Sandra & I spent a quick night at the new Hyatt Centric in downtown Nashville and got to act like tourists in our hometown. Here’s what it was like.
Hyatt Centric Nashville Review tl;dr
Planning a vacation or a bachelorette party in Nashville? The Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville has the absolute best location to enjoy all the fun that you can stand in Music City USA.
For us, the 252 room Hyatt Centric was home base for a great time on a 1 night stay to see a concert in Nashville. Interaction with hotel staff was a little disappointing but that was the only negative.
Everything is expensive in downtown Nashville and the Hyatt Centric is no exception.
Feels Like a Nashville Boutique Hotel
The newest Hyatt in Nashville feels like a small boutique hotel with thoughtful Nashville themed touches everywhere. The rooms we saw are very small but beautiful with comfortable beds, copper accents and floor to ceiling windows.
Tourist level prices are also in effect at the lobby bar and restaurant, but the food & drinks are pretty good. The rooftop bar and pool are solid options to chill at when you need a break from all the crazy night life of downtown Nashville.
Staying Downtown for a Concert
Sandra (aka Zuzu) & I hadn’t been to a big concert in a decade (kinda like we didn’t get to travel for 20 years) so we made up for it with the Eagles’ Hotel California Tour.
Vince Gill & the rest of the Eagles were playing from 8pm – 11pm on a Friday night at Bridgestone Arena. Since we only live about 12 miles from downtown Nashville, we could have Uber’d for $70-100 roundtrip or paid $40 to park for the concert.
But the chance to spend 24 hours playing tourist in Nashville and not fight traffic made a 1 night staycation the obvious choice.
4 main reasons for us to stay at the Hyatt Centric in Downtown Nashville:
- One of the closest hotels to concerts at Bridgestone Arena
- One of the closest hotels to the main Nashville tourist area of Broadway (aka Lower Broad)
- Newest Hyatt in Nashville
- Free for us to book with points earned through the Hyatt credit card
Booking
Prices for hotels in downtown Nashville are expensive. The cheapest room at the Hyatt Centric for the night we stayed was $545 before taxes and fees.
With taxes and fees, that bumped the price up to $630! And that doesn’t include breakfast or parking (if you’re not a Hyatt Globalist).
Since I chase World of Hyatt elite status, I almost always book at the Hyatt website. At most Hyatt’s, the staff makes you feel like a true VIP when you’ve invested the time, money and effort to hit Hyatt’s top elite status of Globalist.
That’s especially true at the more expensive locations. Unfortunately, this was one of the few disappointments at the Hyatt Centric Nashville.
Anyway, you may be able to find a better deal at Booking.com or other travel websites if you’re not focused on the benefits of Hyatt elite status.
Thanks to how we stay for free in expensive hotels, we did NOT have to pay $630 for this one night stay, just down the road from our house.
Click here to learn how we stay for free in expensive hotels.
Redeeming Points
The Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville is a Category 5 Hyatt property so the normal award rate is 20,000 points. With dynamic pricing, off peak nights are 17k points and peak nights are 23k points.
Unfortunately, the specific night that we wanted to stay was at the high peak price of 23,000 Hyatt points.
Instead of paying $630 cash, I redeemed 23k Hyatt points for this 1 night at the Hyatt Centric. If you do the math, that means each Hyatt point was worth about 2.7 cents.
Considering that I earn as much as 5 points per $1 that I spend on credit cards, that’s like getting 13.5% (2.7 x 5) back on purchases that we’re already making.
Location
If you want to hit the fun tourist area in Nashville, the Hyatt Centric has an almost perfect location.
Broadway (aka Lower Broad) between 2nd Ave South & 6th Ave S is really where all the Nashville fun is centered. That stretch is sometimes called Honky Tonk Highway for all the bars and music venues.
The fun tourist area extends 1-2 blocks north ( to Commerce & Church Streets) and 2-4 blocks south (ask a local how to pronounce Demonbreun) which is where you’ll find the Hyatt Centric.
