Startle

As the only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel in Tennessee, it’s no surprise that The Hermitage Hotel comes with some high-tech amenities in the guestrooms. The good thing is that the technology is not overwhelming or hard-to-use, keeping in tone with The Hermitage’s commitment to history and luxury.
 
You’ll find a 42-inch flat-panel LCD HD television in your guest room, in addition to a 20-inch LG flat-screen TV mounted above your tub in the bathroom. You’ll also have a DVD player in your room (which will come in handy if you want to play some movies you brought from home for the kids). Plus, you can check out video game systems like Xbox, PlayStation and Wii from The  Hermitage’s guest services. Not up for a night of tunes in the Music City? The Hermitage can help you set up Rock Band on a variety of different gaming systems, so you can rock out in the comfort of your own room. Plus there’s an alarm clock where you can dock your iPod, so you can go ahead and blast your personal playlist. Your room at The Hermitage also includes a CD player, three two-line phones, and complimentary Internet, both wired and Wi-Fi.

You don’t need to pack much for your stay at The Hermitage Hotel — the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel provides tons of amenities, from oversized robes to free Wi-Fi. However, there are a few things you’ll want to stuff in your suitcase before you head to Music City. Here are five items that will come in handy during your stay at The Hermitage Hotel:

1. Cowboy boots. For those late nights on Broadway spent line dancing at the famous honky-tonks, you’ll want to fit in with the locals by donning your finest country western attire.

2. Camera. There’s plenty of sightseeing to do in Nashville, and you’ll find many of the sites just around the corner from The Hermitage Hotel. Make sure you stop at the Capitol to snap some shots of the stately building and the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry stage.

3. Hiking boots. They’ll come in handy if you plan on hitting one of the many trails and parks just outside Nashville. See for yourself why middle Tennessee is known as a haven for outdoor enthusiasts.

4. Your appetite. Besides sampling the down-home comfort foods Nashville is traditionally known for (the spicy fried chicken at Prince’s is renowned), foodies will find plenty of trendy restaurants in districts like East Nashville. Of course, you don’t even have to leave The Hermitage Hotel to find Four-Star farm-to-table cuisine at Capitol Grille, where chef Tyler Brown serves up heritage beef and heirloom veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes.

5. Room in your suitcase. If you love quaint boutique shopping, you’ll find plenty of it in Nashville. Try out eclectic shopping districts like Hillsboro Village and 12South. Just want your high-end staples like Nordstrom and Louis Vuitton? Head to The Mall at Green Hills, about a five-mile drive from downtown.

You don’t need to pack much for your stay at The Hermitage Hotel — the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel provides tons of amenities, from oversized robes to free Wi-Fi. However, there are a few things you’ll want to stuff in your suitcase before you head to Music City. Here are five items that will come in handy during your stay at The Hermitage Hotel:

1. Cowboy boots. For those late nights on Broadway spent line dancing at the famous honky-tonks, you’ll want to fit in with the locals by donning your finest country western attire.

2. Camera. There’s plenty of sightseeing to do in Nashville, and you’ll find many of the sites just around the corner from The Hermitage Hotel. Make sure you stop at the Capitol to snap some shots of the stately building and the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry stage.

3. Hiking boots. They’ll come in handy if you plan on hitting one of the many trails and parks just outside Nashville. See for yourself why middle Tennessee is known as a haven for outdoor enthusiasts.

4. Your appetite. Besides sampling the down-home comfort foods Nashville is traditionally known for (the spicy fried chicken at Prince’s is renowned), foodies will find plenty of trendy restaurants in districts like East Nashville. Of course, you don’t even have to leave The Hermitage Hotel to find Four-Star farm-to-table cuisine at Capitol Grille, where chef Tyler Brown serves up heritage beef and heirloom veggies like carrots and sweet potatoes.

5. Room in your suitcase. If you love quaint boutique shopping, you’ll find plenty of it in Nashville. Try out eclectic shopping districts like Hillsboro Village and 12South. Just want your high-end staples like Nordstrom and Louis Vuitton? Head to The Mall at Green Hills, about a five-mile drive from downtown.

