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During
my recent visit to Nashville, I came to the conclusion that you would be hard
pressed to find a better home base than the Hilton Nashville Downtown, from which
to launch your explorations of Music City USA. Just across the street is none
other than the Country Music Hall of Fame, a beautifully designed building that
has been architecturally structured to look like a piano keyboard with an adjoining
tower that resembles a stack of records or CD's.
You could spend your
whole trip going through the memorabilia; archival recordings and displays in
this highly regarded museum, which also offers bus tours to the historic Studio
B where Elvis and other country stars once recorded hit records.
Adjacent
to the hotel is Gaylord Entertainment Center, a state-of-the art concert venue
where I saw Martina McBride and Alan Jackson woo a crowd of screaming fans. How
nice to be able to just walk across the street and be home for the night. The
Hilton is also a short walk to the Honky-Tonk Row and two shakes from the Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
 When
I walked into the hotel, I immediately noticed its openness. The beautiful atrium
lobby was decorated with greenery and designed with Greek style pillars, an allusion
to Nashville's former nickname: "The Athens of the South". The elevators are glass
encased, which is great for when you're waiting for someone to come down or coming
down yourself to the lobby-you can always check out if you're on time or not.
All of the hotel's corridors are open to the rest of the hotel and I immediately
realized that this made me feel much safer as woman traveling on her own. I could
see what was happening on each floor and I knew that if I needed help of any kind,
I was visible and within earshot of the entire hotel.
Another plus,
is the full breakfast included with some packages, which saves time for those
in a hurry to get to a meeting or start touring the town. Although it is served
buffet style with standards such as scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, hash browns
and biscuits and gravy, the staff was more than willing to accommodate some individual
requests, like toast and English muffins.
The hotel has three eateries,
offering very different atmospheres. The Palm Restaurant is known for its fine
dining and specializes in steak and lobster. Also, very popular is the Eddie George
Sports Grille, which is named after its famed owner, a star football player for
the Tennessee Titans. Finally, right in the lobby is the Park View Café, which
opens at 5 pm and serves high-end martinis and tapas with live entertainment.
These were three excellent and convenient choices right within the hotel. (CONTINUE...)
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