Hotel around Music Row?
 

My husband and I are travelling to Nashville for the weekend soon. He wants to stay in an area with good restaurants/music/bars. He was thinking about Music Row. Any suggestions on hotels? We want somewhere nice.

We go to Nashville once a year. There's not much left on Music Row, and the waterfront area (2nd street) is, to us, tourist tacky (but can be fun). <BR> <BR>Our solution is to stay roughly halfway inbetween. The Union Station Hotel (think that's the name) on Broadway is very nice and located within walking distance of a small but good restaurant/bar area at 12th Ave (12th and Porter Restaurant, The Pub of Love). And you can even walk dowtown to the waterfront area or I think there's regular shuttle buses too. The hotel's also somewhat walking distance to the Vanderbilt area which has more bars/restaurants. And right behind the Union Station is a great bar called the Flying Saucer. <BR> <BR>If the Union Station's rates are more than you want to spend, there's another hotel right near it call the Clubhouse Inn & Conference Center. We're staying there for the first time in October, but it's brand new and looks pretty good on its website (do a search). And we got a great rate from http://www.180096hotel.com/ <BR> <BR>Good luck.

I travel to Nashville several times a year, and also suggest the Union Station Hotel. Right in the same area, you also have the Renaissance, Crowne Plaza and the Lowe's Vanderbilt (all on the high to pricey scale). Further up West End Avenue, there is a nice Holiday Inn Select, which is very clean and a little more reasonable. West End turns into Broadway (the main street)- and there is a free trolley that runs along Broadway and West End stopping at all the hotels. Have fun- Nashville is a great city!

Thanks so much for both of your suggestions? For the Union Station Hotel and those surrounding--will we be in close proximity to maybe some bars where up and coming musicians play? Or, are there such places? Thanks again for all of your help!!

There are many bars w/ live entertainment up and down lower Broadway and 2nd Avenue (towards the river), to name a couple of concentrated areas. Granted, some are "touristy", but you'll still find plenty of talented songwriters and musicians. When you get into town, pick up a Nashville Scene tabloid and you'll find more than enough live acts to choose from that are within walking distance.Some places of note in your: Gibson Milano Cafe, Gibson Cafe on Broadway, Wildhorse Saloon, Tootsie's, Ryman Auditorium, and, if you want to take a cab to the other side of town, there's the Bluebird Cafe which has fresh talent and established talent. There's also a boot store that has performers (!), among them the retro-country act BR549. If you think of how Hollywood attracts aspiring actors and actresses by the busload, the same holds true for singers, musicians, and songwriters in Nashville. More performers than you can shake a stick at!

Just back from Nashville and need to correct my above post. The Clubhouse Inn is not new, but rather worn. They are currently renovating (room by room - not too disruptive) but it should still be classified as an older property. <BR> <BR>Overall, it was fine. Comfortable room, basic bath, very old TV with about 8 channels, stained carpets. Hot breakfast buffet included (nothing fancy). Free underground parking. <BR> <BR>But for the location (walking distance to everything) and the price (less than half the price of the Union Station across the street) it was great.

<BR> <BR>I travel for work quite a bit to Alabama. I like Alabama very much, but the weekends sometimes drag. As a result, Nashville has become one of my favorite cities. Maybe it's touristy, but it is fun. I agree about Union Station--a nice hotel. One that hasn't been mentioned is the Hermitage--I think it's on Sixth Street near Union. It's a very old place that has been refurbished. Very nice. Strangely, Fodor's has not reviewed either, which, in my opinion, are the best hotels in town. <BR> <BR>Then there's the Opryland Hotel. It's a circus worth a visit. I'm not sure about actually staying there. <BR> <BR>As Hal alluded (above), there are so many guitarists floating around Nashville, the odds of finding a good band are pretty good. Lots of decent restaurants, too. The usual suspects, of course: Ruth's Chris, Morton's. But on Second (St or Ave?), we've had good luck at several of the smaller places.

I've got to add a couple of great restaurants we visited: <BR> <BR>For lunch on Friday we went to the Mad Platter on 6th Ave in Germantown (must drive - it's surrounded by bad neighborhoods). A homey converted townhouse with new American menu. Nice wine list and friendly, down to earth service. Wife had a crabcake to start and a fantastic blackened salmon ceasar salad (I never knew salmon could be that tender). I had a wonderful pesto/tomato saused mushroom ravioli to start (though it was rich enough for a main course) and 2 crabcakes as an entree. Washed down with a crisp white on a sunny fall afternoon - a great way to do lunch. Expresso and hazelnut gelati topped it off perfectly. Not cheap at about $100 before tip, but well worth it. <BR> <BR>Dinner was our real find - Cafe One Two Three on 12th Ave just off Broadway. Everything was fantastic from the broad but accessable wine list to the dark wood floors to the subdued guitar player to the long attractive bar to a crab dip served with a plain assortment of crackers that deserved it's name of "crabmeat fondue" to my very very tender chicken breast stuffed with a wonderful Italian cheese to my wife's sublime artichoke soup (oh, and my wife wants to add the "eye candy" waiter). Only her main course of seafood over pasta failed to overwhelm, but it was still good. I forget what we had for desert - it was a long day. About $150 all-in. We will return.