Kinsey

I am in charge of planning a group trip to visit Opryland Hotel for a weekend in Nov. or Dec. and view the Christmas decorations. This will be a group of 25 or so ladies in the 30-35 age range.

I need all the info I can get on topics such as certain weekends we should avoid, what the experience is like, whether this should be a 1 or 2 night trip (if we do 2, should we try to see either the Hermitage or Bell Meade as well?).

We also want to do a brunch or luncheon and have it catered at the hotel. I need input on the different restaurants where we can have a private party or should we rent a small banquet room? What is the catering and service like? what can I expect as far as expense?

I appreciate all responses!

Beth

It has been a few years since I viewed the Christmas decorations at Opryland, but they are AMAZING. Book now, this is a very popular activity and groups come from all over to the hotel. Personally, I have never spent the night in the hotel as I used to live in Nashville, but I have seen the rooms and they are nice but don't expect anything extraordinary. You may be able to get a group rate if you block your rooms. I think garden view rooms that open into the interior (great view) are around $150/night. I wouldn't spend more than 1 night unless you are coming from far away. You can view decorations, do some shopping in the hotel and have a nice lunch at the hotel (lots of restaurants to choose from) I personally enjoy the lunch buffet at the Cascades restaraunt in the conservatory. You are in the middle of the gardens with fountains all around you. However, this would not be private. I also enjoy Beauregard's but I think they only do dinner. It is a restaurant designed to look like a southern mansion complete with columned porch and "outdoor" veranda. They may let you have a private lunch there if you ask. I know there are many other restaurants (an Italian one, a country kitchen type and so on) You have to visit this fabulous old time pie and ice ream shop there though. They have hands down the best key lime pie I have ever put in my mouth, a true indulgence! You are making me miss my hometown!

Katie

A couple years ago we went to Nashville the first week of Dec. and they were having a Craft Show Fair in one of the Convention Center Halls. It was a great place to get some Christmas shopping done. I think it ran Thanksgiving week and the week after. Got some really neat stuff. The hotel had a Christmas Show & Dinner which was well worth the price. There are also some other Christmas shows you could see too. Some are free, others you need tickets. I think the last week of Nov & the first of Dec to be the best time to go, but reservations go fast. I know they have group discounts. You might check oprylandhotel.com for info.

Kinsey

Any other information out there?

musiccityman

Kinsey,

I worked for 3.5 years at the Opryland Hotel so I might can be of some help to you. First of all, any weekend after Thanksgiving the hotel will be very crowded. Weekends are when the locals flood the place along with tourists. The rooms at the hotel are definitely nothing special - you are basically paying for the surroundings (gardens, simulated river, etc.) They have a multitude of meeting rooms of many different sizes so I would think it would be no problem to rent one for a dinner - you should be able to get a meeting room for free since you will be ordering food for 25. The hotel can a bit pricey when it comes to food but with 25 you should be able to negotiate a reasonable deal.

It is my understanding the the Christmas Show and Dinner referred to by Katie has been discontinued as of last year. One thing new this year though is that they will be hosting the Radio City Music Hall Rockette's Christmas Spectacular at the Grand Ole Opry House (adjacent to the hotel) this year during November and December so you might want to check into that. The Christmas decorations are definitely amazing - they start putting up the lights in July in order to have them all up by November.

I would choose touring the Hermitage over the Belle Meade Mansion.

Hope this helps.