Aloft Nashville West End — Hotel in Nashville-Davidson

Tldr (summary) - Good: staff, music, lobby, big clean room Bad: water temp, noise, housekeeping, coffee.

My Uber driver dropped me off, and I had no idea where the hotel was! My driver vaguely pointed in a direction, and after some looking around, I saw a tiny sign at the top of the steps. There are two doors right next to each other. The sign on one door said something (I forget what), and the other door had no sign, so I took a guess with the unmarked door. The unmarked door lead me into the hotel, but I also realized that the other door was also the hotel. Weird.

The first thing I noticed was live music! I love music and I decided that as soon as I ate, I was definitely heading down to listen. The performer was good! I ended up falling asleep after dinner, but I do think I would have really enjoyed the live entertainment! They also have an area in the lobby to hang out, with a pool table. I probably would have enjoyed that as well, had I not fallen asleep.

The front desk staff were nice in the evening, but super nice in the morning. In the evening, I asked the front desk for a restaurant recommendation within walking distance. The restaurant across the street, Inchin's Bamboo Garden, was pretty good. They have quite a few walkable restaurants. As a woman, walking alone in the dark, I didn't feel unsafe at all. I would've felt safe walking further if needed.

My room was on the corner. It was a really big room. It was clean. The bathroom door is like a slotted closet door. I'm alone, but this is not ideal if you're rooming with others. Why do hotel designers think these doors are a good idea?!?! Don't worry about packing shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. The shower has full size bottles. Here's my BIG complaint... The shower water never got warm! I turned the knob the other way, just to be sure I didn't have it mixed up. But that was the correct direction. It got warmish, at best. Then when I was fully soaped up, the water got ice cold and never got warm again. I did my best to get the soap off, but it was too cold. I had to get out sudsy! Then, when I was getting dressed, house keeping came in! Before checkout time! I had to yell through my slotted bathroom door that I was still here. They apologized and left.

Here's my other complaint, and maybe it's something you should expect when traveling to cities.... I always bring ear plugs with me when traveling because I've come to expect hearing hotel guests slamming doors and talking in the hallway. But what I didn't expect was hearing all of the outside noises so loudly - sirens, traffic, train horns, and people outside yelling. I LITERALLY jumped out of bed twice during my sleep. The first time, I thought the fire alarm was going off! I grabbed my shoes and was headed to the door, when I woke up enough to realize the noise was from outside. It was an emergency vehicle. This was the first of many sirens that would wake me. I heard them, even with my ear plugs. The second time I jumped out of bed was around 8am when I heard lots of honking and some lady screaming. It was St Patrick's day, so I jumped out of bed to see if there was a parade going by. No, it's just drama outside. I was up for the day after that. The only time I remember hearing the city so loudly was when I stayed in a cheap hotel in NYC. I wonder why this hotel is so susceptible to outside noises. Anyway, bring your ear plugs if you want a decent night sleep. I'm so happy I brought mine. I don't think I would've slept much otherwise.

In the morning, they have a little food area where you can buy affordable breakfast. I didn't get breakfast, but I did grab a coffee... Which was empty. Someone else was already waiting. I think they forgot, because someone else came along and asked if I needed help. They grabbed the new coffee and replaced it. All was good until I drank a mouthful of coffee grounds, which I immediately (& accidentally) spit out onto the floor. I dumped the coffee, finding a lot...

I stayed at the Aloft, Nashville for a recent long weekend with my wife. I booked my stay a few months prior using SPG points, and specifically requested (and paid the points) to upgrade my 2 night stay to a suite. We arrived in Nashville early Friday and I called around 1 PM to see if our room was available early. We were told it would not be available until 3 PM which wasn't a problem, as this was the scheduled time.

When we arrived shortly after 3, we were greeted by the valet who informed us it would be $24/day to park our car at the hotel! Not having researched any other parking options, I was forced to oblige, but it would have been nice to know about this beforehand.

