Nashville's hotel market has grown dramatically over the past decade. The city has added thousands of hotel rooms in the downtown core, The Gulch, Germantown, and East Nashville as tourism has expanded. For gay visitors, the most relevant factor in choosing where to stay is proximity to the Church Street bar area and how much you want to be inside the main tourist district versus slightly outside it.


Downtown Nashville puts you within walking distance of Church Street and the main gay bar concentration. The tradeoff is that downtown Nashville — particularly the Lower Broadway honky-tonk strip — is extremely loud and tourist-saturated, especially on weekends. If that energy suits you or you plan to spend your time in the gay bars anyway, downtown is the obvious choice. If you want somewhere quieter, East Nashville or Germantown are 10 minutes away by Uber and have a more neighborhood character.

The Hotels

    • Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville at Vanderbilt — 208 spacious two room suites with a separate living and bedroom area. Each suite comes with a wet bar, a small refrigerator, microwave, and two cup coffee maker. Our suites all include a pull-out skewer sofa in the living area, the Embassy Essentials Bedding Package featuring a white cotton duvet, pillow-top Serta Mattress, Luxurious Linens, and down like pillows. Complimentary made-to-order breakfast each morning featuring a full hot buffet, as well as a variety of fresh bakeries, oatmeal, c

Where to Stay by Priority

Walking distance to Church Street gay bars: Downtown, anywhere within about 10 blocks of Church Street. Most downtown hotels qualify. The walk from the main hotel cluster to the gay bar strip is 5 to 15 minutes depending on exactly where you are.

Quieter stay with reasonable access: East Nashville, across the Cumberland River, has a neighborhood feel with locally-run restaurants, coffee shops, and a younger resident population. It is a 10 to 15 minute Uber to downtown nightlife. Several boutique hotels and short-term rentals are available here at lower prices than comparable downtown options.

For Nashville Pride: Downtown, booked well in advance. Pride week in late June coincides with peak tourism season. Downtown hotels sell out and prices are high. Book three to six months ahead if Pride is your reason for coming.

Germantown: Just north of downtown, Germantown is a historic neighborhood with good restaurants and a calmer vibe than the main tourist strip. A few boutique hotels operate here. It is walkable to downtown and to some of the gay bars.

Practical Notes

Nashville hotel prices have risen significantly with the tourism boom. Budget $150-250/night for a mid-range downtown hotel on a weekend. Rates are lower midweek. Summer (June through August) is peak season and the most expensive. The shoulder seasons in spring and fall give you better value.

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is about 15 to 20 minutes from downtown by Uber or rideshare. There is no rail connection to the airport. Taxis exist but ridesharing is the standard.

The city has a music venue on almost every block downtown. If you are a light sleeper staying near Lower Broadway, request a room away from the street or bring earplugs. The honky-tonks run until 3am and the sound carries.

For the bar scene: Nashville Gay Bars. For the full city guide: Gay Nashville Guide.