When you stay at the Hyatt Centric, you’re a 1-2 minute walk from:
- Lower Broad with all the bars
- Country Music Hall of Fame
- Ascend Amphitheater
Address
Nearest Airport
The Nashville International Airport BNA is 8 miles east of the Hyatt Centric Nashville Downtown. Most of the time, this is a 20-30 minute drive, almost entirely on I-40 Westbound. Just be aware that it’s not uncommon for this stretch of I-40 to get clogged up, so an hour drive time is a possibility.
Unless you’re planning on alot of driving, don’t bother with a rental car. I recommend that you take an Uber or a Lyft. Rideshares are plentiful at the Nashville Airport and downtown near the Hyatt Centric.
Flying thru BNA? Check out the best food in the Nashville Airport!
Expect to pay $30-40 for a standard Lyft from the Nashville airport to downtown Nashville at non-peak times.
Other Hyatts in Downtown Nashville
In addition to the Hyatt Centric, there are 5 other Hyatt hotels in downtown Nashville.
If you want the best Music City USA experience, here’s the order in which I’d rank the location of the 6 Nashville Hyatt’s as best for experiencing downtown:
- Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville
- Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown
- Holston House Nashville
- Grand Hyatt Nashville
- Hyatt House Nashville Downtown SoBro
- Thompson Nashville
If you want the most party experience, stay at the Hyatt Centric or right next door at the Hyatt Place Nashville Downtown.
The Grand Hyatt is almost as new as the Hyatt Centric but it’s a few blocks further from the action of Lower Broad. Zuzu & I stayed there less than a year ago and don’t feel the need to return.
Read my Grand Hyatt Nashville review here.
Lobby Checkin
The gorgeous lobby of the Nashville Hyatt Centric has the feel of a trendy, small boutique hotel. It was a great 1st impression.
When you walk in, the registration desk is right in front of you with seating around a piano to your left. There are 4 registration stations including one dedicated for World of Hyatt elite members.
We arrived around 3pm on Friday. With 3 agents and no other guests in line, I didn’t need to use the “Elite Check-in” line. I went to the first agent who looked up and said hello to me.
No Southern Hospitality at the Front Desk
After she looked up my reservation, I got a perfunctory “Thank you for being a Globalist” with no elaboration. She handed my keys to me and pointed me towards the elevator with a smile.
Just so you know, Hyatt brags about several benefits for Globalists. But every Hyatt is a little different and the individual staff members can have discretion on what perks are provided. She didn’t mention or offer ANYTHING, so I asked.
“Umm, are there any Globalist benefits?” Yes, she told me there’s free breakfast in the restaurant and free parking. Have a nice stay.
“Are there any upgraded suites or rooms available?” No, you’re already on the top floor. I got another smile to dismiss me.
“Is it a city view room?” No, sorry. She then proactively asked if I wanted a late checkout which I accepted.
When we’ve checked in at 30+ other Hyatt’s, the front desk experience has ranged from good to exceptional. It was just disappointing that the first time I had a bland experience was in my hometown, which is known for hospitality.
Bless her heart. She wasn’t rude. She just missed a chance to make a guest feel welcome.
The hotel is beautiful and in a perfect location. Is it too much to ask that visitors to my hometown also get a little Southern hospitality at check-in?
King Bed High Floor Room
We used our room key card in the elevator to access the 20th floor. Our room was the 320 square ft King Bed High Floor room, a minor upgrade over the standard King Bed room which is also 320 sq ft.
Small Blue Rooms
I’ve got to say, 320 sq ft is pretty small. Our last trip was to the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun where we spread out in the 1377 sq ft Oceanfront Master Suite. The difference in space was shocking.
Not much space in the room but they make up for it with nice furnishings and… a lot of blue.
The doors are blue. The walls are blue. The armoire is blue inside and out.
There’s a full length mirror and a nice bench just inside the blue door.
Armoire
The blue armoire held a couple of pleasant surprises.
