1st time to Nashville, country music fans, where would you recommend we stay? Any specific area or hotel? Thanks!

We went for tourism at it's best. We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was a huge hotel. We enjoyed our stay there.
My husband has stayed on business in the Vanderbilt University area (Marriott). He said that was a nice area to stay.
When we went with him that one time, we decided that the Opryland hotel was part of being in Nashville.

If you are on a budget, use Priceline. You can get a Sheraton for about $35 a night. (Check www.biddingfortravel.com before bidding.)

Last year we stayed at the Renassiance downtown. We got the room through Priceline for $80 a night after getting bidding advice from biddingfortravel.com. The hotel was very comfortabe and near the country music hall of fame.

Unless you have a car, I wouldn't recommend Opryland Hotel. I don't think I'd recommend it even with a car. If no car, stay downtown. If price is no object, try the Hermitage Hotel or Union Station.

Thanks for the tips! Anyone else have anything to add?

The Gaylord Opryland Resort is INCREDIBLE -- but it's not close to any of the other attractions, other than the Grand Ole Opry and the Opry Mills shopping center. If you don't mind driving 20 - 30 minutes, stay there. (And even if you don't stay there, it's definitely worth visiting. It's really amazing and I always take visitors there.)

As country music fans, be sure that you visit the nightclubs that line the "Lower Broadway" area downtown. It's a 2 - 3 block stretch of great clubs with non-stop live music (even in the afternoons) and typically, no cover charges. And be sure to check out the Wildhorse Saloon, on 2nd Avenue (also downtown).

If you like great bluegrass music visit the Station Inn. It's off the beaten track, but just a few minutes from the heart of downtown -- and it's the real deal.

So, if you want to be close to the clubs and the Country Music Hall of Fame stay downtown. There's a new hotel (I think it's a Hilton) next to the Hall of Fame that's gorgeous. Less pricey is the Union Station hotel. I second the advice to go to the Internet sites that offer good deals.

One last tip . . . if you want to experience the ultimate "Southern" dining experience, eat lunch or dinner at Monell's (located in a converted house from the 1800's in the Germantown area near downtown). No menu; you share a table with 8 - 10 others and the food is piled on family style, course after course and it's INCREDIBLE. It's cheap, too! Hope you have a great trip.

Last fall, I pricelined a 3* downtown Nashville and got the Sheraton for like $45, I think. It was fine right downtown.