Conrad Nashville — Hotel in Nashville-Davidson

The Conrad Hilton in Nashville is in a class of its own.

As someone who travels for a living (i.e. checking in and out of hotels multiple times a month), I have to say, this hotel does it right.

From the bellmen who make the first greeting (Austin, KT, Gary) to the front desk team (a big acknowledgement to top mgr/leader Nicola, who is world class: bright, professional, gracious, capable, welcoming), to the bar and restaurant team (Danny, Sara, Jennifer, & many others whose names I didn't yet learn), to housekeeping...EVERYONE is friendly, professional, with a kind, can-do attitude.

Whoever is hiring and training the staff knows what they're doing.

In an era when hospitality is on a downhill slide, The Conrad Hilton in Nashville is a shining example of what IS possible.

And, in an era when so many hotels have become kitsch and once-elegant brands have caved to try to appeal to a wider base, The Conrad Hilton in Nashville shows such restrained elegance, that it is BREATHTAKING.

This hotel exudes soul and elegance...

...the lobby itself is a work of architectural-art-and-design; the jaw-dropping high ceiling; the sophisticated color palette of mustards, golds, brown and deep teal blue; the beautifully styled and comfortable furniture; the flower arrangements (just enough and not too much); the rooms with Frette linens, marble bathrooms (if you can swing the $$ for a room with a soaking tub, it's worth it); the heavenly soap (Mojave Ghost - I hope they never change this); the high quality teas, honey and coffee; the treats; the oh-so-comfy bed; the fantastic well-equipped gym; the outdoor pool (great when I stayed in July); and the superb restaurant and menu items. I am not one to take pictures of my food at restaurants...and yet here I was at the Blue Aster taking pictures of my avocado toast at lunch one day. :) The red snapper (which Nicola recommended) ranks in the top 5 fish dishes I have ever eaten. Pricey. But worth every bite. EXCEPTIONAL.

3 quick anecdotes which say so much:

I had forgotten my razor and called the main operator line. A few moments later, a staff member appeared with a tray carrying a quality razor and shaving cream (!). Now, I have stayed at a number of other 5-star hotels and if you ask for a razor, you usually get the least expensive kind that cut up your legs. Not this one.

I had called down to the Blue Aster to order dinner (to pick up and bring up to my room one evening) and when the line rang repeatedly with no answer, Megan who picked up my call at the front desk offered to walk across the lobby herself to let the staff know I was trying to reach them. Thank you, Megan. Soon after, the restaurant called me back and couldn't have been nicer.

Last, I ended up at the hotel on Wed before Thanksgiving. I couldn't quite face the holiday airport scene as I originally planned, and so decided to stay the night at the Conrad and fly the following day. I was a bit nervous about being in a hotel on a pre-holiday eve. Would I feel lonely? Weird? As I crossed the lobby hall and saw Nicola at the front desk with her big smile welcoming me, all those worries dissipated and I felt like I was home.

There are so many beautiful touches to this place that it's hard to name them all, but one that deserves special acknowledgement: The Fallen Soldiers Table which is the most heartfelt gesture I've ever witnessed in a hotel. It stopped me in my tracks, and I got choked up as a read the framed 1-page overview of what each item on the table symbolized. Whoever thought to do this deserves a gigantic hug and a standing ovation, and whoever in mgmt allowed it deserves the same.

This hotel is stunning, sophisticated AND human.

I could go on and on...but I'll stop here.

For the record, this is the first hotel review I've ever left (because honestly, who has the time?) but I love The Conrad Hilton in Nashville so much that I couldn't NOT leave a review.

I've stayed now 3x in 4 months, and will make every excuse to come back again. It is a haven of humanity, kindness, comfort,...