First, there was plenty of light. The clothes rod was entirely lit and there’s also a small LED light that you can move if needed.
Second, the robes were great. I’m a big guy (6’5″) so I appreciate it when the robes are big and long enough for me. Good job, Hyatt.
You’ll also find the expected clothes hangers, iron and ironing board.
Bedroom Area
Once you step from the small entryway to the small bedroom, you go from lots of blue, to lots of copper.
In the bedroom area, there are copper lights besides the bed and a copper framed mirror over the desk.
I was glad to see an actual desk (which had a copper pull handle for the drawer).
Many of the smaller hotel rooms have moved away from having desks. I think it’s an effort to make small spaces feel larger. But I often work from hotels so I want a desk in my room.
Minibar
Beside the copper lamp, the minibar top had an ice bucket (why was this not copper!) and some good quality glassware. Open the minibar doors to find…
WOW, Cool!
Seven iconic Tennessee names are embroidered on the inside of the minibar’s door.
While not as awesome as the minibar in the Park Hyatt NYC, this was one of my favorite Nashville themed details in the Hyatt Centric.
Oh yeah, there’s also a small refrigerator, coffee maker and a safe inside the minibar.
Electrical Outlets
More kudos to the brand new Hyatt Centric, there are plugs everywhere. Here’s an electrical socket on the side of Dolly’s minibar.
If the quantity of plugs wasn’t good enough for you, they all had a pair of USB power ports. Now if they were only USB-C plugs 😉
Motion Sensing Night Lights
Another small detail that I appreciate, there are motion sensing lights under the bed. No more stumbling thru the dark when you get out of bed in the middle of the night.
Thermostat
On the blue wall next to the king bed, there’s a simple, intuitive thermostat. We changed the temperature in the room a couple of times and the air conditioner worked well.
TV Problems
At the foot of the bed, there’s a big flat screen TV. Staying here for just one night, we probably had the TV on for a total of 3 hours. It worked well only about 50% of the time.
I don’t know exactly how the TV’s connection was supposed to work, but it didn’t work well. There was some level of lag & pixilation in the picture an annoying amount of the time.
I’d say we never had a solid picture for more than a 15 minute stretch of time.
If we were in the room more, or if we were here for more than one night, this would have been worth complaining about.
Text for Service
When we checked in, we got a card with a phone number to text the Hyatt Centric Nashville if we needed anything.
While we never used it, texting a hotel is just one more convenient way to contact them when you have a question or need something.
By the way, I did use the old fashioned method to get some extra pillows sent to our room. I called on the bedside phone.
My pillows arrived in 12 minutes which was pretty good.
Bathroom
Keeping with the small & nice theme, here’s our bathroom.
With the exception of no bathtub, there’s everything that you would expect in the Hyatt Centric’s bathroom.
Good sized, walk in shower with a high shower head mounted on the wall.
Big round mirror over the single sink. The mirror has a copper frame, of course.
Plenty of new towels, tissues and a hair dryer were all there. The light on the makeup mirror didn’t work but then we realized that it wasn’t plugged in. It worked fine once we plugged it into the outlet.
When I’m on a high floor in hotels, I’ve come to expect water pressure issues. No problems here. The water pressure in both the shower and the sink were just fine.
Bathroom Floor
Another detail that was impressive about the Nashville Hyatt Centric was the floor in the bathroom. Seriously.
It’s not a heated floor, at least there’s no switch or control for that. But it had some type of texture that we both thought took the chill off. It also just had a nice, new look to it that tied in well with the design and color scheme of the room.
While we’re on the bathroom floor with you, here’s the motion activated light under the vanity.
Bathroom Amenities
As we’ve seen in other Hyatt’s, the Nashville Centric offers Pharmacopia brand potions and lotions in the bathroom.
There were single use bottles of Pharmacopia shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion.
View from our Room
Our room did not have a city view. Our floor to ceiling windows faced south. If you get a city view room, you’ll be facing north.
The one neat thing about our view was that (theoretically) we could see our house from our room.
