Well-dressed corporate travelers and music industry types register at the Loews Vanderilt Hotel's front desk as porters whisk by with bags. Music from a vintage jukebox plays songs by celebrity guests of the hotel. Italian-marble tile floors, 12-foot bird of paradise plants, and white columns bordered by wheatgrass round out the décor. Neon signs for “Eat” and “Drink” beckon guests to the hotel’s restaurant and bar.

What to expect: Country Music Television (CMT) plays continuously on three large plasma TVs in the lobby behind the front desk. White marble floors and fresh flowers help set the scene as conventioneers and vacation travelers ride the two main escalators.

Amenity highlights: The fitness center, also open 24 hours, houses an indoor pool, fitness room, and lockers. Room service is available 24 hours as well. The adjacent Nashville Convention Center is accessible from the lobby floor. Hotel meeting space totals 31,000 square feet. Other amenities include a restaurant with bar and a Starbucks.

Insider tip: The legendary Ryman Auditorium is located within one half-mile of the hotel. Guests can record an original CD at the venue’s private studio: The on-site studio engineer records those willing to sing along to a few country standards such as Willie Nelson’s Crazy, made famous by Patsy Cline (surcharge).

With its gleaming ivory-and-black marble floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, glass chandeliers, grand piano, and birds-eye view of the lower level indoor pool, the lobby of this sprawling Marriott is bright and elegant. The hotel’s clientele consists mainly of conventioneers and business travelers in Nashville.

An atmosphere of quiet elegance is created by original 19th-century oil paintings, framed vintage film prints, urns, statues, and other antique pieces in the lobby. Soft, contemporary jazz fills the lobby as corporate travelers and music business personnel travel to and from hotel meeting spaces.

The airy, deco-style lobby has checkered marble floors and mahogany-lined walls featuring beautiful contemporary artwork. With its proximity to downtown, the hotel hosts a mostly business clientele during the week, and vacationers and families on weekends.

Guests at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel enter an airy atrium lobby with a bank of four glass-walled elevators, richly patterned tile floors and carpeting, and colorful sofas and chairs in conversational clusters. Those on business, lobbyists, and state officials comprise most of the weekday guests, with vacationers and families visiting on weekends.