The planned activities at The Hermitage Hotel mostly revolve around food and drink — which makes sense, since this Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel knows its way around a menu. There’s cider, fresh-squeezed lemonade and cookies in The Hermitage lobby in the afternoons, as well as a lively happy hour in the Oak Bar from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. that’s popular with hotel guests and locals. Of course, since The Hermitage Hotel is in downtown Nashville and just steps from some of the city’s best cultural venues, you don’t need many onsite activities to keep you entertained.
 
The Hermitage concierge will be happy to help you book tickets to a concert or show — you are in the Music City after all — or make reservations at a hotspot restaurant. If you just want to dip your toe into all Nashville has to offer, walk over to Second Avenue or Broadway — both streets are historic entertainment districts downtown, where you can catch live music 24/7. You can also make the one-block trek to Fifth Avenue of the Arts, where you can explore Nashville’s increasingly vibrant art scene at a cluster of galleries.

The Hermitage Hotel doesn’t have a pool on the premises, but the hotel’s concierge usually directs guests to the YMCA down the street if they are Tennessee residents. The YMCA is for members only, but at just a seven-minute walk away, its indoor and rooftop pools are the closest options.
 
Guests at The Hermitage Hotel who just want a one-time swim can head to the Centennial Sportsplex Aquatics Center, about a 2.5 mile-drive from the Nashville hotel. The center offers a smaller recreational pool with open swim times and aquatic fitness classes (lifeguards are always on duty), as well as a larger Olympic-sized pool where you can dive and do laps. The aquatics center is open Monday to Saturday and is temperature-controlled throughout the year to be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. You’ll also be treated to all the amenities of an upscale fitness center, with access to showers, a changing room, a steam room and sauna. The daily rate is $7 for adults, $6 for children 5 to 12 and free for children 4 and under.
 
Of course, you’re staying at a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel, where the bathroom comes complete with a deep-soaking tub. Ask The Hermitage concierge to draw you a bath while you’re out for a jog, and then return to find your tub filled and calling your name with specialty bath minerals from Molton Brown.

The Hermitage Hotel might be small, with just 120 rooms, but it’s big on unique amenities. Here is our list to keep a look out for when you arrive at the Nashville hotel:

1. The in-room refreshments. You’ve never seen a mini-bar like this. Rooms at the Hermitage are loaded with locally-made snacks and drinks. Treats from Nashville’s bean-to-bar chocolate maker Olive & Sinclair; Truffle Babies from Colts Chocolates; Twang Town gourmet nut brittle and Jack Daniels whiskey will make your stay at this hotel that much sweeter.

2. The luxury touches in the bathrooms. A 20-inch flat-screen LCD TV mounted in each guest bathroom, so you can watch your favorite television show while getting ready for a night in Nashville’s honky tonks or watch a movie while you enjoy a leisurely soak in the extra deep tub.

3. The views. Tennessee’s stately Capitol building can be seen from many of the guestrooms. On weekdays, you won’t find a better spot for taking in the action at the center of the state’s government.

4. The pet program. If you’re a pet lover, you will love the amenities available when your pet accompanies you to The Hermitage Hotel. Your furry friend gets turndown service just like you do, with treats, bowls and beds made just for them.

5. The hotel’s boutique. The onsite Rachel’s Gifts is more than a gift shop, it has such an excellent rotating line-up of merchandise that locals shop here, too, and eagerly await arrival of new products. The boutique showcases creations from many local designers and artists.

With its long history and authentic brand of southern hospitality, there’s a lot to like about The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. Here’s a quick list of the top five things we love most about the Five-Star hotel:

1. The authentically friendly staff. Those traveling to Nashville from more aloof locales might find themselves taken aback by the genuinely outgoing and helpful staff. The angle is simply to share with each guest the charms of the historic hotel at which they work and the unique, music-focused city of Nashville. The hotel’s general manager, Greg Sligh, has somehow managed to train a staff that is comfortable being themselves while still delivering polished, Five-Star service, which is something that will give your stay a sense of place. Ask anyone in the hotel business and they’ll tell you that’s a feat that’s harder than it looks.

2. The hotel’s history. The Hermitage Hotel first opened its doors in 1910 and was for years the premier place to stay in Nashville. The grand structure came dangerously close to being torn down at the turn of the millennium, after of years of neglect left it in sorry shape. An investment group bought the building and renovated it, maintaining the grand character while modernizing the building, making The Hermitage a rare thing: a historic hotel that’s comfortable, not stuffy.