Well, not really. But it was kind of fun to spend a few minutes getting our bearings and figuring out where it would be.
If you want to play I Spy with us, our home would be directly in the center of this picture. There’s a tiny looking smokestack (from the old Nashville hospital) that just barely rises above the horizon. Our house would be another 10-11 miles past that.
NOT the View from Our Room
If you get a City View Room (which we did not get), you’ll be looking north towards Lower Broad & Honky Tonk Highway. We took this city view picture from the window next to our 20th floor elevator.
That’s the mother church of country music, Ryman Auditorium, right in the center of the picture.
Just be aware, there are alot of tall buildings on the north side of the Hyatt Centric so a City View Room might just see the skyscrapers and not much of downtown Nashville.
Restaurants
There are 2 places to eat & drink in the Hyatt Centric: Ella’s on 2nd which is the lobby restaurant & bar, and Lala’s Rooftop Pool Bar. Outside the hotel, there are tons of dining options.
Ella’s on 2nd
Located off the lobby, Ella’s on 2nd is separated into a bar area and a restaurant area.
The bar area is immediately off the lobby with the restaurant just past the bar.
As Hyatt Globalists, we got a free breakfast in Ella’s. All the restaurant tables were full but we were able to score a pair of seats at the bar and had a nice breakfast there.
Lala’s Rooftop Bar
On the 9th floor, Lala’s Rooftop Pool Bar is open during the warmer seasons at the Nashville Hyatt Centric.
Lala’s has a pair of big screen TV’s, bar seating for 8 and a cozy nook that can seat 4-6 people.
You can also get bar service at the rest of the pool area.
Only hotel guests can access the pool and Lala’s Rooftop Bar so there should never be too much of a crowd here as opposed to some of the other rooftop bars in Nashville.
Bonus Restaurant: Pancake Pantry
If you’re not getting a free breakfast in Ella’s like we did, you should really try Pancake Pantry. It’s a true Nashville gem and their second location is in the same building as the Hyatt Centric.
The original Pancake Pantry is in Hillsboro Village, near Vanderbilt University, and there is ALWAYS at least an hour wait to get in.
The line at this Pancake Pantry was a paltry 20 minutes.
It’s great. You should go.
Pool
You’ll find the Hyatt Centric’s pool on the 9th floor.
You can see from my overhead picture, the highrise condo right next to the Hyatt Centric also has a pool on the same level but there is no access to the other rooftop pool.
Just like the rest of the hotel, the hallway to the pool was impressive. The big blue and white striped walls will certainly get you in the mood for a dip in the outdoor pool.
If you want to practice your swan dive, this isn’t your pool. It’s only 3 feet deep.
There is an accessible lift for those who have mobility issues.
Even though it wasn’t really hot when we stayed at the Hyatt Centric, it was a nice sunny day and there were quite a few tourists enjoying the pool area.
Back in the pool hall, there was a rack with plenty of bright blue pool towels.
And while you’re walking through the pool hall, take a few minutes to admire the artwork. There are a handful of…. interesting… pool themed pictures that are worth a look.
Fitness Center
Next to the rooftop pool on the 9th floor is the Nashville Hyatt Centric’s fitness center.
The gym is a wide open, bright area with a wall of windows facing the south side of Nashville.
The gym has free weights, rowing machines, several Pelotons, stability balls, kettlebells, and an adjustable pulley weight machine from Life Fitness.
Meeting Space
There’s about 7000 sq ft of meeting space on the 9th floor of the Hyatt Centric Nashville. Every room is named after a different musical instrument. Lots of light and lots of glass in all the ballrooms and meeting rooms.
Internet Access
When I connected to the Hyatt Centric’s wifi, I was offered to upgrade to faster wifi for $9.95 per day. As a Hyatt Globalist, I’m supposed to get a perk of faster internet for free. I’m not sure if Hyatt provided this benefit or not.
Either way, we got a very acceptable 11MB download speed from the Hyatt Centric Nashville wifi.
