The best hotels to book in Nashville in 2024

Honky-tonks, hot chicken and music-filled streets are three popular reasons to visit Nashville — but these days, Music City offers so much more. It has an incredible music scene that reaches far beyond the country genre, fabulous food that’s way more than just barbecue and must-visit museums that range from an art museum to the powerful National Museum of African American Music.

Nashville also has, over the last decade, crafted a hotel scene that nearly packs a punch as powerful as its famed music scene. You can stay in the lap of luxury at the new Four Seasons, sleep under a portrait of Dolly Parton at the eclectic Graduate, or earn and burn points from all the major hotel brands.

Whatever your reason for visiting Nashville, read on for a crash course on the best Nashville hotels.

When The Joseph, part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, opened its doors in Nashville in 2020, it brought an eclectic sense of luxury to downtown.

Filled to the brim with hundreds of pieces of art — ranging from abstract canvases by German-based artist Danni Pantel to an entire collection of artworks by Tennesseeans — you’d think this hotel was actually an extension of the nearby Frist Art Museum.

In the rooms, leather and denim embellishments pay a subtle homage to Nashville’s country heritage without being too on-the-nose (no music notes or guitars in sight). All the accommodations are sleek and offer ceiling-high wooden headboard panels and minifridges stocked with locally made kombucha. However, the presidential suite’s panoramic views (and grand piano) set it apart from the rest.

At on-site restaurant Yolan, James Beard Award-winning chef Tony Mantuano serves impeccable Italian food alongside a fabulous wine menu curated by his wife, partner and wine expert Cathy Mantuano. Head to the seasonal rooftop bar Denim on the 21st floor for creative cocktails and a buzzy scene.

Rates at The Joseph start at $299 or 62,500 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

Set back on the Midtown side of Broadway (an easy walk or scooter ride to downtown or Music Row), Hilton’s addition of the Conrad to its growing collection of Nashville hotels gives Hilton Honors members a high-end place to earn or burn points in style.

Rooms here are texture-filled but refined and full of luxury amenities, including Frette linens, Byredo toiletries, 55-inch TVs with streaming capabilities and even special wellness rooms with Peloton bikes, free weights and yoga mats. Some rooms even include balconies, while select suites are large enough to include a kitchenette, dining room table and living room space.

Meals or happy hour at this sophisticated Conrad can take a lighter form with craft cocktails and shared plates full of international flavors (think: spicy tuna temaki and crab udon noodles) at Thistle & Rye, or with something more substantial at Blue Aster, a seafood restaurant with a Nashville twist that has a strong a la carte menu as well as dinner and lunch tasting menus.

And while you’ll likely spend most of your time galavanting around town, be sure to reserve an hour for a chic afternoon tea at the hotel or a personal shopping experience at The Fifth Avenue Club Nashville, where Saks Fifth Avenue will bring the clothes to you.

Rates at the Conrad Nashville start at $242 or 76,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

In The Gulch — a trendy neighborhood near downtown that’s filled with shops, bars and restaurants — Nashville’s take on the W hits all the right notes.

A behemoth property, the hotel itself has an excellent food scene that includes the Nashville outpost of New York City’s Carne Mare, a dark and moody Italian chophouse by chef Andrew Carmellini. The hotel also features The Dutch, a bright and airy restaurant with an American-themed menu, plus a punchy rooftop bar with incredible views of the Nashville skyline and the much-loved coffee spot Barista Parlor.

The hotel’s design blends Nashville’s rustic roots with a more modern look that incorporates leather, wood and steel. The rooms also feature shiny green tiles, splashes of bright color and pop art that playfully depicts unseen sides of the music industry. Not to be missed are the over-the-top minibars stocked with party essentials and hangover kits; they serve as the perfect ode to Nashville’s festive reputation.

Outside the hotel, drop by Lucchese for a pair of designer cowboy boots, then stop at Station Inn, a historic music venue, for a taste of what Music City’s really all about.

Rates at the W Nashville start at $249 or 70,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

When you doze off in your room at the Graduate Nashville (which will soon be part of Hilton), you fall asleep under a portrait of an angel on Earth: Dolly Parton. The room decor features more pinks, pastels and patterns than you ever thought could possibly work together, but somehow they do.

The entire place is kitschy, country and worth the hype you’ve likely seen on Instagram thanks to its playful design elements. Some of these details include a larger-than-life hooked rug portraying Minnie Pearl that hangs above the check-in desk, a series of so-ugly-they’re-cute couches and Andy Warhol-style pop art of fast food chain logos.

The rooftop bar White Limozeen is a pink palace and an Instagram dream. It offers pink velvet couches, fruity cocktails and spiked Jell-O shots, and it even has an outdoor terrace with a pool. Downstairs, Cross-Eyed Critters Watering Hole is a dive karaoke bar with an animatronic robot band — the perfect place to feel like a Nashville star for a night.

