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Nashville for Design Lovers, A 48 Hour Lh Luxury City Guide
For many, visiting Nashville comes with a preconception. Country music and Southern charm in an urban setting. A city rich with American culture. Especially in the arts of all kinds. And the truth is, this is exactly what awaits, and more! More music, more history, delicious farm-to-table restaurants, hotels with beautifully rich architecture and interiors, stylish shopping, and an all-around warm and welcoming Nashville vibe.
Just as in any urban sprawl, there lives a variety of styles; we saw and loved it all in Nashville. However, during our recent 48-hour tour of Nashville, we went specifically seeking the allure of luxury woven into the city’s meshwork. And what we discovered delighted us! Cozy hotels, restaurants, and bars filled with history, culture, and good design. The Countrypolitan Style (a newfound love!). A food culture we weren’t quite expecting, from classic Southern to health-forward cafes. When it came to fashion in Nashville, we left with a few lessons (see below!) after exploring the city’s luxury and culturally rich shopping destinations.
So, if you are a design lover in Nashville, TN, this edition of Lh Luxury Travel City Guides is for you!
Where to Stay in Nashville?
The Best Hotels for luxury & design in Nashville
During our recent stay, we chose 21C Museum Hotel Nashville and Hotel Indigo Nashville – The Countrypolitan, and this was because we could only pick two and so the cookie crumbled, but the city has many wonderful hotels, so you really can’t go wrong! From impeccably hospitable service to beautiful and relaxing interiors, the Nashville hotel scene is on point.
If you love art and design and don’t know about 21c Museum hotels, you need to! Founded by art collectors who believe in the power of contemporary art, each 21c location, including the stunning one in Nashville, features curated rotating art exhibitions and unique and delicious restaurants.
On display through the end of June 2023, The Future is Female exhibition in Nashville was a Love Happens “sleeping in a museum” dream (the hotel’s motto)!
Radiating local charm and set near Nashville’s historic Printer’s Alley, Hotel Indigo Nashville at the Countrypolitan is about as authentically downtown Nashville as you can get!
The hotel lobby features live music and songwriters every night alongside craft cocktails and regional fare at The Countrypolitan Bar & Kitchen.
Where to Relax & Beautify in Nashville?
The Best Spas in Nashville
If you are looking for some luxurious relaxation, rejuvenation, or beautification in Nashville, some of our favorites include: Rose, a luxury spa and salon at The Joseph Hotel, yes, please, on the Summer Spa Day package! Renowned for its services, the Four Seasons Hotel Nashville Spa is a guaranteed place for an afternoon retreat during your 48-hour stay, and while you’re there, be sure to enjoy the rooftop pool and the hotels’ restaurants.
Lastly, on our beauty stops are two favorites for blowouts to keep your hair looking fresh throughout your stay: Pink Soda Dry Bar & Salon (located right near the glorious Hermitage Hotel and Salon J & Day Spa, also conveniently located in downtown Nashville for some shopping after.
Where to Eat & Drink in style?
The Best Restaurants in Nashville for luxury & design
Nashville is known for its delicious southern food, but we were thrilled to find so many healthy and fresh options to go alongside the often heavier local-inspired dishes. In this section of our luxury city guides, you will find some of our favorite top restaurants. Each beautifully designed and serving the most marvelous cuisines and cocktails! Be sure to check out the noted brunch spots as well; a must on a 48-hour Nashville visit!
Top of our list of favorite restaurants in Nashville and oh so deserving of a special shoutout is The Twelve Thirty Club. And while we love the fact that Justin Timberlake is part of the team behind the space, we mostly love it for its exquisite Countrypolitan interior glamour. Veteran restaurateur Sam Fox of Fox Restaurant Concepts partnered with Justin Timberlake to launch The Twelve Thirty Club. Costing a pretty $25 million to bring to life, the three-story restaurant “features a decadent design by design firm AvroKO Hospitality Group that honors historic supper clubs through an inviting, unpretentious lens.”
