Fairfield Inn Opryland- Stay With Friends
Written: Dec 08 '07 (Updated Dec 09 '07)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Clean, wonderful staff.
Cons: Pool could have been warmer, but that is a really minor quibble.
The Bottom Line: This hotel is one of the best deals in Nashville. I found it to be better value than the luxury hotel.If you're heading to Nashville stay here.
|
|
|
| hadassahchana's Full Review: Fairfield Inn by Marriott Nashville at Opryland |
After my disastrous experience with the Days Inn in Nashville, I had to hurry around to find a place to stay. Many hotels were full as there was a special performance of the Grand Ole Opry at the old Ryman Auditorium, and the city was filled with fans. Since I couldn't stay downtown, I looked for a place near the Gaylord Opryland hotel where my son was staying for a convention. I found the Fairfield Inn online, booked a room and drove over, figuring that it would be at least passable. I needed to find something fast so as not to lose a single evening in Nashville.
I was wrong- this hotel wasn't just passable, it was outstanding in every way. From the moment I walked in to a clean and brightly lit lobby, I knew that my stay in Nashville was going to be wonderful after all. As I registered, I thanked the staff over and over again for having a vacancy and complimented them on the welcoming lobby. Finally one of them asked if something had happened, and I mentioned that I had had to cancel a reservation at the downtown Days Inn - and each of their jaws dropped. The shuttle driver, who was hanging around the front desk,asked why on earth I had booked a room there, and that it was always like that. "It was filthy dirty, wasn't it?" he said. Wow - in my experience, hotels do not talk about other hotels, so the Days Inn obviously has quite a reputation.
Because I walk with a cane, they were kind enough to give me a room near a door and parking lot, which I really appreciated. I didn't even have to ask, they just looked at me and told me about the convenience of my room. Points for that, as it hadn't occurred to me to ask for that. The night manager told me to go get settled and then come back down and make arrangements to sign up for the hotel shuttle. I thought that odd since I hadn't flown, but he was very kind and so I agreed that I would do so.
My friend and I went to our room, and immediately loved it! The colours used in decorating were very calming, but the bedspreads were really pretty, different than the usual stiff polyester ones in less expensive hotels. I saw the pile of pillows and was a happy girl - I love sleeping with lots of pillows, and usually ask for more when staying at hotels. It was a nice change to have them already provided. The room was large, too, with plenty of room for suitcases. Even with our bags, my bag of shoes and various gear- laptop, cameras, my pink cowboy hat - there were two very comfy chairs with plenty of room left for me to walk comfortably with my cane, and this was not their handicap accessible room, just a standard one.
The bathroom was very large and had a huge pile of towels, thicker than standard hotel issue. I love big thick towels, and was happy about that. The bathtub was long enough to really soak in, which pleased me a lot. I hate having to only take showers when traveling, but I also hate the usual tiny short bathtubs. The shower/tub came with grab bars, nice for my balance problems. Again, there was plenty of room to walk around in the bathroom, with wide counter around the sink which easily held two sets of makeup and other things we both needed.
The room was just great, and actually larger than my son's room at the luxury hotel where he was staying. However, the real value in our hotel lay in the staff. I love to travel, and consider myself lucky when the staff at the front desk are polite. The folks at the Fairfield Inn were polite to a fault, this is the South, after all. However, they took it a step further- or two or three steps, I should say. The shuttle they told me about ran between the Opry Mills mall, the Grand Ole Opry's new building and the Opryland hotel, something I found really convenient since parking is expensive at the hotel and the Grand Ole Opry. For $10 a room per stay, the shuttle was an outstanding value when I wanted to meet my son for dinner at the Opryland hotel. Parking for guests and visitors over there was $12 per day! The shuttle also ran to the airport but not to downtown. It would have been nice to be able to be driven and picked up after an evening at the clubs, but that wasn't really a big deal. The shuttle driver was also really nice, and knew the best entrance to the Opryland as well as the best gift shops inside that enourmous hotel.