Parking
Overnight valet parking is $50 plus $4.63 tax at the Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville.
That’s a pretty common rate for this part of downtown Nashville.
As a Hyatt Globalist, we were supposed to get free parking. They billed us $54.63 and I had to call in to get the charge reversed.
But the valet was fast, friendly and efficient. Our car was available 7 minutes after we texted that we were ready to pick it up.
Globalist Benefits
In the last year, Zuzu & I have gotten over $2500 of value from the World of Hyatt Loyalty program. The top elite level is “Globalist” status which comes with many benefits, some of which are based on availability &/or the the hotel’s discretion.
Here’s how the Hyatt Centric in Nashville handled (and mishandled) these standout benefits which include “…exceptional benefits like room upgrades…” and that Hyatt describes as “A world of rewards designed to revolve around you.”
Elite Check-in
There’s a separate line for World of Hyatt members. There was no line when we checked in so we didn’t need to use it.
Globalist Recognition
Fail.
Every Hyatt I’ve been to, except the Hyatt Centric in Nashville, has done 2 things immediately at check-in:
- Recognition of status: “Thank you for being a World of Hyatt Globalist”
- At least some explanation of some Globalist benefits at the hotel.
While I got the minimum “Thank you,” this was the first time ever that hotel staff has failed to mention ANY benefits.
Room Upgrade
Hyatt Globalists get a free upgrade to better rooms including suites, if they are available upon check-in. We didn’t get one of the 11 suites at the Nashville Centric but we did get a more desirable, top floor room. It’s always nice to get a larger room or suite, but this room upgrade met the minimum that Hyatt promises.
Resort Fees
Hyatt Centric Nashville does not charge a resort fee like the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort. If they did, it would have been waived.
Earning Hyatt Points
We spent ZERO dollars on our 1 night stay at the Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville. But if we had spent anything, we would have gotten a 30% bonus in Hyatt points from Globalist Status.
Bottled Water
When we arrived in our room, there were 2 bottles of water with cards noting that they were free for elite members.
Just fyi, there are free water bottles for everyone in the Hyatt’s Fitness Center on floor 9 near the rooftop swimming pool.
Faster Internet
One nice free perk for Hyatt Globalists is faster than standard wifi speed. Unlike most other Hyatt’s the wifi access process at the Nashville Centric was not clear on whether I got this or not.
But we got 11MB download speed so that was fine for when we needed it.
Late Checkout
Normal checkout time is noon but we received a late checkout time. We were offered to checkout at 4pm but we left before 2p.
Club Access
There is no Regency Club in the Hyatt Centric Nashville Downtown.
Free Breakfast
While this benefit wasn’t volunteered by the front desk, when I asked, they did tell us that breakfast in Ella’s Restaurant was free for Globalists.
Unfortunately, our breakfast bill of $98.50 was charged to my Hyatt credit card. I had to call Hyatt to get the charge reversed.
Free Parking
When asked, the front desk did confirm that valet parking was free for Globalists. Like the free breakfast, the Hyatt Centric billed my Hyatt credit card $50 for parking and I had to call to get the charge reversed.
Hyatt Centric Nashville Downtown Review: 4 of 5
For the most part, we enjoyed our stay at the Hyatt Centric Nashville Downtown. Location was fantastic and the food in Ella’s was pretty good. Other than the small rooms, the hotel building and amenities were very impressive.
The only things that took stars off my review were the lackluster front desk and the inconvenience of dealing with an incorrect $153 charge.
Bottom Line: Would We Visit Again?
If we’re doing some boot scootin’ along Honky Tonk Highway, or just need to stay the night in the main tourist area of Nashville for another concert, yes, I’d stay at the Hyatt Centric again.
Both of the minor problems we experienced can be addressed by Hyatt doing a better job of training their staff.
With a little more time, the Hyatt Centric may grow into the best Hyatt in Nashville.
Read More About Nashville
Nashville is our hometown so here’s a local’s take on some of the things that you’ll want to know when visiting Nashville:
Leave a Reply