Beyond the decor, delicious food, inspired cocktails, seamless smiling service, and great music define The Twelve Thirty Club. From the first-floor Honky Tonk bar and dining area up to the Supper Club and out to the Rooftop, to wrap up, we could not get enough of this stop during our 48-hour stay in Nashville! And while we did not get a chance to visit the Honorary Member club, we peeked in, and we can almost guarantee you would not be disappointed if you chose to join!
More Nashville Dining Destinations to Love!
Live Music to Love
One of Nashville’s biggest attractions is live music. With performances all hours of every day all across the city, if you love music you will find it no matter where you go, but some of our favorites from our last 48 hours in Nashville (to note fairly as a 40+!) include the following!
ASSEMBLY FOOD HALL (Nashville restaurant meets live music extravaganza)
THE TWELVE-THIRTY CLUB (Supper club music in a luxury setting up stairs and a brilliant bar stage on the first level, so much to love!)
SKULL’S RAINBOW ROOM (Live Jazz, Burlesque, located on Printer’s Alley—a must-pass visit area for music lovers during your 48 hours in Nashville!)
JASON ALDEAN’S KITCHEN + ROOFTOP BAR (Southern male charm to love)
TOOTSIE’S ORCHID LOUNGE (Floors and floors of music with a fabulous rooftop)
THE COUNTRYPOLITAN BAR & KITCHEN (@ Hotel Indigo, offers live music every night along side rich country fair in a beautiful interior)
Where to Shop for luxury & design in Nashville?
When it comes to luxury shopping, Nashville has its own quaint country style to love.
If you are staying at Hotel Indigo (or passing through!), be sure to check out their wonderfully curated lobby boutique, High Class Hillbilly by signer Nikki Lane. The Nashville chic banglettes for sale were to love and inspired #1 of our fashion lessons from shopping in Nashville.
And with just 48 hours in the city, we suggest visiting 12South. Around 15 minutes from downtown, the 12South neighborhood showcases the charming allure of the city’s suburbs. Filled with bungalow-style homes, fine restaurants, and stylish designer boutiques and shops, Nashville’s 12South neighborhood makes for a perfect morning or afternoon of shopping. We particularly loved Draper James, Reese Witherspoon’s brand. So much Southern belle charm.
Fashion Lessons from Nashville
If you are heading to Nashville and wondering what to wear, here are the fashion trends we saw during our recent visit!
Banglettes: Bangle bracelet meets clutch. Yes, please, for so many reasons! And oh, the styles we can imagine beyond the hide look we saw at Hotel Indigo!
The Micro Roy: It’s mini, it’s micro, it’s corduroy. From pants to jackets, the Micro Roy was definitely trending in Nashville. Whether we love this one or not is still to be determined.
Micro Fuzzy Jacket: Our visit was a COLD 48 hours, so this trend is not so relevant for the warmer months in Nashville. But for those chilly summer nights and continuing the micro trend, a micro fuzzy jacket just might be the piece you never knew you needed.
Scromper: Flowy short skirt meets shorts meets romper. And yes, there is something quite charming about this look. Especially paired with cowboy boots, which of course, are a Nashville fashion staple.
Tight-ass Black Leather Pants: And they better fit right because when they don’t, it looks so bad!
Jeweled & Fringed Bum Bag: The trending fanny pack rebranded as bum bag is functional and in style. Add jewels and fringe, and the perfect evening-wear bum bag exists!
Culture in Nashville
While visiting Nashville, exploring the city’s museums, galleries, and other beautiful luxury amenities is a must for design lovers. Living is all about experiences, so get out and explore all the fabulous things to do in Nashville!
RYMAN AUDITORIUM (Music’s most iconic stage—in our opinion, a must if you are in Nashville! The Walking Tour was our cup of tea and came with a fabulously well-done multi-sensory video on the history of the building. But I am sure the Private Tours are great, and a show there would be phenomenal.)
GRAND OLE OPRY (If you have time on your visit for a show at the Grand Ole Opry, go! Set about 20 minutes from downtown; this is perhaps the most iconic destination in Nashville.)
NATIONAL MUSUEM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC (The only museum dedicated to music inspired, created, or influenced by African-Americans. A music lover must!)
Feature Image: Photo of the staircase at Union Station, Nashville by Brandon Jean | Unsplash
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