The folks at the front desk always seemed eager to know what we'd done and seen every time we came back in, and that usually resulted in staying for 20 or 15 minutes to have a visit. They were amazingly knowledgeable about Nashville and surrounding areas, and it was obvious that they all really loved the city. Since I just love Nashville, this was nice for me. They would spend a fair amount of time trying to decide amongst themselves where we should go since we were there for a short time, and came up with a list of places and even helped us decide how to best manage our time. They also knew of some lesser known bars which had really great new musicians and they all spoke from experience, having gone to listen themselves. That was a really nice touch.
Choosing restaurants in a new city can be iffy at times, but I've also found that many times asking the hotel staff doesn't really result in anything better than I could find myself. Often I think that they recommend only the closest or easiest to find without having any personal experience with places. This was not the case with the staff at the Fairfield Inn. All of them seemed very familiar with the various restaurants- barbecue joints, since that's what we'd asked for. They steered us away from a large place on Music Row and instead told us about a smaller restaurant mostly frequented by the locals, as most tourists just pass it by. It was definitely the right place to go.
The staff also knew a lot about the local history, something I appreciated. They sent us off to see Andrew Jackson's home- something anyone would do. However, they also knew the place really well and told us about a couple of spots we'd have missed since they were not on the main path. That made our visit there a lot of fun. They also told us to make sure to have lunch there- we were told that the cook there was "somebody's grandma who knows her way around a pile of greens and makes the best cornbread in Nashville". Eating at museums and tourist attractions is not usually my first choice- I've found the food to be so-so and the prices really high in many places like that. However, the price was low ($5) and the food was excellent if you love Southern cooking as much as I do.
After each trip out, the staff had to know if we'd enjoyed what we did, what we saw and wanted to know if we'd recommend it to other guests. In each case their advice was bang on, something which made our short trip just perfect. By the end of our stay, the staff also knew all about my four boys and had actually read about them on my blog. And, just to show how really good-natured these people are, they even asked me to bring the boys in when we return in the spring. Since the staff read about them I consider this to be fair warning, and they've proven themselves to be brave, if slightly foolhardy.
The pool also deserves a mention. The pool area was just spotless, and the dirty towels used by other guests seemed to disappear as soon as they appeared. I hate seeing an overflowing dirty towel basket, and I never saw this. The pool was also larger than an average hotel pool. This made it possible to swim my laps which I was really pleased about.
And finally, the obligatory bit about the continental breakfast. Although there was nothing unusual about the food, the assortment of cereals and yoghurt was nice. The juices were the premium fresh-squeezed sort which I enjoyed. One morning I got there too late for breakfast and so the food manager, who noticed that I was late, offered to bring out whatever we wanted. I thought that was a nice gesture.
I got the opportunity to compare the staff at the Fairfield Inn with those in the Opryland hotel, and our hotel easily won. The Opryland staff were not at all friendly and although polite they made us feel like a nuisance whenever we asked for directions. Considering that the Opryland is the largest hotel in the U.S. and seems to have miles of corridors filled with various restaurants, gift shops, a river complete with boat and various gardens, that was a problem. At one point we were lost, could not find anyone to give directions and so we called the Fairfield staff- who immediately got out their map of the Opryland and guided us right to the place we wanted. I thought that went above and beyond what could reasonably be expected from the staff from a competing hotel- and our room cost less than a third of the price of my son's room, which was smaller and not as nice as ours.
All in all, I could not have asked for a better or friendlier place to stay. The warmth and kindness of the staff made an above-average hotel an outstanding place to stay, and I know I'll be staying there in the spring, and most likely on all subsequent trips to Nashville. I cannot recommend them highly enough- I'd give them 10 stars if I could. I really felt it was like staying with family or close friends in Nashville, and that made my stay better than I could have hoped for.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
hadassahchana
|
 in Books |
|
Member: Cindy
Location: "...The True North, Strong And Free..."
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 327 members
About Me:
Question about my rating? My email address is on my profile page.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.