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
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