3. The bathrooms. The Hermitage had 250 rooms when it opened in 1910; today it has 122. The building’s 2003 renovation was devoted to creating room sizes that modern travelers have come to expect, and that means building spacious bathrooms. The marble clad, light and airy bathrooms now have separate water closets, soaking tubs and flat-screen TVs.

4. Local flavor. From the locally-produced treats by Nashville chocolatier Olive & Sinclair that are left at turndown to the goods in the onsite shop Rachel’s Gifts, The Hermitage is devoted to supporting local businesses. So you won’t have to venture far to find a unique souvenir to bring home.

5. The food. Executive chef Tyler Brown oversees the kitchen at the Four-Star Capitol Grille and the Oak Bar, where he has created a menu of updated Southern recipes made with only fresh, sustainable and organic-whenever-possible ingredients. Hitting the Oak Bar when he’s made a batch of his caramel bacon popcorn is a local obsession; take our advice and make it yours, too.

When you return to your room at The Hermitage Hotel at the end of each day, you’ll find your room prepared for a good night’s sleep, thanks to the turndown service provided by the housekeeping staff. Your bed linens will be turned down and a cozy microfiber robe placed on the bed with slippers arranged by the bedside. Even the room’s atmosphere will be prepped for sleep, with the lights dimmed, drapes drawn and classical music playing.

The entire room will be neat and tidy, including the bathroom, which is refreshed with clean linens. You will also find complimentary bottles of water and cookies from the hotel’s bakery to help set the tone for your evening. If you bring your pets with you, they too will benefit from special turndown service, which includes preparation of their beds and special treats (you receive chocolates on the pillow, they get dog treats).

The Hermitage Hotel is hands-down Nashville’s best place to stay. So before you pack your bags to leave, prepare to make the most of your visit. Here are five things you should know about The Five-Star Hermitage Hotel:

1. The Hermitage Hotel impeccably mixes old and new. While the hotel is 100 years old, the rooms were entirely redone and reconfigured in 2003, so the building’s history is tastefully retained while modern amenities abound.

2. This hotel reflects the city that surrounds it. Nashville is not a formal, uptight city, ergo The Hermitage Hotel is not a stuffy hotel. Rather, this historic hotel wears its luxury with ease, delivering services and amenities that are inclusive and approachable.

3. You’ll want to take the menus from the hotel’s restaurant, the Capitol Grille, and bar, the Oak Bar, home to be framed and displayed on a wall for your houseguests to admire. Printed and designed by Hatch Show Print, one of the country’s oldest working letterpress shops, operating in Nashville since 1879, the menus are quintessential, iconic Nashville.

4. The bathrooms will surprise you. Though this is a building that’s more than 100 years old, the bathrooms are spacious thanks to a renovation in 2003 that increased their size. The bathtubs are so deep and the marble that surrounds them so crisp and clean, you may be tempted to spend your entire vacation relaxing in what feels like a spa.

5. Speaking of bathrooms, this hotel has an award-winning one. The men’s bathroom outside the Oak Bar, which has been named by many organizations one of America’s best bathrooms, was renovated in the 1930s when Art Deco was all the rage. The spacious room’s ornate lime-green and black tiles have been well-preserved; even ladies will want to take a peak at this period masterpiece.

Built between 1908 and 1910 as Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel, the design style of The Hermitage Hotel is Beaux-Arts, an architectural genre that enjoyed international dominance in the late 19th century. Beaux-Arts buildings like the Five-Star Hermitage Hotel are often large and have a symmetrical plan with rooms arranged along an axis, and classicist details abound. The Hermitage Hotel is one of the last remaining examples of Beaux-Arts style architecture in Nashville. The structure was built with the finest luxury materials, including Italian sienna marble, Tennessee marble, Russian walnut wall panels and an exquisite cut, stained glass ceiling in its vaulted lobby.

Your room at The Hermitage Hotel, the only Five-Star hotel in Tennessee, comes complete with in-room DVD players, so you can enjoy rented movies or movies brought from home on the 42-inch flat-screen HDTV. Also available from guest services are Xbox game systems, PlayStations and Nintendo systems, including the ever-popular Wii.

