New Clinton Fairfield Inn now open at I-75, Exit 122
This is the reception lobby of the new Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel in Clinton, which opened last week. To the left is the breakfast room. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
“We opened July 22,” said Victor Patel, a partner in VRL Hotels LLC. of Jacksboro. VRL is the owner and developer of the facility, which sits just behind the new Taco Bell restaurant, toward Tanner Lane and Walmart.
The facility is being managed by a third party, Ephant Group, a real estate development and hotel-management company in Knoxville, Patel said.
That company manages seven hotels in the Knoxville area and two in Southeastern Kentucky, including three other Fairfield Inn properties. It also will be managing another Fairfield Inn now under construction in West Knoxville.
In Clinton, construction began on the four-story Fairfield Inn hotel and conference center in late 2019, and in February of this year, the developers got a second building permit from the city of Clinton to install a $50,000 swimming pool on the property.
The $9 million hotel, built on the site of a hotel that was torn down about four years ago, will eventually have about 20 employees, Patel said.
Originally scheduled to open in May, the hotel had some trouble finding enough workers to open on time, but now has sufficient staff, he said.
Knoxville-based Turnkey Construction LLC. built the hotel and the swimming pool. Turnkey Construction is owned by Dennis Patel.
Site preparation began in November 2019 for the Fairfield Inn, which has about 3,000 square feet of meeting space. Fairfield Inn & Suites is a brand of the hotel conglomerate Marriott International, Inc.
“Clinton is a great place for us, and there is no other property there with the Marriott flag,” Patel said last year as the project got underway. “The only meeting space available now is at the Holiday Inn Express [at Exit 122], but it has only about 600 square feet. Our meeting space will be able to accommodate from 125 to 150 people.”
He said the new inn would have the same amount of meeting space as a similar Marriott property in Oak Ridge that is used by some of the Clinton businesses.
Besides business meetings, the inn will also be available to host other, non-business events, including parties, Patel said.
Other partners in VRL Hotels include Vic Patel and Kenny Patel, he said. VRL Hotels already has hospitality properties in North Carolina, Georgia and Middle and West Tennessee, Victor Patel said.
Victor Patel, who’s been living in Caryville for more than four years, said his company chose Clinton for the Fairfield Inn because some manufacturing plants here have been seeking a higher-end hotel with meeting facilities, and because Exit 122 is a popular stopping place for through traffic using Interstate 75.
Until recently, Patel’s company also owned and operated a liquor store on Andersonville Highway in Andersonville, the Liquor Depot. But Patel said VRL has since sold that business and plans to concentrate on hotels from now on.
Although the new Fairfield Inn has meeting facilities, it does not have a restaurant, Patel said. But it does have a catering kitchen so those holding meetings there can bring in catering services to prepare and serve food for their events.
There is a breakfast room for registered guests off the lobby on the main floor.