Tennessee hotel rated dirtiest in U.S.

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Being labeled the "Dirtiest Hotel in America" isn't sitting well with the head honcho of a historic hotel in Tennessee who has already sent heads rolling.

A day after the travel review site TripAdvisor named the Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge America's grungiest hotel, Nicky Darrell Chaney, chief executive of the company that runs the hotel, told CBS affiliate WVLT, Knoxville, Wednesday he has fired one manager, hired new maintenance and put a fresh face in charge of housekeeping. He also ordered rooms be cleaned with a new sanitizer.

"We knew we had some problems, and we've started to work on these problems," said Chaney, who just took over the operations at KMS Enterprises in December. "This is an issue the company is taking very seriously."

After having been graded "terrible" by 161 of 224 reviewers, "poor" by 26 and "average" by 15, the hotel would seem to have plenty of room for improvement.

"This is a nasty place, would not let my dog sleep there," a reviewer identified as LaFolettePat wrote last week under the headline "health inspector please."

Rounding out TripAdvisor's Top 10 list for 2011 are: Jack London Inn, Oakland, Calif.; Desert Inn Resort, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Hotel Carter, New York; Polynesian Beach & Golf Resort, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Atlantic Beach Hotel, Miami Beach, Fla.; Rodeway Inn, Williamsville, N.Y.; Super 8 Estes Park, Denver; Palm Grove Hotel and Suites, Virginia Beach, Va.; and Econo Lodge Newark International Airport, Elizabeth, N.J.