I’m assuming you’ll be in and around Downtown… so this is all downtown-centric.

The Embassy Suites on Gay is the coolest hotel… an old mid-century modern, bank high-rise converted into suites… the architecture makes it very mid-century cool.

Restaurants: Cafe 4 for lunch, Sweet Ps for BBQ, and Vida/The Vault, JC Holdway and Oliver Royale for nicer… don’t sleep on JC Holdway… a great little foodie spot.
To See: well, obviously the Great Smoky Mountains National Park… but if you want to stay close to Downtown… Ijams nature reserve is a great combination of urban hiking, the river and urban ruins… as more than half of the reserve is across and through abandoned marble quarries… Knoxville was the premier producer of marble in North America prior to the Great Depression… do a Google Image search on Ijams Keyhole for an idea of how the wilderness and ruins are inter-woven.

Glad you’re coming to visit. Best!

Bandit Rex