RT Lodge — Hotel in Maryville

My now-wife and I got married here in November and it was absolutely everything that we could have hoped for and more.

Location

RT Lodge is situated super conveniently close to Knoxville Airport (about a 10 minute drive) but it feels like a world of its own. It's tucked back in the woods near Maryville College and is super quiet and peaceful. There is lots of outdoors space with a large koi pond in the back of the main lodge and we spend hours walking and exploring in the neighboring woods.

Lodging

The rooms are super comfortable and are very much going for a rustic-chic vibe. They are on the smaller side but very comfortable with super soft beds and Ralph Lauren linens. For the wedding, this was perfect because with 57 rooms, everyone was able to stay on premises and I don't think I heard a single complaint about the rooms.

In addition to the rooms there are a ton of nice common areas to stay. In the cooler weather, there are multiple fireplaces where you can curl up next to the fire, and in the warm weather the grounds are quite extensive.

Food

Chef Trevor is incredible. The food here is really fantastic and far above what I had expected. For a normal stay, the restaurant is very nice, if a little pricey. Highlights include the fried chicken with homemade fermented jalapeno hot sauce and the homemade charcuterie with meat from the chef's family farm.

For the wedding, they were incredibly accommodating to the variety of dietary needs and did a great job pleasing everyone in attendance. Trevor took ample time to sit with us and come up with a menu that we were excited about and went out of his way to suggest ways that we could accommodate the vegetarians and vegans in the group (we had BBQ for the rehearsal dinner, so not an easy task).

And whether you're there for an event or just coming to the restaurant for dinner, every night you are invited to make s'mores by the firepit out behind the lodge.

Wedding Planning

Ali and Phoebe were absolutely incredible when it came to actually planning the wedding. My wife and I weren't particularly interested in dealing with all the minutia, since we were quite busy, but they did a great job of planning everything on our behalf. From recommending vendors to asking for exactly what they needed from us, they really kept things moving in the right direction and pulled off an amazing event. We also appreciated their flexibility on the day of when we threw a couple of audibles and Ali took it in stride.

The Verdict

Overall I'm certain that this will become a regular vacation spot for us. The staff is so friendly, the place is super comfortable, and the food is ridiculously good (as a couple who lives in NYC). Thank you to the staff for all the hard work and we're looking forward to...

This quaint Lodge is nestled in the trees on the campus of Maryville College but far enough away from the campus within the trees that one would not have any idea it is nearby. The Lodge is very quiet and relaxing. I loved the seating areas by the outdoor fireplace and water feature out front and fire pit out back near another pond and water feature. The seating areas indoors also had fireplaces, comfortable couches, chairs and tables. All great places to enjoy a beverage with the spouse while reading or playing checkers or chess with the provided game boards. The bar downstairs was also a very relaxing environment.

We stayed in a Standard King Room in one of the two accommodation lodges, this one by the name of The Wiley House. The room had a rustic feel and the bed was exceptionally comfortable. A nice feature is the water station and the coffee provided in each of the lodge buildings. The bathroom is a bit tight as well as the sink area which is only large enough for one person. One thing that did stick out was that the bathroom seemed very basic with the inset fiberglass tub/shower, plain walls, and ceiling. This is likely due to the fact that this lodge was once a corporate lodge/retreat for Ruby Tuesdays. I would imagine that bathroom upgrades/remodeling with tile would make a significant difference. Overall, the grounds, rooms, and other areas with very nice.

Now for a review of the upstairs restaurant…. The breakfast buffet, included in the booking, was very good. The scrambled eggs were a little runny but that’s just a personal preference. It would be nice if an omelette station were available. The dinner is where this review becomes negative. While the service was fantastic as our waitress was very attentive, the food was far from what the standards of this kind of lodge should be. You will see other reviews complaining about portion size and that specific mention is right on. The portions are ridiculous in relation the the price. I got the Wagyu beef that had potatoes and grilled onionS. The capital S in onionS is for emphasis. The grilled onionS received was only one stalk of a green onion. ONE! Additionally, the Wagyu beef was mostly fat. It WAS NOT GOOD. The potatoes were tasty. My wife got the trout which was very good. She did order a side of broccolini which was forgotten by the kitchen. It came out towards the end of our meal. The broccolini was not good as it was mostly burned. 5 stars goes to the Smoked Trout Dip and Chip appetizer.

My wife and I will be back because the Lodge is fantastically relaxing. We WILL NOT, however, go to the restaurant again for dinner. The restaurant gets anywhere from two, maybe three stars. The Lodge is 5 stars. This resulted in a 4 Star rating of this...

We had the most perfect wedding weekend at RT Lodge. The most meaningful part of the weekend was getting to have so many loved ones all together at the lodge. Everyone loved how cozy it felt, and we got so lucky with the spring weather and flowers blooming! We had a lot of guests coming from all over (from California to Canada to the Netherlands...) and it was so much fun getting to show off East TN.

Being able to have all the events in one venue was also great. You really felt like you were in a different space for each part (garden setting for the ceremony, back by the lodge for cocktail hour, and in the tent for the reception), but only had to walk a few steps to get from one to the other--not to mention just having to walk out your room door to get to any of them.

The food was also outstanding. (I would've had my wedding at RT Lodge just for the tasting alone. I feel like we ate for 4 hours straight, and it was all incredible.) And, it was all the more fun given how enthusiastic the team was about incorporating foods with special meaning--a Great British Bakeoff-style groom's cake, tea cookies with edible flowers pressed on, cranberry walnut bread just like what's served at one of our favorite spots in DC, late night fried chicken-pimiento cheese biscuits, and more. They were also so thoughtful about accommodating a wide range of dietary restrictions.

And Ali is just the best. I expected wedding planning to be stressful, but with Ali and the team at RT, it wasn't only painless, but was actually fun. Ali was SO organized and helpful choosing and coordinating with vendors--I could count on her to remember everything I would never have thought of. And on the day of, Ali worked like crazy behind the scenes from dawn to midnight while somehow also being so positive and relaxed at every moment. It was exactly the energy you want if you're a bride on wedding day!

That really goes for the whole team. They were just on it the entire weekend. I've been at weddings before where there are different snags (long lines for drinks, awkward in-between periods, etc.) but here, everything ran so seamlessly, and we felt taken care of the whole time.

Last thing--one of my low-key favorite things about the weekend was also that a (very good) breakfast is included with guests' stays, which meant that I got to spend this easy, unstructured time with family and friends both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Those were some of the sweetest moments from the...