Please save yourself the stress and do not try to book an event with the Conrad. We first inquired about hosting an event there one month ago. After some back and forth with the previous event manager and several days of her being unreachable, we booked a tour to see the hotel and ballroom. The first day we mentioned that our event would have to be on a Thursday and our in-writing proposal says this as well. The events manager set the day and time of our meeting because her schedule was very busy.After one hour of waiting in the lobby at our appointment time and trying to email/call her, she finally arrived. We were already upset after waiting this long but she rushed through a quick tour and offered some concessions to accommodate our inconveniences. We were okay because she did her best to make things right. We specifically asked her questions about if the hotel could accommodate for our type of event. We again reiterated how we needed to host a Thursday event. The next week, she becomes unreachable again. We called her direct line, sent follow up emails, and eventually called the hotel directly. Come to find out she was fired shortly after sending a proposal detailing the concessions she offered. After another week of waiting, we are put in touch with the interim Events Manager. During our communications with the hotel staff, we were patient and polite and never asked for anything due to the confusing circumstances. After speaking with the interim Events Manager ( at this point one month after our initial contact), we were then told that Thursday events are against the hotel policy and the previous events manager spoke out of line. We spoke kindly and tried to come from a place of understanding when talking to the new interim events manager. We asked if an exception could be made because, at the time, we had asked the previous manager to make sure a Thursday event was possible and she, representing the hotel, told us it was. If we were told up front one month ago when we first asked, we would have moved on and found a different hotel or venue. Now after asking if an accommodation could be made due to an error on THEIR part, the interim Manager gets irritated and says there is nothing they can do and to find somewhere else. No apology no effort to make it right. Thats not how you speak with someone. At least offer a better group rate, free night stay, literally anything. We again explain that we have the proposal in writing stating the opposite of what she is saying. She says they have no obligation to accomodate us and rudely interrupts us while we spoke. Yet we never interrupted her and let her explain everything from her end before speaking. She again rudely explains it's their policy and they aren't responsible for what their previous employee said. Yet they are, in my opinion. A customer is not responsible to reap the consequences of a poor employee. That is on the business to face the fall out of poor managment and make it right. Frankly, we don't care about their policy but are livid at the complete lack of timely communication and customer service. The interim manager said that they get corporate events booking 200 rooms and the ballroom at the time and they cannot make an exception for just a wedding event. Anyone planning a wedding knows that one month of time is a lot of time and unfortunately the Conrad wasted ours. Please don't let them waste yours because you are not a big enough fish for them to make money off of. They will lie, talk rudely, and tell you off instead of treating you with kindness as a potential customer. We told her this is not right and she simply said she sees it differently and sorry we feel this way. All in between our guest rooms and the ballroom, we would have spent $75,000 at the hotel but I guess that's not good enough for them. They will probably respond and state their policy again and reiterate their same points. However, there should be some effort to honor what we were told and believed in good faith. Throw policy out the window; values and integrity...

I’m very disappointed in Conrad’s service. Every time I’ve been to Nashville this year I’ve stayed at the Conrad. This last time I stayed 6/2-6/4 RM304 and they were having work done on the side of the building where they would start drilling something. The issue was they decided to start this drilling at 2am when everyone is sleeping. I let the first night go as an anomaly, even though I didn’t get much sleep. This drilling lasted until 4 or 5am so needless to say I was EXHAUSTED for a busy day as I could not sleep. In the morning I asked about what was happening and apparently there were multiple complaints.

Day 2, long day, finished my work and looked forward to a good night. I usually choose to stay at Conrad, Four Seasons, or Ritz b/c the rooms are nice and the beds are very comfortable….never having had issues. At the end of the long day I fell asleep and AGAIN at 2am the drilling started. I called the front desk around 3:30 am trying to find out when this madness would stop. My wife and I had a 9 hour drive ahead of us, so I was looking forward a good night sleep. The drilling kept up and finally, frustrated, we got out of bed at 5am not being able to sleep and left the hotel.

I talked to the night manager on my way out and again, I wasn’t the only one having called down to complain. The manager said they were going to credit one of my nights for the issues.

I’m in the hospitality business having built a large restaurant business from nothing; I understand hospitality. This rating comes not from the issue of the drilling but solely in how this hotels’ management team have handled the resolve. It is 6/20 and to this date I have called the hotel and talked to numerous people b/c I have yet to receive a credit for one of my nights there (that the night desk said they would provide). The general manager has yet to reach out either which I find extremely odd. I would have had my GM reach out to every hotel guest that complained or called down personally. The guest deserve that level of service from a hotel with high standards. It’s how you create customers for life. This is highly unusual for a hotel of this caliber and I’m disappointed in the way they have handled this issue. I have now left two messages for the finance team at the hotel after being transferred to them from the front desk today. I’m expecting more of the same……silence. I’m writing this review at this time b/c someone in the organization needs to see this.

My first stay at a Conrad was in DC and that GM was phenomenal and won me over to stay with Conrad’s. It’s unfortunate that after multiple stays here the GM couldn’t provide the same level of professionalism and hospitality.

UPDATE:

Mary Ellen reached out to me yesterday (6/20) and apologized for the experience I was having trying to get in touch with someone to get the credit figured out. Thank you for contacting me and your acknowledgment and commitment to training so these incidents happen less frequently. While this was a blindspot and not the norm, I appreciate the...