The hotel also makes available the components needed for playing Rock Band on various game systems. So order up dinner from the 24-hour room service and settle in for a night of entertainment — you won’t even need to leave your room.

The Hermitage Hotel, the only Five-Star hotel in Tennessee, offers a range of vacation packages. Select the Romance Package when, you guessed it, romance is in the air. This package includes all-American breakfast for two in the hotel restaurant, the Capitol Grille, or from room service, complimentary valet parking, and champagne and truffles.

The Suite Heart Package ups the romantic ante with Junior Suite or Executive Suite accommodations, personal concierge service, American breakfast for two each day, romantic rose petal turndown service, champagne and strawberries on arrival, pre-registered check-in, late check-out and valet parking.

Stay out late Saturday night enjoying Nashville’s best entertainment and then dig into a delicious Sunday morning brunch for two with the Sunday Brunch Package, which also includes complimentary valet parking.

If you’re planning to dine in The Hermitage Hotel’s Capitol Grille, book the Capitol Grille Dinner for Two Package. Along with an elegant three-course dinner, you will receive complimentary overnight valet parking and fresh fruit and spring water in your room upon arrival. The Red Wine and Chocolate Package is available beginning October each year. It includes a one-night stay and a tasting of specialty chocolate truffles with red wine.

Thanks to the hotel’s laundry services you’ll have no danger of running out of clean clothes during your stay at The Hermitage Hotel, no matter what unexpected adventures come your way. The Hermitage Hotel offers 24-hour dry cleaning services as well as same-day laundry and pressing. If you are traveling with a group such as a sports team, the hotel will make sure your jerseys and uniforms are ready for the next day’s (hopefully) winning action.

With your clothes so clean, you will want to make sure your shoes aren’t left behind. Make sure you also take advantage of The Hermitage Hotel’s shoe shine service to ensure that your hard-working shoes are just as well-groomed as the rest of your attire.

Now that Wi-Fi access is as essential to life as water, electricity and food, you will be pleased to learn that you will not experience an Internet drought, black-out or famine during your stay at The Hermitage Hotel. The hotel offers complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi access throughout its premises, so you can surf to your heart’s content in the privacy of your guestroom, at the pleasant tables on the mezzanine level overlooking the grand lobby or from the comfort of the overstuffed lobby couches beneath the sun-filled lobby’s vaulted stained glass ceiling or, in the winter, in front of the roaring fire in the lobby’s fireplace. Wired Internet access is available in guest rooms in addition to Wi-Fi.

Since its $20-million renovation in 2003, The Hermitage Hotel, Tennessee’s only Five-Star hotel, now has a total of 122 guestrooms and suites. As far as standard rooms go, the hotel offers 117 Deluxe, Grand Deluxe Rooms and slightly larger Junior Suites. If you want to have a bit more space, you can opt for one of the four Executive Suites, or the 2,000 square-foot Presidential Suite.

Each spacious room — average room size is 500-650 square feet — features exquisite custom-made beds by Omaha Bedding Company, 600-thread count Italian Frette linens, 42-inch flat-screen LCD TVs, large closets and ample amenities. All of the bathrooms have beautiful natural lighting, 20-inch flat-screen LCD TVs, Molton Brown bath gels and soaps, marble floors and counter-tops, double vanities, extra deep soaking tubs, enclosed water closets, and spacious showers. Little touches, like linen baskets, ensure that the rooms feel residential in concert with all the luxury.

If English is not your best language, don’t despair because The Hermitage Hotel concierge team can communicate with you in other languages, too. The multi-national staff here is able to communicate in French, Spanish and German. For guests from farther east, concierge services are available in Russian, and those from South Asia will be able to learn about Nashville’s charms in Hindi. And circling back toward the Middle East, the concierge language menu includes Egyptian Arabic. With such a wide range of language options, you’ll have no trouble getting the services you need to enjoy your stay in Nashville.

When you return to your room at The Hermitage Hotel at the end of each day, you’ll find your room prepared for a good night’s sleep, thanks to the turndown service provided by the housekeeping staff. Your bed linens will be turned down and a cozy microfiber robe placed on the bed with slippers arranged by the bedside. Even the room’s atmosphere will be prepped for sleep, with the lights dimmed, drapes drawn and classical music playing.

