Kinley Chattanooga Southside, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Kinley Chattanooga Southside opened in April 2021 at 1409 Market Street, in the city's Southside entertainment district. It is a ground-up urban-infill building designed by the local firm Tinker Ma, with 64 rooms. The hotel is the second Kinley, a brand created and developed by Vision Hospitality Group, after Kinley Cincinnati Downtown. It is now affiliated with Tribute Portfolio, Marriott's collection of independent-minded hotels.

The place

Southside is the part of Chattanooga where former rail and industrial ground has been turned over to bars, venues and visitor attractions. The Chattanooga Choo Choo and the Songbirds Guitar Museum are both close by.

The operator described the hotel as the living room of the neighborhood, in the words of general manager Michael DiMaria, and wanted it to draw locals as much as overnight guests.

The concept

Tinker Ma, based in Chattanooga, designed the building as urban infill. Its principal, Thomas Palmer, said the aim was to help complete the street, using an exposed-brick structural frame filled with floor-to-ceiling windows, echoing the city's industrial buildings.

Streetsense led the interiors. They rely on locally sourced furnishings in earthen tones meant to reflect the surrounding landscape, and on rotating exhibitions of work by local artists in the public spaces.

The 64 rooms run from king rooms to queen bunk rooms, which suit families and groups. Each has an honor bar stocked with local snacks and drinks, a Murmaid mattress and a Kohler rainfall shower. The Michelin guide describes the rooms as modern and slightly Bauhaus in their monochrome simplicity.

Dining & wellness

The Exchange is the lobby-level coffee bar, serving specialty coffee from Goodman Coffee Roasters and baked goods from the Chattanooga bakery Niedlov's. In the evening it turns into a cocktail bar with small plates.

A modern speakeasy adds cocktails and food. There is no full-service restaurant, and no rooftop bar has been reported.