HotelChatter

What, indeed? How about an escape to a place that has enchanted countless lovers over the past century? A place full of history and intrigue. A place where exquisite craftsmanship and extraordinary cuisine peacefully coexist. A place that will beguile you with its charm.

The Hermitage Hotel is such a place.

Its guest book reads like a Who's Who in American History. Presidents from William Howard Taft to John F. Kennedy have made their way to the Hermitage Hotel. It has welcomed ladies of the silver screen like Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, and Helen Hayes. Colorful personalities like gangster Al Capone and pool shark Minnesota Fats. Celebrities like Brooke Shields, Steven Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey. And because it's located in Nashville, Tennessee--the Country Music Capital of the World--practically anyone and everyone who's important in country music has been here at some time or another. Even the Dixie Chicks.

What is it then that drew this diverse collection of characters to the Hermitage Hotel? The rooms? The food? The staff? Perhaps it is the one quality identified by Oscar Wilde when he said, "I have the simplest of tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."

Prem Davadas, the hotel's managing partner, echoes this sentiment when he says, "The Hermitage will be the hotel of choice for those who simply want the best." And while being the best is a lofty goal, the owners of the hotel have proven that it is achievable. They have already renovated and transformed their sister property, The Jefferson Hotel, in Richmond, Virginia into a Mobil Five-Star and AAA Five Diamond hotel, named the "Best Hotel in America" in 2001, according to Forbes FYI. Indeed, the coveted AAA Five Diamond award has already been bestowed upon the Hermitage, making it the only hotel in Tennessee to be so honored.

Certainly the Hermitage has always offered their guests the very best. When it opened in 1910, Nashville's magnificent new million-dollar hotel provided guests with all the modern conveniences, including a bath in every room, for a rate of two dollars a night. It quickly became the meeting place of choice for the city's social elite.

Today's guests can enjoy much of the hotel's original grandeur, thanks to a $17 million renovation completed in 2003. Nowhere is this grandeur more evident than in the breathtaking beauty of the Italian stained glass skylight that soars over the lobby. Intricately detailed plasterwork, painted in a palette of rich vibrant colors, completes the vaulted ceiling and connects it to the marbled columns that surround this magnificent room. Extravagant detailing influenced by the French Renaissance style complements the Beaux Arts Classicism that has earned the hotel a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Just off the lobby, the Grand Ballroom awaits. Paneled in Circassian walnut imported from Russia, it features an ornately handcrafted ceiling as well. Six statuesque windows encircle the ballroom, emitting natural light that lends an entirely different character to the room by day. One level up, on the mezzanine, you'll find a sunlit fitness center featuring workout equipment fitted with personal television screens and headsets. Two treatment rooms for massage, locker rooms, and a juice bar round out the health and fitness facilities.

But man does not live by juice alone, definitely not here. The Capitol Grille, the hotel's famous dining room, serves up regional American cuisine in a comfortably elegant setting. "My goal is to bring upscale southern food with creative interpretations to Nashville by using seasonal ingredients and placing a strong emphasis on simplicity," says Executive Chef Sean Brock. And that, despite his tender age of 24, is precisely what he does. His Sweet Onion Bisque--a masterful testimony to the power of simplicity--consists of only three ingredients. Yet it made such a profound statement that I was still yearning for another taste long after I departed the hotel.

After dinner, do as generations of movers and shakers have done and repair to the Oak Bar adjacent to the Capitol Grille. Here you'll find an intimate, clubby environment with all the right brandies, cognacs, and cordials to cap off your memorable meal.

While you're wrapping up your evening, summon the hotel's bath concierge to make sure the water in your marble soaking tub is drawn at the required time, and that it meets your requested temperature. Meanwhile, slide into the spa bathrobe and terry slippers that have been set beside your bed. "The concierge will leave the thermometer at the tub so you can ensure that it is as requested, and then if you choose to heat or cool it you may do so," assures Greg Sligh, General Manager. Candles and vitamin-enriched bath gel from London's exclusive Molton Brown combine to create the ultimate bathing experience.

And now, off to bed. But not just any bed, mind you. My heavens, no! Your bed here is unlike any other. In fact, it may be The Perfect Bed. After you've slept in one of these beds, you'll be spoiled for anything else. Whatever your original reason for checking in to the Hermitage Hotel, I'll wager a bet that you'll come back time and again just for these phenomenal beds - I know I will.

So, what makes them that incredible?

The best of the best. Only the very finest threads have been selected to create this dreamy sleeping experience. On top of your mattress, you will be enveloped by an Anachini feather bed, encased in crisp white Frette bed linens. Atop that you will find a light coverlet layered between two more of those sumptuous high thread count Frette sheets made of satiny Egyptian cotton. A goose-down comforter nestled in a cuddly duvet and plenty of oversized fluffy feather pillows complete your personal snoozing and relaxation nirvana.

Let yourself go. Relinquish your cares to the silky, sultry feel of these luxurious Italian bed linens as they caress your body. Drift blissfully off to sleep in this spectacular cloud of bedding. Sleep will come quickly to those fortunate enough to stay at the Hermitage Hotel. And soon afterward, I predict, will come five stars, sparkling like five diamonds, in the Nashville sky.

Top 10 Romantic Ways to Indulge at the Hermitage Hotel
1. Luxuriate in your own marble soaking tub while you float in a candlelit bath brimming with bubbles by Molton Brown.
2. Savor a cognac in the Oak Bar where generations of influential Southerners have gathered.
3. Steal a kiss on the Veranda beneath a perfect sky.
4. Feast on creative southern cuisine in The Capitol Grille, named one of the best new restaurants in America by
Esquire.
5. Work up a sweat in the sunlit fitness center complete with personal televisions on each piece of equipment.
6. Gaze up at the intricate stained glass ceiling over the hotel's grand lobby.
7. Surrender in the hands of talented massage therapists while you enjoy side-by-side in-room massages.
8. Sip afternoon tea in front of the massive fireplace at the far end of the hotel lobby.
9. Dance in the Grand Ballroom paneled with Russian walnut while you softly sing Near You in your partner's ear.
10. Stay in bed all day, reveling in Frette bed linens.


IN THE KNOW:

THE HERMITAGE HOTEL
231 Sixth Avenue North
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
(888)888.9414
http://www.thehemitagehotel.com