We generally stay in the Crabtree Mall area - the Embassy Suites on Creedmore is in that same area. Most major brands are there. Personal preference for me is the Homewood Suites. What I like about it is that you can pretty much get from Crabtre to campus and stay off the freeway.
For walking distance, there is also an Aloft set to open soon (next week?). Not the cheapest option, but looks pretty cool.