A few weeks ago, my husband Bill told me that he had to go on a business trip to Smyrna, Tennessee and wanted me to go with him. Unfortunately, since we’d be driving together from our home in Georgia, we’d only have one car at our disposal.

“What’s in Smyrna? ” I asked. We looked around the hotel where he proposed staying and found out there was nothing much to do there.

“What about Murfreesboro? ” I suggested. Murfreesboro, Tennesee, home of Middle Tennessee State University and Cannonsburgh Village, is located about ten miles from Smyrna and appeared to have more going for it. After a quick check of hotels in Murfreesboro, we settled on the Doubletree because my husband collects Hilton HHonors points, we could get the government rate, and it was next door to shopping and restaurants. Of course, that meant I’d be giving up my car, but after two years of living in Germany where we only had one car, I’m used to that.

Location

The Doubletree Hotel in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is located right off of Interstate 24 at 1850 Old Fort Parkway, which is a busy street that hosts a lot of chain restaurants and vast box stores. Directly adjacent to the Doubletree are several strip malls and Stones River Mall, a small indoor shopping area. To access the hotel, we had to get on a service road that accessed the strip malls. Parking at the Doubletree is free and plentiful.

Checking in

Checking into the Doubletree was easy enough. The friendly clerk slack the desk had our reservation ready. When my husband asked if she could upgrade us to the executive floor, she was elated to comply. I don’t even think she charged us extra for the privilege. She gave us each a warm chocolate chip cookie, then sent us to our room on the fifth floor.

Mmm… cookies

Bill had told me all about Doubletree’s luscious chocolate chip cookies but I’d never had the pleasure of trying one until our prance to Tennessee. They were definitely “off the chain”, colossal, warm, and gooey, and really nice after a long drive.

The executive floor

Because we had asked for an executive room, we were on the fifth floor. The fifth floor has a small lounge that is begin for breakfast in the mornings and hors d’ouerves in the evenings. The food in the lounge is free and there’s also a small cash bar where guests can have soft drinks, mixed drinks, wine, or beer. Those who need a computer or a printer can use one of two located in the lounge. There’s also a couch and a flat screen television, and the friendly staff members keep the room stocked with daily newspapers.

Although the fifth floor is the executive floor, other guests can access it by the elevator or the stairs, even though the elevator has a slot on it directing fifth floor guests to swipe their card key.

Our room

I was first to see our room, though it took me several tries to acquire the door open. For some reason, the electronic lock on our room didn’t function very well and over the course of four days it was rare that we were able to open the door with just one swipe. Our room, 529, featured a king sized bed, free Internet, a desk, two telephones, a clock radio, a large television with HBO, and a window that looked out over what appeared to be an endless sea of gas stations, big box stores, and fast food restaurants. It was not a very inspiring view, so we kept the curtains drawn for the four nights we were in the hotel.

The bed was very comfortable with crisp white cotton sheets and five fluffy pillows. I would have liked the pillows better if they had been stuffed with down, but I expected they wouldn’t be, so I brought my bear.

There was a miniature refrigerator and microwave in a small alcove by the door. The housekeeping staff stocked the fridge with two complimentary bottles of water per day. There was also a fancy looking Wolfgang Puck coffee maker with coffee supplies next to the microwave, but we didn’t use it.

The bathroom

Stocked with Neutrogena toiletries, our hotel bathroom was well lit and spacious enough. There was no bathtub; instead, there was a shower that was long like a tub. It was outfitted with a generous shower head that offered plenty of hot water and good water pressure. Taking a shower was a pleasure, although those who prefer baths might be disappointed.

Other amenities

The Doubletree in Murfreesboro has a small exercise room on the first floor. It includes a treadmill, elliptical, and stationery bike. There are also free weights, medicine balls, and pilates equipment available. If your fitness needs can’t be met by the exercise room, as a Doubletree Murphreesboro guest, you have access to Gold’s Gym, which is located just across the very busy highway. I didn’t venture there because, frankly, I was a little scared to try to cross the street! I didn’t notice any crosswalks or lights that would help me dodge cars.

If working out in the gym isn’t your thing, you can use Doubletree’s heated indoor/outdoor pool. I opted to use the pool during my stay. Since it was January, I didn’t venture to the outdoor half, though I guess it would have been safe enough. I could see the steam rising from it. The pool ranges from 3 to 5 feet deep and is surrounded by comfortable chaise lounges. The hotel staff keeps the area stocked with pool towels, too. Unfortunately, there’s no whirlpool. Otherwise, I probably would have hung out in the pool area a lot more.

The Doubletree has conference rooms for rent. They were well used during our stay.

Dining

The Doubletree Hotel in Murfreesboro has its own restaurant, a sports bar called Fanatics. Bill and I ate dinner there the first night of our stay. The restaurant seems to feature food with sort of a Mexican flare. Bill ordered some tasty quesadillas, while I had what appeared to be a variation of chicken fajitas, only instead of tortillas, it was served with lettuce leaves. The restaurant has a full service bar that was well attended during our stay.

Fanatics also serves breakfast, though Bill and I didn’t eat there for breakfast because we had access to the executive lounge. The lounge offers scrambled eggs, home fries, cereal, yogurt, unique fruit, and cereal bars. There’s also coffee available.

On our third night at the Doubletree, we ordered room service, which I think was prepared at Fanatics. To be honest, neither of us were impressed with our meals. Bill had a blackened chicken pasta dish while I had a salmon filet. Both dishes were lukewarm when we got them and neither tasted very good. However, the man who delivered them was thoughtful enough to bring water for us.

The area around the Doubletree is fairly rich with restaurants. There’s an Olive Garden, TGIFriday’s, Panera Bread, Outback Steakhouse, IHOP, Starbucks, all within walking distance of the hotel. If you’re willing to walk a little further, there’s a great local Mexican place on the other side of Stones River Mall. I had lunch there on our last day and was very happy with the food and service. It’s also a big place for an excellent margarita!

If you have access to a car, you’ll have your pick of just about anything you could want. In fact, on our last night in Murfreesboro, Bill and I went to a local fine dining establishment called Five Senses that pretty much made up for all the chain restaurants we had endured all week.

Spa

The Doubletree Hotel doesn’t have a spa. However, there is a locally owned spa/salon located just a short walk away from the hotel. Catwalk Salon & Spa offers a full range of salon services as well as massages, nail services, facials, peels, and waxing. I went there on our last full day in Murfreesboro and got a worthy needed haircut. Catwalk Salon & Spa also sells a full range of beauty products.

The staff

I think the Murfreesboro Doubletree’s best asset is its very friendly staff. Everyone we ran into, from desk clerks to housekeepers, was friendly and seemed to be happy to be working there. I was particularly pleased with the housekeeper, who was pretty patient with me, since I spent a lot of time in the room. I would leave at around 10:00am and come back by 2:00pm. She always got our room cleaned during that timespan and, if she forgot something, like extra toilet paper of a bath mat, she’d always remember to cessation by later to plunge it off.

I judge the breakfast lady in the executive lounge also deserves a sob out. She was clearly a morning person, always friendly and first-rate. It was a pleasure to see her smiling face in the mornings.

Overall

While I can’t say our stay at the Doubletree Hotel in Murfreesboro was perfect, we did have a pretty good experience. I would recommend it to anyone who has business in Murfreesboro or those who honest want to come by and gape what the town has to offer.