At check-in, we were informed that there was no hot water available in our suite, due to a maintenance issue that would not be resolved until Saturday. We were then asked if "that would be a problem". Keep in mind, we had been up since early that morning traveling, and it was Valentine's day, so, yes, that was a problem. Our alternative to going to our cold water only suite, was to have our upgrade points comped back to us, and we would have to stay in a normal room for the weekend. I was able to talk the front desk attendee into putting us up in a normal room for the first night, then moving us to a suite for the second night, but that was a struggle.

After our first night's stay in our downgraded room, I called down to the front desk to find out when the room would be ready. At 11 AM, they told us it would be a little bit, which I was fine with (though I'm not sure how the room was available, without hot water, on Friday night, but not Saturday morning), so I asked them to call when it was ready. Checking again at 1 PM, they told me that if I needed to leave, I could pack my stuff and leave it in my current room, and they would move it for me. I didn't like this alternative, so I opted to wait until they called me back, which never happened. Finally, around 3:30 PM, I went down to the front desk, and was able to get checked in to my new room.

After all was said and done, I was ready to write a scathing review, but I was happy to see that the hotel reimbursed me for approx 43% of my overall points spent rather than the proposed 13% for staying in a downgraded room, the first night. Either way, I won't be staying here, again, though. Beyond the issues that I encountered, I just wasn't impressed with the hotel. Lots of chipped plaster, poor paint jobs, and dated materials that just didn't leave a good taste in my mouth. There were odd lines in the rooms too that kept the curtains from closing the whole way, letting light in, poor grout jobs in the bathroom, and a shoddy job on the "hardwood floors" (laminated) in the rooms. You definitely could tell that this hotel had been retrofitted to look new and hip, but it just wasn't getting the job done for me.

Definitely not the worst hotel stay of my life, but very far from...

Worst Marriott Experience - Aloft Nashville West End

As a long-time Marriott Bonvoy member with over 300 stays at various Marriott properties worldwide, I can confidently say that my recent stay at Aloft Nashville West End was by far my worst experience. My wife and I stayed at this property on both the front and backside of our Thanksgiving trip to East Tennessee, and unfortunately, it fell far below the standards I’ve come to expect from Marriott.

Initial Impression: From the moment we arrived, the experience was disappointing. Upon parking, we encountered a valet attendant who appeared unprofessional—casually lounging, smoking what smelled like Delta-8 or marijuana, and offering no assistance as we struggled with our bags. When I asked how valet parking worked, I was dismissed with a “ask inside.” Not a great start.

Check-In Experience: Inside, the front desk staff didn’t improve the situation. The desk attendant had AirPods in and didn’t acknowledge us until I directly addressed her, at which point her response felt like I was inconveniencing her. I asked for clarification on valet parking and was told to text the app in the morning for car retrieval, which would supposedly take 10 minutes. This minimal effort interaction set the tone for our stay.

Room Quality: The hallways smelled strongly of pot smoke and mold, which was extremely unpleasant. Our room was not particularly clean, and it lacked the attention to detail I’ve come to expect from Marriott. Additionally, we requested two extra blankets at check-in, which never arrived until we called housekeeping later in the evening.

Return Stay: A week later, we returned to the same issues. At check-out, we followed instructions to request our car at 6 AM via the app. After receiving confirmation, we waited over 20 minutes for a valet who never appeared. When I asked the same desk attendant for change to tip the valet, she apathetically asked why, and only after my persistence did she admit the valet wouldn’t arrive until 6:30 AM. We were forced to retrieve the car ourselves—after paying $45 per night for valet parking.

Conclusion: The lack of professionalism, attention to detail, and basic customer service was shocking. This property feels more like a poorly managed budget motel than a Marriott-branded hotel. Between the unresponsive staff, poor cleanliness, and unfulfilled promises, Aloft Nashville West End completely failed to meet expectations.

I will never stay at this property again, nor will I recommend it to friends or colleagues. With multiple Marriott options in the area, I suggest anyone considering Aloft steer clear of this "skid row" establishment and choose a...