Here is Dean's response:
We have been staying at the Sapphire Inn in Franklin, but probably will not in the future. Getting a little run down.
http://www.thesapphireinn.com/The Knights Inn in Franklin looks good and we will probably look at it in the future or the Carolina Motel.
http://www.knightsinn.com/hotels/north-carolina/franklin/knights-inn-franklin...http://www.carolinamotel.com/In Robbinsville there is the Phillips Motel. I have stayed there and it is a very nice Mom and Pop type motel.
http://phillipsmotelonline.com/If you go to this web site and look down the right side of the home page there are a lot of lodging choices.
http://tailofthedragon.com/If you ride the Cherohala Skyway, just as you come off the Skyway on the west end near Tellico Plains, the first deli on the right (going west) is Tellico Kats. Great lunch. Highly recommend.
http://tellicokats.com/MM, his brother Kent and I assembled at the Kat's Deli on the summer trip 2 year ago....it is a nice lunch place to stop and it has a nice deck that is right on the river.
I clicked on the Nights Inn, a room for 2 adults is $ 65 a night, and they only have 3 rooms left for June 16/17/18. The Carolina Hotel was $ 70 a night......their screen didn't show the number of rooms available.
I don't have any problem paying those kind of rates for a nice, clean hotel....with a comfortable bed and shower. I also can rough it a bit more....cabins and a campground style public bath/showers also work for me. If I bring the trailer.....it is cozy to sleep in and I just need the shower/restroom access.