Rates at the Graduate Nashville start at $209 per night.

Though Nashville is full of new hotels in glass-and-steel high-rises, this beaux-arts-style hotel has been holding down the fort as Nashville’s premier luxury locale since it opened back in 1910.

Over the years, the property nicknamed “Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel” has hosted presidents and celebrities. It even played a significant role in the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Today, the hotel retains many elements of its original grandeur but with a modern and fresh sense of luxury. The rooms (which are some of the largest found downtown) sport white walls and soft green carpet to create a Southern and sophisticated feel. Marble bathrooms have deep soaking tubs and Molton Brown bath amenities.

Recently, the hotel reimagined its culinary experiences by giving the reins to chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who opened Drusie & Darr (named after a former manager’s kids who grew up in the hotel in the 1950s). The menu offers items such as roasted cauliflower steak, ahi tuna tartare and black sea bass served with shishito peppers. Be sure to stop by the restaurant’s bar to check out its 208-bottle Bourbon Library.

Even better, it’s part of Preferred Travel Group’s I Prefer loyalty program.

Rates at The Hermitage Hotel start at $314 per night.

One of the best areas to go out and party in Nashville is Printers Alley, with its famed karaoke bars and bright neon signs.

If you want to stay in the middle of the action (but also have an easy place to retreat to when it all gets to be too much), book a room at Noelle. The hotel has 224 rooms with hickory hardwood floors, spotless white walls and linens, locally handcrafted pottery and Red Flower bath amenities.

Though there’s plenty to explore beyond Noelle’s walls, don’t miss the many surprises hidden within them — like the speakeasy-style Hidden Bar tucked away behind a storage closet door. For weekend brunch or a lively dinner, hit up Makeready L&L for pasta and seafood before moving to the rooftop bar, Rare Bird, for draft cocktails and local beers.

Be on the lookout for the “Nashvillians of Note” art collection, which displays more than 100 portraits of people who have made an impact on the city. Additionally, sculptures of great blue herons, a native bird to Middle Tennessee, dot various spaces of the hotel.

Rates at Noelle start at $217 per night. (Note: This hotel recently left the Marriott Bonvoy program.)

These days it feels as if there are more hotels in Printers Alley than there are bars, but Dream Hotel is one of the good ones. It’s a trendy spot that merged two historic Fourth Avenue buildings into one design-driven hotel and caters to the cool kids in town. It also now caters to Hyatt loyalists since Dream Hotels was recently integrated into the World of Hyatt portfolio.

You’ll find moody blue and white walls across the 168 rooms and 21 suites. Meanwhile, smart pieces of art deco-inspired furniture and decor add elements of gold and leather to the look. The bathrooms are stocked with C.O. Bigelow amenities alongside fluffy towels.

If you want to have a dreamy night without leaving the hotel, grab a hot chicken sandwich for dinner under the glass atrium at Stateside Kitchen, then move to the speakeasy, Snitch, for live music and local brews. For a few hours of dancing, hit up Dirty Little Secret. Afterward, swing by Vatos Tacos for a midnight beef quesabirria taco.

Rates at Dream Nashville start at $299 per night or 21,000 World of Hyatt points.

Nashville has many trendy hotels catering to urban travelers, but until recently, it was lacking variety on the luxury side of the spectrum. That changed at the end of 2022 when Four Seasons showed up and left its stamp on Tennessee’s capital.

Towering 40 stories above downtown and the Cumberland River, Four Seasons Nashville is the tallest residential building in Tennessee.

Across 193 guest rooms and 42 suites, you’ll find distinctive touches of Tennessee, including wooden accents and furniture, leather chairs and photos of Nashville. These features blend seamlessly with the brand’s classic all-white bedding (which is always perfectly fluffed), bright bathrooms and an overall sense of comfortable luxury.

Beat the heat of the hot Tennessee summer with a spicy margarita on the resort-like pool deck, where an infinity pool looks over the Cumberland. At the spa, rejuvenate your skin from all the greasy (and delicious) food you’ve eaten with a deep cleansing facial ($195 for 50 minutes).

At Mimo, helmed by executive chef Francesco Greco, learn what happens when a restaurant merges Italian and Southern traditions and puts an emphasis on seafood.

After dinner, grab a drink at the bar or, in true Nashville fashion, step outside and follow the rambunctious crowds to Lower Broadway for a night of honky-tonks, karaoke and fun. Just know whenever you get home, this hotel is soundproofed, so you can sleep peacefully without all that nighttime noise.

Rates at the Four Seasons Nashville start at $424 per night.

When the Thompson Nashville opened in the Gulch, it gave the already-fashionable neighborhood an equally sleek hotel.

