Nashville Gaylord Opryland by Kim Sgambato (October 2017)
Nashville TN
This was my first time to Nashville and can’t wait to go back! 4 nights was not enough with all there is to see and do.
I flew out of Boston to get non stop flights. $120 round trip – Jet Blue going and Southwest home.
I stayed at the Gaylord Opry Land Resort with Marriott Famtastic certificates. The hotel was $111 a night, plus a resort fee of $20 and then self parking of $29 per day. They do offer valet parking, which is $36 a day.
This resort has just under 3000 rooms separated into 3 different wings. Each wing has a center area that opens up to water and lots of plants, trees, and decorations. We go there in the morning so as we walked into the atriums it was beautiful. Then at night all is lit up with lights handing from the glass ceilings or spot lights in the water. I thought it was impressive during the day but the night was spectacular! The resort is a destination in itself!
They were getting ready for their Christmas spectacular which starts on November 11 through January 3rd so they had started to decorate. Next time I want to go back to see this!!!
They offer rooms that face the atrium and then standard rooms that face the parking lots or Opry Mills. We had a standard king bedded room that was definitely over sized! The bathroom has a huge walk in shower, and a second sink outside the bathroom.
The resort has live music in the lobby every night from 4pm – 6pm.
The concierge can get tickets to shows that are sold out. We got tickets to a show at the Ryman Auditorium 5 rows from the stage less than 24 hours before the show!!!
Check in can be delayed so I would advise people of this. This is a big conference hotel as well and even though check in time is 4pm we did not get into our room until after 5pm. We checked in at 11am. Not a big deal for us because we did rent a car so we just went downtown.
The resort is about 10 minutes from the airport and about 15 – 20 from downtown Nashville.
The hotel does offer a 3 day shuttle pass to down town for $40 per person. The shuttle runs every 90 minutes from the hotel and then from 2 designated spots downtown. We did not use the shuttle because we had a car. They offer a free shuttle to Opry Mills and the Grand Ole Opry. The transfer from the airport to the hotel is $19 per person. I’m sure you can take Uber or Lyft for less.
In the fall of 2018 the resort will be opening a new wing with a BIG water park. It will be called Soundwaves. It will have a slide tower, a double flowrider, a wave pool, a rapid and lazy river, they will have private cabanas to rent, an adults only section and lounge, and new restaurants. They have started construction and we could see parts of it in the works.
When staying at the Opry if you show your room key you can get into Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in the Opry Mills Mall for free. This was a nice perk – cost is $20 per person to get in.
There were a few little museums near the hotel. The first one was a Dukes of Hazard museum which is free to tour. It was really well done. There have the General Lee, the tow truck, the jeep, and the police car from the show there also. They do charge you to take pictures in each of the vehicles. $5 each but you can take as many as you like with your own camera. Next to that is the Willie Nelson museum which is $7.50 per person to get into. The line was too long so we didn’t wait to go in.
Parking can be expensive in downtown if you want to park right near Broadway – which is the main strip for the attractions. If you park 2 – 3 blocks off of Broadway you can get a day pass for $20 – $30. We discover this on our 2nd to last day!
We purchased a Total Access pass which was $75 per person. We were able to pick from 4 attractions from a list of 32. This also gave us free admission to the Parthenon which is well worth the trip! The 4 we picked were, The Country Music Hall of Fame – you can go in and out all day until they close at 5pm, Ryman Auditorium tour, the Hop on and Hop off bus which was good for 2 days and made 15 stops, and the last thing we picked was the boat ride through our resort. Some of the options I would suggest making reservations for. We wanted to tour the Grand Ole Opry but buy the time we got there all the tours were sold out.
One of the stops on the hop on and off is at the Marathon Motor Works. This is the furthest point on the tour and outside the city. You can spend a few hours here. There is a vineyard, a brewery, a whiskey distillery, an antique shop owned by American pickers, some history of older cars, shops, and a candy store. Well worth getting off! There were a few other stops on the route that are free to visit but we just didn’t have time to get off at but will definitely will next time.
Broadway is the main strip in downtown; this is where 95% of the restaurants, bars and shops are. There is live entertainment morning, noon, and night. I have to tell you some of these bands and singers are so good I have no idea why they aren’t making records. 50% of these restaurants/bars are 2 – 3 indoor floors with a different singer or band on each floor and the there is a roof top bar with another set of entertainers. AMAZING view at night from the top floor of these bars!!!
We wanted to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery which is about an hour and 15 minutes from the downtown area. You can take this tour with a whiskey tasting or just the tour itself so it’s good for all ages. We drove all the way there to have the tours sold out also. The tour is an hour and ½ so call ahead before you make the drive or go first thing in the morning before all the crowds get there. Also be sure there isn’t an event going on. There was an international BBQ event going on which of course made getting in and out of there even worse.
Nashville was a wonderful trip but like I mentioned we didn’t have enough time. This destination can be for couples, families, or groups. I would suggest at least 5 – 6 nights or a shorter stay if your clients plan to go back.
Keep in mind when booking clients there is a LOT of walking on a trip like this. We love to walk so it wasn’t a big deal for us.
If you have any questions or need any tips let me know. I also have TON of pictures of the resort, downtown, and the attractions we visited.