Middle Tennessee
VisitMusicCity.com; @VisitMusicCity
While it’s home to more than 250 live-music venues, Nashville is more than its “Music City” name implies, says Deana Ivey, president and CEO of Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “We are a community of makers—musicians, chefs, designers, and other visionaries—who bring that creative spirit to life through hands-on experiences like songwriting sessions, culinary classes, and locally crafted goods that create lasting impacts and foster meaningful connections. The true spirit of ‘Music City,’ infused with Southern charm, offers the perfect backdrop for every type of gathering.”
Anchored by The Pinnacle, a 4,500-seat music venue, Nashville Yards is downtown’s newest development, with an urban park, retail, entertainment, residential, and hotels, including the 591-room Grand Hyatt Nashville, with 84,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and the historic Union Station Nashville Yards, with 125 bespoke guest rooms and 11,000 square feet of elegantly restored function space.
Nashville’s latest hotel properties include the 260-room Motto by Hilton Nashville Downtown; 181-room Canopy by Hilton Nashville Downtown The Gulch, with 5,477 square feet of event space; and Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel, which is expected to open soon with 10,000 square feet of themed event space.
Nashville’s downtown convention facility is Music City Center, which features 1.2 million square feet of usable space, including 61 meeting rooms, a 353,143-square-foot exhibit hall, a 57,500-square-foot grand ballroom, and a variety of pre-function and reception areas. The center is adjacent to Bridgestone Arena and surrounded by hotels, including the 800-room Omni Nashville Hotel, with 80,000 square feet of event space; 506-room Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville Downtown, with 35,417 square feet of function space; and 330-room Hilton Nashville Downtown, with 26,969 square feet of meeting and event space.
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center expects to complete a multi-phase $224 million expansion for spring 2027, according to Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. The work includes upgrades (either already underway or completed) to existing ballroom and pre-function spaces, a new sports bar, and outdoor event amenities, plus a major expansion adding approximately 108,000 square feet of new meeting space, including a 31,000-square-foot ballroom, breakout rooms, and pre-function spaces. The project is expected to bring the property to approximately 756,000 square feet of dedicated meeting and event space. With 2,800 guest rooms, the expansion will solidify the property’s status as the largest non-gaming hotel in the United States based on exhibit and meeting space.
Additional downtown hotels include the 673-room Renaissance Nashville Hotel, with 112,498 square feet of event space; 533-room JW Marriott Nashville, with 79,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space; 494-room Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown, with 28,755 square feet of recently renovated event space; the 456-room Westin Nashville, with 28,241 square feet of space; and 346-room W Nashville, with 37,672 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. There are nearly 15,000 hotel rooms in downtown and 42,536 in Davidson County.
Unique offsite venues include The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with a 10,000-square-foot event hall, two theaters, a rooftop terrace, a rotunda, and additional event spaces, plus a building buy-out option; the 4,000-seat Grand Ole Opry House, located near Gaylord Opryland Resort; the historic 2,362-seat Ryman Auditorium in downtown; the National Museum of African American Music, with boardrooms, lounge space, galleries, a 184-seat theater, and a lobby concourse that can host a 500-person reception; and GEODIS Park (home to Nashville SC Soccer), with a 30,000-seat stadium and numerous indoor event venues to host events of up to 1,000 guests.