Rooms feature an entire wall of windows with views of the area, deep-blue leather headboards with geometric wooden panels, Sferra linens, Marshall Bluetooth speakers and glossy bathrooms with white subway tiles and rainfall showers.

In the lobby, coffee table books about music and vinyl records are tucked away around a community desk great for remote work. Brown velvet couches, black-and-white photos of musicians and other trinkets complete the room.

Opposite this living room area, Marsh House dishes out Southern seafood dishes and hosts a popular oyster happy hour. You should also head across the street to Otaku Ramen for a Tennessee take on tonkatsu ramen.

Just be sure to head upstairs early to L.A. Jackson to snag a seat at the hotel’s first-come, first-served indoor-outdoor rooftop bar. A popular spot for both tourists and locals, the place gets crowded. The drinks flow late into the night, a DJ turns up the music and the Nashville skyline twinkles in the distance.

Rates at the Thompson Nashville start at $343 or 21,000 World of Hyatt points per night.

As you drive toward the bright neon lights of Lower Broadway, you’ll probably pass the castle-like Union Station Nashville Yard hotel, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. The building was erected as the city’s train terminal more than 100 years ago.

Today, the Gilded Age structure — which features a massive clock tower — has been reborn as a modern hotel that shows off its past. This is evident in the 65-foot arched ceiling with beautiful stained glass in the main reception hall.

In the rooms, playful elements like cowhide headboards and wood-paneled walls remind guests of Nashville’s frontier roots. Modern amenities such as large flat-screen TVs, contemporary art from Tennessee-based artists and rainfall showers in marble-tiled bathrooms make for a comfortable stay.

Granite walls, 22-foot ceilings and arched windows set the tone at Stationairy, a restaurant with an eclectic “modern American” menu of dishes. Meals range from slow-cooked prime short rib to Wagyu brisket burgers served with pairings of Tennessee whiskeys. At Ergo, sit down to enjoy nightly live music and a glass of whiskey in the old train station.

Rates at Union Station Nashville Yard start at $232 or 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

Standing tall at the top of Broadway and overlooking Nashville’s iconic bars, music venues and the Cumberland River, the Grand Hyatt Nashville is a sizable hotel that still serves up boutique charm.

Upon entering the sprawling lobby, guests immediately get a feel for the taste and textures of this high-end hotel. The lobby is decked out in dark wood, glittery gold chandeliers and a stunning gold, silver and black wall motif.

At the lobby bar, Aurum, visitors and locals sip the hotel’s own locally made golden ale under an impressive gold, geometric lighting installation.

Flanking one side of the lobby is James Beard Award-winning chef Sean Brock’s vinyl listening room and bar, Bar Continental, where music meets Japanese cocktail bar influences alongside local beer, shareable seafood dishes and Japanese coffee and tea. On the opposite side of the lobby, “Tennessee farm-to-table” cuisine like pickle-fried chicken and fennel-rubbed pork chops make up the menu at The Nashville Grange.

In the relaxed but design-forward guest rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows let the light shine on the large wooden room fixtures and paneling. Rooms also feature Instagram-worthy, midcentury modern couches in an orangey hue. Balmain bath products add an extra touch to the marble bathrooms, which have dual sinks and large showers.

Before you draw the blackout shades and tuck into bed, hit up Lou/na, one of Nashville’s highest rooftop bars, for a midnight glass of Tennessee whiskey.

Rates at the Grand Hyatt Nashville start at $349 or 21,000 points per night.

Situated near the Country Music Hall of Fame and Music City Center, 1 Hotel Nashville is one of the newer properties in town. It’s a great option for people attending conventions or anyone just looking for a trendy new place to rest their head at night.

Rooms at this hotel take on a Zen aesthetic. They have natural wooden wall elements with ambient lighting, leather headboards and wooden post beds. Soft white linens, touches of natural greenery and Bamford bathroom products — the same brand found in the hotel’s actual spa — complement the furnishings.

Speaking of the hotel spa, it offers body scrubs, wellness facials, 24-karat gold collagen face masks, massages and more.

1 Hotels tout a commitment to conservation and sustainability. Among the eco-conscious elements at this property is the living wall along the building’s facade. It holds 56,000 individual plants that capture carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the atmosphere.

That sustainability philosophy is reflected in the food and beverage options, too. At 1 Kitchen, locally sourced ingredients are used in seasonal menus and cocktails, and at Harriet’s Rooftop on the 19th floor, the price of a Negroni includes a donation to local charity People Loving Nashville.

Rates at 1 Hotel Nashville start around $339 per night.

When you arrive at the Bobby Hotel in the popping Printers Alley area of downtown, be on the lookout for Zoe, the hotel’s “Dog-In-Residence.” Zoey was adopted and is undergoing service-dog training at the hotel. She’ll eventually go live with a veteran.

