Calling All Tennessee Volunteers: Take a Peek Inside the Brand-New University of Tennessee Themed Hotel

One of the unique touches you’ll find at Graduate Knoxville is what you will see right when you walk in the door. The front desk is designed to replicate one of the Vol Navy boats that take to the Tennessee River on game days.

The Graduate Knoxville is located right on The Strip on Cumberland Avenue, just blocks from the campus of The University of Tennessee and Neyland Stadium.  

The color palette celebrating Tennessee Orange with touches of blue and white carries through the entire hotel, including the guest rooms.

This room has plenty of space to gather the gang and map out your itinerary or maybe just to sing a few rounds of “Rocky Top” to get pumped for the game.

The hotel is also home to Peyton Manning’s first restaurant, Saloon 16. Put on some cowboy boots and step on into this western inspired spot for some elevated bar fare, country music on the juke box, and a three-dimensional history lesson of Peyton Manning’s football origins. You can read all about it here.

This isn’t your normal sports bar with some generic, replicated items on the walls. Everything you will see in Saloon 16 came directly from Peyton Manning’s personal collection. “I really think this space is, if Peyton were to build a saloon in his basement this is exactly what it would look like,” Weprin said.

Manning isn’t the only famous alum who is spotlighted here. There is also a gallery wall in the lobby featuring custom cartoon drawings by two-time Pulitzer finalist and UT grad, Marshall Ramsey.