The entire room will be neat and tidy, including the bathroom, which is refreshed with clean linens. You will also find complimentary bottles of water and cookies from the hotel’s bakery to help set the tone for your evening. If you bring your pets with you, they too will benefit from special turndown service, which includes preparation of their beds and special treats (you receive chocolates on the pillow, they get dog treats).

With its rich history and decadent luxury, The Hermitage Hotel has a unique style. Though you may be thinking that Tennessee’s only Five-Star hotel is bound to be stuffy, think again. Here are five words we'd use to describe the style of this Nashville hotel:

1. Exquisite. The beautiful, vaulted, stained glass ceiling and hand-cast plaster detail of the hotel’s lobby invite your eyes to gaze upward for a long time. The lobby is so attractive, you might be tempted to magically “forget” to check into your room.

2. Luxury. It’s a word that basically goes without saying when you enter a hotel with such a beautiful lobby, but the sense of luxury doesn’t stop in there. It’s ever-present in the spacious guest rooms, in the delicious restaurant meals and in the hotel’s attentive service.

3. Excellence. Attention to detail and service begins at the front door and continues through every aspect of your stay. The hotel staff makes an effort to source the best of everything, whether it’s the Molton Brown products in the marble bathrooms or the locally-sourced craft chocolates in the mini-bar, everything has been chosen to make guests feel special.

4. Approachable. The hotel prides itself on offering Five-Star service and amenities without the stuffiness that can sometimes accompany such luxury and leave less-seasoned guests feeling intimidated. You’ll feel right at home whether luxury is a rare treat or part of your everyday expectation.

5. Nashville. The hotel reflects its city and takes its design cues from the personality of the place that surrounds it. The Hermitage Hotel likes to temper its luxury with Southern charm and warmth, just like Nashville does.

Built between 1908 and 1910 as Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel, the design style of The Hermitage Hotel is Beaux-Arts, an architectural genre that enjoyed international dominance in the late 19th century. Beaux-Arts buildings like the Five-Star Hermitage Hotel are often large and have a symmetrical plan with rooms arranged along an axis, and classicist details abound. The Hermitage Hotel is one of the last remaining examples of Beaux-Arts style architecture in Nashville. The structure was built with the finest luxury materials, including Italian sienna marble, Tennessee marble, Russian walnut wall panels and an exquisite cut, stained glass ceiling in its vaulted lobby.

The Hermitage Hotel might be small, with just 120 rooms, but it’s big on unique amenities. Here is our list to keep a look out for when you arrive at the Nashville hotel:

1. The in-room refreshments. You’ve never seen a mini-bar like this. Rooms at the Hermitage are loaded with locally-made snacks and drinks. Treats from Nashville’s bean-to-bar chocolate maker Olive & Sinclair; Truffle Babies from Colts Chocolates; Twang Town gourmet nut brittle and Jack Daniels whiskey will make your stay at this hotel that much sweeter.

2. The luxury touches in the bathrooms. A 20-inch flat-screen LCD TV mounted in each guest bathroom, so you can watch your favorite television show while getting ready for a night in Nashville’s honky tonks or watch a movie while you enjoy a leisurely soak in the extra deep tub.

3. The views. Tennessee’s stately Capitol building can be seen from many of the guestrooms. On weekdays, you won’t find a better spot for taking in the action at the center of the state’s government.

4. The pet program. If you’re a pet lover, you will love the amenities available when your pet accompanies you to The Hermitage Hotel. Your furry friend gets turndown service just like you do, with treats, bowls and beds made just for them.

5. The hotel’s boutique. The onsite Rachel’s Gifts is more than a gift shop, it has such an excellent rotating line-up of merchandise that locals shop here, too, and eagerly await arrival of new products. The boutique showcases creations from many local designers and artists.

The Five-Star Hermitage Hotel does not have a house car or limousine service, but the staff does regularly work with local company Grand Avenue Chauffeured Transportation to arrange airport transportation or car service around town.

From your arrival at Nashville’s airport to your travel around the city for business or pleasure, Grand Avenue will shuttle you around in style. One call can schedule for all of your transport needs.