After you find him, take some time to enjoy the art arranged throughout the hotel, which includes a quarterly rotating exhibit called “The Collection at Bobby” curated by Tinney Contemporary.

In the rooms, a more-is-more mindset sets the tone for design, with button-tufted leather headboards set over graphic wallpaper prints of maps and images of iconic world landmarks, plus wooden storage units with images of guitars and boots branded on, multi-orb lightbulbs cascading down floor-to-ceiling lamps and purposefully “lived-on” red and gray carpeting.

Shared plates — like huckleberry creme fraiche pierogies and short ribs with summer roots spaetzle, tomato, hazelnut and pickled okra — are on offer at Union Tavern. Guests should follow dinner with some local beers at Bobby’s Garage, the clean-cut hotel’s take on an ultra-divey bar. Or, head to the Rooftop Lounge, which offers pop-up experiences such as Instagram-worthy igloos in winter.

Rates at the Bobby Hotel start at $260 per night.

The sky-high JW Marriott Nashville is situated between The Gulch and the bustling nightlife of downtown — not to mention it’s very close to the Music City Center. It was one of the early properties to launch Nashville’s hotel boom.

Rooms here are clean, sophisticated and thoughtfully laid out. They have full walls of windows showing off the city’s skyline and Nashville’s rolling hills. Additionally, they feature 50-inch TVs and large desks perfect for business travelers or remote workers.

Chances are you won’t want to spend too much time in your room, though. The hotel has one of the largest rooftop decks in the downtown area, complete with six cabanas (which you can rent for an added cost). The Spa by JW has a full menu of treatments ranging from Basalt stone massages ($195) to packages designed for bachelorette parties and girls weekend getaways.

Enjoy a steak dinner 34 floors above town at Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina — just don’t get overwhelmed by the 700-plus bottles on the wine list. A Southern brunch menu headlined by biscuits and creamy gravy is a must at Stompin’ Grounds, though all-day menus are available as well.

End your day with drinks at Bourbon Sky: It’s a 360-degree panoramic rooftop bar that makes guests feel like they’re floating — and it’s not just the bourbon talking.

Rates at the JW Marriott Nashville start at $332 or 45,000 points per night.

Of the hotels away from the touristy areas on Lower Broadway, the Kimpton Aertson is one of the best — and one of the most stylish.

The lobby check-in desk is covered in a bright blue, hand-knotted rope installation by Orly Genger. A double-sided fireplace keeps the area warm and homey, and zippy Public bikes are available for guests to borrow. Be sure to stop by for a complimentary wine hour each evening, too.

The contemporary design makes the 180 rooms and suites feel like a home-away-from-home with an industrial edge. There are concrete ceilings and pillars countering dark-stained woods; bright white linens and perfectly placed splashes of color — like yellow sitting chairs, and blue curtains and throw pillows — tie the rooms together. All accommodations have marble bathrooms, 50-inch TVs with streaming options and yoga mats.

A seasonal rooftop pool offers a place to unwind in the sun, while the Woodhouse Spa lets you de-stress with a deep-tissue massage (which starts at $155). At hotel restaurant Henley, the French-inspired menu of small plates has a touch of Southern flair.

Rates at the Kimpton Aertson Hotel start at $161 or 29,000 points per night.

When you enter the Fairlane Hotel, keep your eyes peeled for the original wood paneling, terrazzo floors and brass fixtures that contributed to the original design of 404 Union— a landmark building constructed in 1972. The building has since been converted into a cheeky hotel that’s unafraid to use color and texture, despite its location in a city where most hotels skew toward neutral palettes, blond wood and white textiles.

King rooms feature high ceilings, and mauve accent walls play host to darker headboards. There are also adequate-size desks and minibars loaded with goodies from around town. Splurge for a bigger suite to receive upgraded amenities like a wet bar, floor-to-ceiling windows in the bathroom and a comfy couch, depending on which space you choose.

On the fourth floor, stepping into Elington’s Restaurant is like walking into a Southern-fied episode of “Mad Men” — one where pimento cheese, barbecue-dusted cauliflower and pork chops are served with habanero-infused cocktails in a moody lounge with indoor and outdoor seating.

Rates at the Fairlane Hotel start at $265 per night.

What is the best part of Nashville to stay in?

While there are many incredible neighborhoods in Nashville to stay in, the majority of hotels — especially the ones on this list — are centered around a few specific areas that offer convenient access to Music City’s many attractions, business hubs and the always-busy convention center and bars of Lower Broadway. Anywhere you stay in the downtown area will offer you direct access to the areas mentioned above, plus the opportunity to easily walk around without needing a car. The Gulch, which is also an easy walk to downtown, is a great place to stay as well, and full of hip bars and restaurants, high-end shops, and some of the most popular hotels in town, like the W and The Thompson.