mhbeverly

We will be meeting family in Nashville for a weekend getaway and need to find the area's best family frindly hotel with a great pool. I've been reading about the Gaylord Opryland - it gets panned over and over - or a Holidome in Murfreeboro. Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks.

starrsville

Opryland is the answer for great pool. I stayed in a room overlooking a waterfall feeding into a pool. Very nice.

mhbeverly

I've not heard nice tings said recently - here and several other m.b.'s - about the quality and care of the rooms at this hotel. It would seem that they have a real housekeeping issue. Was this your experience? Also, you can't "reserve" a room type by bed preference - only "request". Further, I've read that if you arrive late in the evening (as we will) you get what rooms they have left. With kids in our group, it is imperative that we can request beds to accommodate sleeping arrangements and preferably in adjoining rooms. For a hotel in this price point, I am disappointed that they aren't more accommodating. . . .

PhotoDad

Opryland is a cool destination for the kids, but you don't necessarily have to stay there. You can go there for dinner, ice cream, and a romp. If you're there during the summer there are free concerts outside the Grand Old Opry on the weekends, with some great bands (Jr. Brown, Asleep at the Wheel, BR-549, Old Crow Medicine Show...)

For family travel I stay in Residence Inns almost exclusively because they have complete suites, breakfast is included in the lobby, and they allow dogs (which used to be madatory for my family. Wookie, we miss you). There's a Residence Inn on Elm Hill Pike and another in Brentwood. I haven't stayed at the one in Brentwood, but I have stayed at the one on Elm Hill Pike and its been fine each time.

Dan
familyroadtrippers.blogspot.com

msjames

For indoor pools, try the Sheraton Music City, or the Holiday Inn Select on Elm Hil Pike (both near the airport)
Downtown, there aren't many hotels with pools at all. I would rule out Murfreesboro unless that is where you are meeting your family. It's about 45 minutes to an hour away.

MarySue

A friend and I met with our kids in Nashville last year. By a stroke of weird luck we found a condominium at a timeshare place that rented for the weekend like a hotel. It had 1 indoor & 2 outdoor pools, playgrounds, basketball courts, etc. Our condo had a fully equipped kitchen, large living room & dining room combo and 2 bedrooms with their own baths. The rate was around $140 a night and is located right across the street from Opry Mills. I found it on Expedia.com. It is called the Fairfield Nashville - no relation to Marriott's Fairfield Inns. Go to Expedia and do a search by the name and it should come up. It was very clean and nice and I would go back. Even though it is a timeshare we were not subjected to any pitch or gimmicks - for us it worked just like a hotel.

bethmac

Yes, the Fairfield Nashville is going to be more like a condo because it, in fact, is a timeshare resort in the Wyndham Timeshare group (formerly Fairfield) and is not really a hotel/motel at all. I just checked hotels.com and some other sites for a trip I am planning and if it were me, I would rather pay the lesser price to stay at the Fairfield than the rates they charge at Opryland hotel for what you get. You can actually view photos and floorplans, etc, of Fairfield Nashville by going to www.fairfieldresorts.com and clicking on the search resorts option in the light blue box on the bottom right. Scroll over the map of TN and select the Nashville location. I haven't stayed there yet, but we are owners w/Fairfield and have stayed at enough other locations to know what the standard tends to be.

dfrostnh

I stayed at Opryland last June for a convention. I had been there before and disliked it but, surprisingly, the continued expansion also included a lot of improvements such as more choices of restaurants. We also lucked out on a room in a perfect location but if you aren't near the pool, plan on a very long walk. Housekeeping was fine. I think a lot of my satisfaction came from the room's location. If we had had a lousy location, there would have been too much walking. If you want a quick, "inexpensive" lunch ... the chain-type food is available on the island which can be tricky to get to and the food is mediocre. I didn't use the pool so I'm not sure of what kind of lunches are available in that area. BTW the hotel screwed up the reservations for the staff who organized the convention. They ended up with a better deal BUT kind of makes you wonder about their planning system.

Gellers

If you want to stay downtown, the Hilton has an indoor pool.

girlonthego

We stayed at the Opryland hotel about 4 years ago and we had a blast. WE had read bad reviews, but somehow got an upgrade on arrival and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. It is a busy hotel!

My husband has stayed at the Marriott Vanderbilt hotel near the University. He said it is a very nice hotel.

Bigal9

We stayed at Opryland hotel,and yes there can be a lot of walking. But it is a beautiful hotel. The pool was closed outside because it was too cold. The indoor pool was ok. They did renovate many rooms.