The simplest answer regarding what the concierge at The Hermitage Hotel can do for you is that the concierge can do anything for anybody. That may sound like a tall order, but The Hermitage Hotel’s concierge, Vickie Hudson, is known for getting coveted tickets for that concert no one can get tickets for or a table at the city’s hottest restaurant, and she has even helped brides through the arduous process of changing their legal name (if there were no other reason to stay at The Hermitage Hotel, this alone might be enough!). The Hermitage Hotel’s concierge acts as a Nashville ambassador and she’s an expert on Nashville’s charms, on what’s happening in the city and on what’s new in Nashville.

The Hermitage Hotel is hands-down Nashville’s best place to stay. So before you pack your bags to leave, prepare to make the most of your visit. Here are five things you should know about The Five-Star Hermitage Hotel:

1. The Hermitage Hotel impeccably mixes old and new. While the hotel is 100 years old, the rooms were entirely redone and reconfigured in 2003, so the building’s history is tastefully retained while modern amenities abound.

2. This hotel reflects the city that surrounds it. Nashville is not a formal, uptight city, ergo The Hermitage Hotel is not a stuffy hotel. Rather, this historic hotel wears its luxury with ease, delivering services and amenities that are inclusive and approachable.

3. You’ll want to take the menus from the hotel’s restaurant, the Capitol Grille, and bar, the Oak Bar, home to be framed and displayed on a wall for your houseguests to admire. Printed and designed by Hatch Show Print, one of the country’s oldest working letterpress shops, operating in Nashville since 1879, the menus are quintessential, iconic Nashville.

4. The bathrooms will surprise you. Though this is a building that’s more than 100 years old, the bathrooms are spacious thanks to a renovation in 2003 that increased their size. The bathtubs are so deep and the marble that surrounds them so crisp and clean, you may be tempted to spend your entire vacation relaxing in what feels like a spa.

5. Speaking of bathrooms, this hotel has an award-winning one. The men’s bathroom outside the Oak Bar, which has been named by many organizations one of America’s best bathrooms, was renovated in the 1930s when Art Deco was all the rage. The spacious room’s ornate lime-green and black tiles have been well-preserved; even ladies will want to take a peak at this period masterpiece.

With its long history and authentic brand of southern hospitality, there’s a lot to like about The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. Here’s a quick list of the top five things we love most about the Five-Star hotel:

1. The authentically friendly staff. Those traveling to Nashville from more aloof locales might find themselves taken aback by the genuinely outgoing and helpful staff. The angle is simply to share with each guest the charms of the historic hotel at which they work and the unique, music-focused city of Nashville. The hotel’s general manager, Greg Sligh, has somehow managed to train a staff that is comfortable being themselves while still delivering polished, Five-Star service, which is something that will give your stay a sense of place. Ask anyone in the hotel business and they’ll tell you that’s a feat that’s harder than it looks.

2. The hotel’s history. The Hermitage Hotel first opened its doors in 1910 and was for years the premier place to stay in Nashville. The grand structure came dangerously close to being torn down at the turn of the millennium, after of years of neglect left it in sorry shape. An investment group bought the building and renovated it, maintaining the grand character while modernizing the building, making The Hermitage a rare thing: a historic hotel that’s comfortable, not stuffy.

3. The bathrooms. The Hermitage had 250 rooms when it opened in 1910; today it has 122. The building’s 2003 renovation was devoted to creating room sizes that modern travelers have come to expect, and that means building spacious bathrooms. The marble clad, light and airy bathrooms now have separate water closets, soaking tubs and flat-screen TVs.

4. Local flavor. From the locally-produced treats by Nashville chocolatier Olive & Sinclair that are left at turndown to the goods in the onsite shop Rachel’s Gifts, The Hermitage is devoted to supporting local businesses. So you won’t have to venture far to find a unique souvenir to bring home.

5. The food. Executive chef Tyler Brown oversees the kitchen at the Four-Star Capitol Grille and the Oak Bar, where he has created a menu of updated Southern recipes made with only fresh, sustainable and organic-whenever-possible ingredients. Hitting the Oak Bar when he’s made a batch of his caramel bacon popcorn is a local obsession; take our advice and make it yours, too.

If you find that your plans for a getaway at The Hermitage Hotel must be changed or if business suddenly takes you elsewhere, don’t despair over anything other than missing out on all the luxury: The cancellation policy at The Hermitage Hotel simply requires guests to notify the hotel of a cancellation by 4 p.m. the day before their arrival. The only exception to this policy is for the executive suites and the Presidential suites, or for rooms reserved during large events such as the Country Music Awards or nearby Vanderbilt University’s graduation. In those cases, reservations require a 30-day advance deposit in full.

