One Of The World's Best Hotels Is An Opulent Timeless Tennessee Gem With A Famous Restroom

Tennessee is known for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, barbeque and hot chicken, bourbon, and music. Memphis has Graceland and sites related to the birth of rock and roll, the blues, and soul music, but the capital, Nashville, is Music City. For more than a century, Nashville has been a hub for country music with the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry, many recording studios, music publishers, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. In Memphis, the legendary Peabody Hotel is known for its elegance and infamous duck parade. In Nashville, two top hotel choices are the wildly lavish Opryland Hotel and the opulent Hermitage Hotel.

Opened in 1910, the Hermitage Hotel is a stunning showcase of Beaux-Arts architecture using both Tennessee and Italian marble. The hotel welcomes guests with a soaring lobby where light streams through a painted glass skylight. Designed by Tennessee native James Carpenter, who attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the hotel has been a gathering place for politicians (the state capitol building is a stroll away), celebrities, and movers and shakers since it opened. A noteworthy restaurant, elegant afternoon tea service, sophisticated bar, and 122 spacious guest rooms bring guests through the doors, but one room of the hotel gets more attention than others. Off the lobby, the men's bathroom has been the location for music shoots and countless Instagram posts for its distinctive Art Deco design featuring shiny black and lime green glass tiles, terrazzo flooring, and a vintage two-seat shoeshine station.

The Hermitage Hotel is a National Historic Landmark due to its architectural significance and role in American history. Not only have numerous U.S. presidents from William Howard Taft to Bill Clinton stayed here, but the hotel also played a part in women's suffrage. Tennessee was the last state to ratify the 19^th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. In the weeks leading up to the vote in 1920, both those for and against the amendment stayed in the hotel and lobbied lawmakers. The deciding vote came down to one man who switched sides at the last moment and then rushed to the Hermitage to call his mother. 

Rooms here average an above-industry-standard 500 square feet and reach a palatial 1,500 square feet in the Hermitage Suite, which has a dining area, butler's pantry, and living room. But you don't have to be living like a king to get a royal view, as many rooms overlook the state capitol and all were renovated between 2020 and 2022. It was a coup when Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened two eateries in the Hermitage in 2021. His first in the American South are Drusie & Darr, a fine dining restaurant, and The Pink Hermit, an elevated all-day café. Weekend afternoon tea at 2 p.m. is a local tradition, and no worries if you are traveling with a furry companion as Fido will be lavished with his own bed, treats, food, and even a massage.

Just 20 minutes from Nashville International Airport, the Hermitage Hotel is in the center of downtown Nashville, in walking distance of many top attractions. Two must-visits for any music lover coming to Music City are the Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Just an eight-minute walk from the Hermitage Hotel, the Ryman Auditorium is a performance venue and museum that is so important to American music history that it's a National Historic Landmark. Best known as the location of the Grand Ole Opry radio show from 1943 to 1974, the Ryman broadcast and popularized the biggest names in country music, including Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton. It continues to host performances while the newer Grand Ole Opry building is 20 minutes away.

You'll know you're at the Country Music Hall of Fame when you see a building that looks like a piano. A 13-minute walk from the Hermitage, the Country Music Hall of Fame fills 350,000 square feet with hundreds of thousands of objects, including everything from Patsy Cline's hand-sewn cowgirl costume to a 1939 experimental instrument from Les Paul. Visitors particularly interested in the Man in Black will want to check out the Johnny Cash Museum, which is also a 13-minute walk from the hotel. After exploring Nashville, head to Knoxville's historic and bustling downtown, where Market Square's appeal includes chic restaurants and shops, or you could splash around at Tennessee's largest indoor waterpark in the Great Smoky Mountains.