My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Nashville recently and had the pleasure of staying at the Opryland Hotel. Here’s 7 reasons why we’ll be visiting again… very soon!
Thank you to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center for providing a complimentary stay at their resort. All opinions are my own.
My husband, Robert and I, are celebrating a huge milestone in our lives this year. We have been married for 10 years come November and a couple of weeks ago we were able to get away for a weekend and celebrate this amazing anniversary together.
Over the last 10 years we’ve taken different anniversary trips and one location that we always talked about heading, but never actually made it to, was Nashville, TN.
There’s a couple of reasons we always threw Nashville out as an anniversary location: [1] The actual location. It’s just about a 4.5 hour drive for us so it’s close enough for a weekend getaway, but far enough to be special and something we don’t do a lot.
[2] I love country music so I’ve visited Nashville several times in the past – it’s one of my favorite large cities, that actually feels like a small town. [3] Things to do – there’s never a shortage of things to do in this fun, Southern city!
I’m kind of glad we never made in the past 9 years because it made this special anniversary even more so. We loved staying at the Gaylord Opryland Resort so much so that we’ll be visiting again very soon because of these 7 reasons!
Service
From the moment we walked into the Opryland hotel lobby, we were treated with the best service I’ve experienced in a hotel in a very long time. And it didn’t stop at check-in, anytime we encountered resort staff they went out of their way to answer questions and help us with anything we needed.
The resort staff knew we were there celebrating our wedding anniversary and even gave us extra special attention with turn-down service and a lovely delivery of chocolate covered strawberries on our second night!
Restaurants and Food
I have to admit, I totally judge a vacation by the food and this one was amazing. There are 19 restaurants/dining options inside the Gaylord Opryland Resort, in addition to room service.
Yes, 19 in a hotel!!! We frequented the coffee shops in the mornings, Bravo Gelato for the creamiest gelato you’ve ever had for dessert, and the Cascades Restaurant for our dinner.
It was a hard choice of which restaurant to eat at [that’s one of the main reasons I want to go back – I want to try them all] but I chose Cascades for a couple of reasons.
The atmosphere of this restaurant is just beautiful, located in the Cascades Atrium, we could see it from our room’s balcony. And I also loved that Wasabi Sushi was available on the menu as well.
The dining staff service was as amazing as the rest of the resort. Our waiter was incredible with offering suggestions of appetizers and recommended the Korean Glazed Chicken Legs, which I would have never ordered myself, but turned out to be one of my favorites of the night!
Amazing Amenities
When you stay at the Opryland Hotel, you honestly never have to leave. The resort’s amenities are outstanding and even if you do want to leave, you can catch a shuttle right on-site. There are shuttles going to downtown Nashville, as well as shuttles that run to Opry Mills.
And while many resorts have gift shops, the Gaylord Opryland Resort has a whole shopping area in the Delta section. There are 8 beautiful and unique boutiques and shops to find the perfect Nashville souvenirs and gifts.
Relâche Spa
While I didn’t visit the spa on this visit, I have visited it before and I remember it as being one of the nicest. A visit to the spa is yet another reason we’ll visit again soon!
While the pools aren’t exactly part of the spa, they are located near it so I wanted to share those. I expected it to be a little too cool to swim on this weekend in September, but it definitely wasn’t. There were many resort guests enjoying the 2 pools outside and inside.
The Gaylord Opryland Resort also had an amazing Fitness Center that I know my husband wants to visit again to see!
Atmosphere
I feel like the atmosphere within the Opryland Hotel is one of the best – it’s exactly what you want it to be. Want to have a relaxing vacation for your Anniversary? You’ll get it. Do you want to enjoy a weekend with your children? It’s definitely family friendly. I feel like it’s quiet if you see it that way, and lively if you want it to be. It’s really quite an amazing atmosphere.
I also think that’s due to the amazing surroundings inside. We learned on our River Boat ride, yes there is a river boat inside the hotel, that there are over 30,000 species of live plants located inside the resort and all that you see are living – there are no fake plants at all.
This is absolutely spectacular and breathtaking when you see it the first time inside the resort, but honestly, every time I walked through the atrium and walkways, I pointed out new and exotic plants I hadn’t seen on a previous stroll.
We also learned that the resort has the largest ballroom in Tennessee and boasts huge amounts of conference spaces.
The resort rooms are incredible as well. Our room had an interior view of the Cascades Atrium.
The room itself was very spacious and lovely, but I do have to say our balcony was my favorite part. I sat on the balcony and read more times than I can count and enjoyed the sound of the waterfall outside of our room. It was really like a dream!
A Country Christmas
One of the biggest reasons I want to visit again… soon, is because the Gaylord Opryland Resort will be kicking off their seasonal A Country Christmas in early November. I can’t imagine how 3 million lights look in this lovely resort!
In addition to the decor, there will be an ice skating rink, hand-carved ice sculptures, nightly performances by Trace Adkins, and the opportunity to walk through a winter wonderland with 2 million pounds of ice in ICE!® featuring Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! ™
photo courtesy of Marriott.com
Now you see why I’m ready to take the whole family back in just a couple of months!
SoundWaves
Last but not least, I’m ready to go back to see the opening of Sound Waves at Gaylord Opryland – a brand new water park set to open on December 1st. It will be 4 acres of indoor/outdoor water experiences – with attractions for everyone in the family. It’s the nation’s first truly upscale indoor/outdoor resort water attraction.
I can’t wait to see this project finished as it will mirror the amazing, tranquil atmosphere of the rest of the resort. The indoor experience will be uniquely arranged vertically on three separate levels with rides that are intertwined with living walls and plant beds—a natural extension of the resort’s nine acres of garden atriums.
Rendering courtesy of Marriott.com
My husband and I love to travel and we absolutely loved our stay at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center as a part of our 10th Wedding Anniversary celebration. We loved the atmosphere, the dining, and the service. And once our girls heard about our trip, they were begging to come along next time!