After flying into Nashville’s International Airport, you have several options of transportation to The Hermitage Hotel. Hail a taxi at the airport to take you the quick six-mile drive from the airport to downtown Nashville; it typically costs around $25. You can also hop on the airport shuttle provided by Gray Line, which is inexpensive but stops at multiple hotels along the way to the Five-Star hotel.

If you are looking to arrive in style, schedule an airport pickup with Grand Avenue Chauffeured Transportation, which is the limousine service with which The Hermitage Hotel works. Other limousine and shuttle service options that are available with advance reservations are listed on the Nashville International Airport Website.

The Hermitage Hotel keeps fees to a minimum, so you won’t find any surprises on your bill at check-out. Beyond taxes, the only extra fees regularly added to room charges include the $2.50 Music City Center fee, which goes toward the cost of constructing Nashville’s new convention center, and a $2 per night opt-out donation that goes to the hotel’s charitable organization partner, the Land Trust for Tennessee.

Donations collected through this effort have totaled over $150,000 since 2008 and have preserved more than 1500 acres of Tennessee land. One parcel purchased thanks to donations from The Hermitage is the Farm at Glen Leven, a historic farm at which executive chef Tyler Brown has constructed an organic farm that produces vegetables and herbs used at The Hermitage’s Four-Star restaurant The Capitol Grille. Be sure to stop in at this clubby, classic restaurant and sample the fruits of this effort in Brown’s updated Southern cooking. If you drive to The Hermitage or the restaurant, you’ll pay $26 per night for parking. If you bring your pet (which you’re very welcome to do; The Hermitage is particularly pet-friendly), the fee is $50 per night.

The Hermitage Hotel is located in the center of downtown Nashville at 231 North Sixth Avenue. Set in a classic building constructed in 1910 near the state capitol, the historic Five-Star Hermitage has always been the city’s go-to place for business travelers and visiting celebrities.

Those in town for sightseeing are at home, too, because the hotel is within walking distance of downtown Nashville’s major entertainment venues, including the city’s famed honky tonks (Robert’s Western World and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge are just two of many). Spots like the Tennessee State Museum and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and performing arts venues like the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, are a hop, skip and a jump away from The Hermitage Hotel.

As the only Five-Star hotel located in Tennessee, The Hermitage Hotel is a unique and historic city hotel, the likes of which are hard to come by these days. For more than 100 years, the Hermitage has served as the hub for Nashville’s visiting dignitaries, major events and local celebrations.

This is no dusty, outdated historic hotel; the Hermitage underwent a massive renovation in 2003 after being saved from the wrecking ball by an investment group. The building’s grand, marble-columned lobby was preserved intact, as were many other unique details, including the famed Art Deco men’s room off the lobby (even ladies will want to have a peek at this preserved architectural masterpiece).

You’ll experience Nashville’s unique personality and ethos from the moment you stand before the hotel doors and receive a warm greeting from the doorman. The Hermitage Hotel’s staff delivers a dose of Nashville style with their excellent, attentive, nonintrusive service mixed with unintimidating warmth. The Hermitage features local artists and vendors whenever possible throughout the hotel; since the walls can’t talk, make sure you ask one of the guest services staff to tell you some of the stories from hotel’s fascinating history.

Remodeled in 2003, the spacious rooms at The Hermitage Hotel, Tennessee’s only Five-Star hotel, are priced according to the hotel’s five room configurations: Deluxe rooms, Grand Deluxe rooms, Junior Suites, Executive Suites and the 2,000 square-foot Presidential Suite.

The classically decorated rooms have views of the Tennessee State Capitol Building and the War Memorial Plaza or of downtown Nashville. Deluxe rooms, grand deluxe rooms and junior suites range from $259 to $509 per night. The four executive suites and the spacious Presidential Suite, all perfect for hosting gatherings or for peacefully enjoying by yourself, range from $1500 to $3000 per night.

Whichever room you choose, you’ll feel at ease the moment you step inside and are greeted by soothing music, 600-thread count Italian Frette linens and an oversized marble bathroom featuring an extra deep soaking tub.