Within the entertainment district of Chattanooga sits Kinley Chattanooga Southside, a lifestyle hotel by Vision Hospitality Group. Designed with the art and culture of the neighborhood and community in mind, Kinley Chattanooga Southside exudes modern amenities and features rich earth tones that exemplify the region’s landscape. The Kinley brand aims to represent the liveliness of its hotels’ surrounding communities, and the Chattanooga property embraces the energy of the neighborhood by promoting the authentic aesthetic of the nature, art, and people of the city. The property’s 64 guestrooms are equipped with amenities including snacks and drinks sourced locally, rainfall showerheads, and custom fittings; guestrooms also range from bunkbed-sized to king-sized to support the variety of travelers visiting the area.
The Exchange at Kinley Chattanooga Southside offers baked goods and specialty coffee during the day before transitioning into a cocktail bar with small plates in the evening. In addition, the property’s Company bar is designed after a modern speakeasy. And recently, Kinley Chattanooga Southside announced a partnership with Common House—a local social club— that offers a “co-work + play” package for hotel guests. Opened in March 2021, Mitch Patel, president and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group, says that both guests and locals alike have embraced the property as part of the community. He says that the hotel is synchronous with Chattanooga and that placing the property in the neighborhood was a “great opportunity.” He adds, “Now, people, visitors, and locals can experience this hotel and basically get an experience out of the neighborhood.”
1Artwork by Women
“We have a lot of local art in the hotel. It’s all local. It just happened to be—this was not planned initially—all by female artists,” Patel says. The property curated multiple pieces by women before “we realized these are all local female artists. This might be one of the first hotels to have a local art collection all by local female artists.”
2Fitting In
Patel says that incorporating the property “into the neighborhood makes you feel like there’s a sense of place.” To encourage that sense, industrial-designed light fixtures, concrete floors, and more create an “edginess” but something that’s “not completely raw. There’s a good balance of rawness and polish. That juxtaposition has turned out extremely well.”
3Neighborhood Aesthetic
Patel says “the goal of Southside was to look and feel like you were going into this cool friend’s condo or flat in the neighborhood. Very residential, very warm, and very much that it would fit into a friend’s condo or apartment that happens to live in that neighborhood.” This is done through exposed brick, mid-century modern furniture, and concrete floorings.
4Bringing People Together
Patel says the spaces are meant to bring people together in unexpected ways; The Exchange at the Kinley Chatanooga Southside does this by encouraging collaboration. “Today, with what we’re going through with the pandemic, it makes a lot more sense than ever because, at the end of the day, we’re just looking to connect.”
