The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville

More than 100 years old and still Nashville’s only 5-star hotel, The Hermitage Hotel is a Beaux-Arts-style masterpiece with a lobby so breathtaking you may need to rest a moment on one of countless armchairs and sofas as you take in French and Italian Renaissance elements below the soaring painted-glass skylight. Billed as Nashville’s first million-dollar hotel, evidence of its storied past in luxury, history and tradition abounds.

Opulently appointed rooms feature Italian marble bathrooms with soaking tubs, separate shower, in-mirror television and premium Molton Brown bath products. Twice-daily housekeeping service and daily delivery of the morning newspaper and fresh-baked treats in the evening ensure round-the-clock attention to detail impossible to find elsewhere in Music City.

In the lobby, you’ll find afternoon fruit served daily alongside homemade lemonade and fresh-baked cookies, but don’t forget to head down one more level to the Oak Bar, once a gentleman’s lounge busted serving bourbon in teapots during Prohibition and now home to one of the city’s largest bourbon collections. Do have a drink, but it’s the bathroom you’re here to experience. No matter which restroom you typically use, you need to visit the men’s room (it’s allowed for everyone). The leaded glass walls of green and black are a dramatic backdrop for the vintage shoeshine chairs in the center of this highly Instagrammable scene that likely sees more bridal photos than any other men’s room in the country,

The pet-friendly Hermitage also includes a fitness center, spa, business center and boutique, as well as Capitol Grille, the state of Tennessee’s oldest Southern restaurant.

The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville