Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

Reviews 3

JA

Jack Haynes

We went to the Opryland Hotel for the Make A Wish even called “Stars for Wishes” on January 17th, 2015. Since January 18th was my 40th birthday, we decided to get a babysitter (we have a toddler at home) and enjoy a night out with a room at the hotel. The Make A Wish Dinner, entertainment and after party was a lot of fun. We finally headed back to our room about 11:30 to spend some much needed quiet time and complete our romantic evening. As we tried to get settled in, we noticed a LOT of noise outside the room. At first we tried to ignore it but that became impossible. It sounded like a frat party. Around midnight a couple of young guys in the hallway right outside our door started cursing each other and for a few minutes we thought there was going to be a brawl. I considered stepping into he hallway (I was pretty upset at that point) but realized nothing good could come of it. Finally the “party” moved mostly from the hallway into the room next door. At this point I called down to the front desk and reported the problem. After all, how can hotel staff fix a problem if they don’t know about it? If the hotel were any smaller they would have heard it themselves. The staff member on the phone was very apologetic, and said they would send security. I think security may have shown up at some point, because the kids - I don’t know if they were a bunch of high-schoolers or college kids, would get really loud, then someone in their group would go “shhhhhh…….” really loudly. They would momentarily quieten down, then the cycle would repeat. My wife was so upset she just wanted to leave and go home and forget our romantic evening away. I guess we could have called down and insisted that we be moved to another room, but realistically it was already after 1, we were exhausted, and didn’t want to be packing our bags and moving (if there were a room available) and starting all over again. Although the noise continued for hours, we eventually had a fitful sleep. In the morning when we checked out I told the staff member at the front desk about our experience. She, too, was extremely apologetic, and made some excuse about how it was a particularly “busy” night at the hotel, and that it would be addressed. I have waited two weeks before writing this review because I was curious to see if we would be contacted with even as much as an apology. Obviously that has not happened. Instead of a wonderful birthday evening with my wife, what we had on a rare occasion out was the absolute worst hotel experience I can remember. The drove home exhausted and frustrated. Instead of blasting them online without a chance for an answer, I filled out their internal survey form first. Haven’t heard anything back. ***** Edit: Ive changed this review because I finally did hear back from a staff member. Not only were they apologetic about our experience, but offered another nights stay to make it right. Our second experience was wonderful.

AS

Ashley Osborne

Our stay at the GO was our last stop on our road trip honeymoon, and it was a gift from my husbands family. The hotel is very pretty (the most impressive interior atriums Ive ever seen, bar none), and the staff was in general polite, but there were a few things that soured our experience. 1) When we checked in, the front desk person did not speak English very clearly, and we felt really rushed through the process. She ran through the canned disclaimers so quickly that we didnt catch all of the fine print, and I found out later that she gave us incorrect information concerning the parking fee (more on that later). 2) We found a decent parking spot, then found out that our room was literally on the other side of the complex and there was no closer parking available. So, hungry and cranky, we had to navigate the most confusing maze of hallways and elevators that Ive ever had the misfortune to stumble into. 3) When we finally found our room and got settled in, I went to find something to eat. Since it is a conference/convention center, everything is grossly overpriced; I couldnt fathom spending that kind of money on average food, so I tried to go back to the car and drive to a nearby restaurant. THERE ARE NO NEARBY FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS. I gave up and went back to the hotel, where I found that all the walk-up dining options close at 10pm. I got so stressed out trying to navigate my way back to our room, and none of the hotel staff was very helpful. My husband had to drive 15 minutes away to find any kind of reasonably priced, fast food. 4) The lights are very pretty, but we couldnt imagine spending $50 per person to do the ICE! thing. However, there were SO MANY other people who were willing to do that, and the hotel was so busy it was not enjoyable to walk the atriums. 5) After we got home, we noticed that there was a lingering charge on our credit card. Turns out, there is no free parking, EVEN FOR OVERNIGHT GUESTS. They will charge you the full parking fee. I called the corporate office and the guy was very helpful and polite, and he reversed that charge based on the fact that the front counter person gave us incorrect information. 6) However, that was only half of the charge. The other half was a $21.70 per day "mandatory resort fee," which includes a bunch of things that we were not interested in using even if we had been informed of them (shuttle to the mall, golf course stuff, access to the "fitness center" and spa - but using the spa was an extra fee, a discount book, saloon cover charge waived, etc.). They would not reverse that fee. Overall, the hotel is visually very pretty, but the hidden fees and the frustrating layout of the place really turned us off from ever staying there again. Would not recommend.

KE

Kelsey Rusch

With 3000 rooms and over 5000 employees, this place is intimidating. It is a city of its own, with 15 restaurants and a handful of bars and stores ranging from souvenir shops to places that supply basic necessities. You will be given a map upon check-in, but dont count on it doing much good. The place is beautiful, but the layout is extremely confusing, and youll need a couple of days to learn how to get around. I found myself getting lost both inside the complex and in the parking lot, which resulted in a lot of unintended circling around and a lot of backtracking. The employees are extremely helpful at giving directions though, so dont feel stupid for asking! However, there are plenty of things that make up for the terrible layout. There are three large atria (when I say large, I mean it - the atrium connected to our room had a river running through it where there were tours given on boats) that sport somewhat dated decor but are still breathtaking. All kinds of plant life flourishes within the walls, and the high glass ceilings create an illusion of being outdoors. The room we stayed in had clearly been remodeled recently and was clean and quiet. The only complaint I have about the room is that there was no fan in the bathroom, and the humidity is quite high because of the weather and the amount of plant life in the atria, so trying to do my hair after getting out of the shower was not possible. If youre looking for alcohol, the Fuse sports bar is the only one open past 10 pm. The employees were quite pleasant, but they were far too busy to help anyone in a decent amount of time. I inquired about changing one of the many televisions to the Red Wings game that was in progress but was told that employees are not allowed to change any channels. I had to wait about half an hour for a manager to show up and I missed all but the last two minutes of the game. Oh, and a double Crown and soda plus a shot of Crown on the side was $30. I recommend leaving the complex and going across McGavock Pike where there are several affordable bars. I spent just under a week at the resort, and all-in-all, I absolutely loved the experience, but Im not sure I would stay there again unless I had an event that was being held there. The services were great, dont get me wrong, but the 30-45 minute walk between the parking lot and the room was quite draining considering we were doing other sightseeing on top of that. I recommend this place for adults with older kids, as children are not going to like the amount of walking and theres not much within the resort that is specifically aimed towards them.

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