Hotels Blog

On a recent trip to Nashville, Tennessee, my boyfriend and I decided to bring our Rhodesian Ridgeback, Penny, with us. Mind you, Penny is 75 pounds of action-loving pooch, so we were a little nervous about finding a place that would take her. And, at first, all we could find were pet friendly hotels that had a strict “40 pounds and under” rule (for pets, of course.) After poking around on the Web a bit, though, we discovered that the Sheraton Music City (which turns out to be at the top of Uptake’s list!) allows dogs up to 80 pounds. Perfect! As long as Penny didn’t eat her way out of the house before we left, we’d just squeak in under the weight limit.

And as it turns out, the Sheraton Music City completely exceeded our expectations in every way. It’s a large (over 400 rooms), with Georgian-style architecture, two pools, a business center and a good gym. Penny was enthusiastically greeted by the hotel staff as we walked across the spacious, attractive lobby, and not a single person gave us a funny look, unless you count the smiles. The woman at the front desk even asked if we needed a doggie bed! We had brought our own, but we were pleased to discover that the doggie beds are completely complementary, though they are available on a first-come first-serve basis. I was a little nervous when they told us that because of the dog, we were staying in a “special, reserved” section of the hotel, and I instantly got images of tiny, dark rooms that smelled like wet dogs and pet accidents. But then I realized that, if the lobby was any indication, the hotel was a classy place, and I probably didn’t have anything to worry about.

All of my fears went away as soon as we got to our first-floor room. The room was spacious, clean and the beds were very comfortable (Penny tried out both beds during our stay.) I couldn’t detect a hing of “doggie” smell, and the only problem we ran into was Penny trying to eat all of the room service plates which had been placed outside of the rooms. In fact, the only shortcoming I could mention was that, while there was a patio just outside the room, there were no dividers in between the rooms, so we couldn’t let Penny hang out by herself without tying her up. Not a huge deal at all, just something I thought I should mention in the spirit of full disclosure. There was plenty of space to take her on long walks - the hotel has 41 acres of lush, green property (i.e. pet paradise).

The Sheraton Music City was only about seven miles from downtown Nashville, so it was very convenient to all of the attractions we could have enjoyed had we stayed longer. We did manage to get some great bbq, an authentic ice cream soda and even see a life-size Parthenon in the middle of a park. (Check out my next blog for more info on all of that.) Definitely check this place out if you want to travel with your above-average sized pet, we’re definitely staying there again when we go back.

Thank you to GoGeoffrey on Flickr Creative Commons for his photo of Jack’s BBQ in Memphis. I took the photo of Penny.