mind-with-petsbest-medical-insurance-for-our-dogs/
Glad you found a nice place to stay. I like the floor rather than carpet especially for dogs.
I am not a Red Roof fan. We called one when we were headed to a hunt test and they were very rude and stated that they absolutely did not allow dogs. I do realize that policy can alter property to property but it turned me off the entire chain. I actually do not mind having to pay extra for the dogs. I think it keeps people from abusing the privilege of staying on the property with a pet, plus they do need to do extra cleaning (at least I hope they do after pets in a room). We found a Super 8 that we have now stayed at several times when we go to those hunt tests. They always quote me a pet fee, but to date have never charged me one. Possibly because we crate the dogs in the room and are in it only to sleep a few hours between tests.
Thank you, I’m glad as well and just booked our second night for our way home ;-)
What a bummer that you had a less than stellar experience – that goes to show that customer service is always important as word of mouth is a most valuable marketing asset. I personally had a truly great experience with the Red Roof Inn location I booked for us, from the person I talked to on the phone to the clean room and doggie walking area Sunday morning (they also had one dog poop station, which I didn’t use though because I always have my own poop bags on me).
If you don’t mind my asking – how much does the Super 8 charge you for the pups? I would certainly pay a pet fee as well if I had to, but have to admit that I enjoyed getting that doggie freebie :-)
I did notice on the Red Roof website that there are 3 locations who can’t allow dogs due to state laws/ordinances – did you happen to talk to one of those?
Oxon Hill, MD #181; Flushing, NY #727; Queensboro LIC, NY #771.
It was in Ohio. They were not just rude to us, but to other hunt test pals who tried to book a room there. The Super 8 charged us $15 per dog; however, as I said, they have yet to actually add it to the bill. There are other perks to this place. Lots of green area to walk dogs (we will use a designated space, but I would much rather find a nearby open area). Restaurants I can walk to for carry out meals (not just fast food). We do not leave our dogs unattended in the room. Also they can usually accommodate a first floor room. We are out of the room by 6:30 am and I always feel the first floor room (near an exit) is quieter for other guests.
That’s a shame that you & your hunt test pals had a bad experience. Did you let management know? Sounds like some of their stuff could use a refresher in customer service or need to be replaced.
We also didn’t leave the pups in our room unattended – I think that’s every hotel’s policy that allows dogs and really makes sense. After all, it’s a brand new environment for the pups. It was too dang hot to walk the pups anywhere during the day, but we took them to a PetCo store that was only 7 minutes away from our hotel and got a snack for ourselves at a drive-thru Starbucks, then later ordered from a pizza place that delivered the food right to our room (we had salad and a sandwich with fries).
Glad you had a great experience. Great pictures!
Thanks, JoAnn, it was a fun, new adventure for our pack!
We haven’t tried a Red Roof Inn yet, but isn’t it nice to have a hotel welcome you with your dogs instead of having to pay an extra fee and feeling like you’re lucky they’re letting you stay there? We’ve had good experiences with Best Westerns and LaQuinta’s too.
Absolutely! I’m glad you mentioned that you’ve had good experiences with LaQuinta as well – this is the third time I’ve heard about them now within a short time frame. And yay for yet another option with Best Westerns – I’ll have to add them to my mental list of pet-friendly hotels. Thanks, Elaine!
Sounds like this was the prefect place for you! We drive through that area when we go to Barley’s grandparents’ house, so we’ll have to keep them in mind!
Yes, you do!! Would be cool if you stayed at the very same Red Roof :-)
Great post! Yay Red Roof! Can’t wait ’til more hotels get on board with this way of thinking!
Jessica
PawsBuzzGo.com
Thanks, Jessica! Same here – just booked another night at that very same Red Roof Inn. We’ll be on the road again for Christmas.