My elderly mother insisted on staying at the ""famous"" Opryland Hotel when she recently visited me. I knew about the resort's beautiful gardens and Christmas light displays, which are both quite remarkable. I assumed the hotel would be just as lovely. I was wrong.\r
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It's huge, and there are some nice architectural features throughout. But just wait until you check into your $200 or $300 room! Reserve a non-smoking room with a king bed, and you might get a smoking room with a small bed. Common practice, we were told. Standard practice with most hotels nowadays, we were assured. Great. Maybe Opryland can drop their prices to to the more ""common"" and ""standard"" $99 rate offered by ""most"" hotels. \r
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Or maybe they can just clean their rooms before guests arrive. After pleading for a non-smoking room for my elderly mother, the clerk relented and we were given a smaller room. Guess what? The bed was unmade from last night's guest and the bathroom still had wet towels tossed on the floor! We pleaded again for another room and we were provided with a (mostly) clean room in an older part of the property. My mother later confessed that she had found wet cigarettes in the shower, but she picked them out herself. Great. Just great. At least there's a shuttle to a nearby outlet mall (where three people have been shot in the past three years.) Oh, and the gardens. And those Christmas lights. Sigh.\r
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I wanted to treat my mother to a special weekend in Nashville. I feel ashamed that she ended up sleeping in a 1970's-era hotel where we had to plead for the most basic of accomodations. \r
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If you want a nice hotel in Nashville, stay at the Hermitage or at the Loews downtown. Or try a Holiday Inn or some other chain. If you insist on staying at the Opryland, plan on spending an hour arguing for a suitable room and bring some disinfectant wipes for the cleaning you'll probably wind up doing yourself. Don't stick your mom at this place!!!\r
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SORRY MOM!
Pros: Pretty views
Cons: Terrible rooms
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