This Legendary Hotel Is One Of Nashville's Best Holiday Traditions

As a student at Vanderbilt University in the 1930s, my grandmother, Marion Truett Duke, danced in the Grand Ballroom of The Hermitage Hotel. She found joy there during the throes of the Great Depression, with a full dance card hanging from her wrist. It’s easy to imagine how she felt twirling around, thanks to her college line-a-day journal and a box of love letters—items she kept close at hand even in her golden years.

Decades later, I spun around the hotel as a child before Nutcracker performances at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, attended work events there as a young professional, marked milestone birthdays with overnight stays with my mother and sister, and celebrated my wedding night. These days, I enjoy afternoon tea in the lobby with my daughter, Bea, who is ushering in our family’s seventh generation in Nashville. 

Today’s bustling city is a far cry from that of my childhood in the 1990s, when Nashville felt like a small town. To natives, it is nearly unrecognizable now, except for one time-tested place: The Hermitage Hotel. It evokes a common feeling among Nashvillians—that it is intended just as much for the locals as it is for visitors. “The Hermitage is Nashville’s hotel,” says Dee Patel, managing director. “It’s always belonged to its people.” And that’s especially true during the holiday season.

The Hotel's Remarkable Story

The Hermitage opened to great fanfare in 1910 as the city’s first luxury hotel, with rooms going for $2 a night. The building was designed by Tennessee architect James E.R. Carpenter in the Beaux Arts style, complete with a brick-and-polychrome terra-cotta exterior and arched doorways and windows throughout. The crown jewel of the property is its spectacular lobby with Tennessee marble flooring, above which is a soaring 30-foot ceiling consisting of a painted-glass skylight and ornamental plasterwork. The adjacent Grand Ballroom is encased in Circassian walnut paneling, and the veranda features a blue sky painting on the ceiling.

A Witness To History

Located prominently across from the Tennessee State Capitol and Legislative Plaza, the icon has witnessed many historic moments—the hotel’s orchestra leader, Francis Craig, creating Nashville’s first record that sold a million copies; the beginning of the Country Music Association; and the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, giving women the right to vote (though many would continue to be denied that privilege for decades more due to racial discrimination). “Tennessee was the 36th and deciding state, and the hotel served as the unofficial headquarters of the women’s suffrage movement for both sides of the issue,” says.

The War Of The Roses

Tom Vickstrom, The Hermitage’s in-house historian. The battle became known as “The War of the Roses.” Those who favored ratification wore yellow roses, while those against it wore red, including Harry T. Burn, Tennessee’s youngest legislator. Burn received a letter from his mother urging him to do the right thing, prompting him to change his vote to an “aye” and tipping the scales to a 49-47 tally in the state house of representatives. “He was later quoted as saying, ‘I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow,’ ” notes Vickstrom with a chuckle. In 2020, the 100th anniversary of the decision, The Hermitage was recognized as a National Historic Landmark, due to its key role. “We are a women-owned and -led property, and this distinction couldn’t make us prouder,” says Patel, who runs the hotel alongside owner Molly Hardie.

A New Look For An Grand Old Hotel

That year, the hotel began a restoration-and-redesign project. ForrestPerkins, the design firm that had overseen the last major renovation in 2003, was enlisted to refresh all the property’s guest rooms as well as the public spaces. “We wanted to make the hotel feel more approachable, welcoming, calm, and flexible while taking great care to maintain the original architectural features and honoring our past,” says Patel.

Uniting The Past And Present

History served as a well of inspiration. Yellow, the color of the roses worn by those in favor of women’s suffrage, was subtly incorporated throughout. The bird hidden within the veranda’s faux-sky ceiling (painted in 2002) inspired the art and decor. And the lightened overall palette of blues, soft creams, tans, and taupes (pulled from the hues found in the Carrara marble that’s original to the hotel) served a dual purpose of drawing more attention to the architectural features while creating a more feminine feel.

Stylish Restaurants (And Bathrooms)

For the restaurant and retail spaces, The Hermitage turned to Thomas Juul-Hansen, the favorite designer of Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who was brought on to lead the new dining concepts Drusie & Darr (named for the children of The Hermitage hotelier Dick Hall, who lived on-site in the 1950s and 1960s) and The Pink Hermit Cafe. Juul-Hansen also made it his mission to turn the women’s restroom, which is adjacent to the award-winning 1930s-era Art Deco men’s room, into a star itself. “The ladies’ room has now put in a bid to outdo the men’s,” says Vickstrom.

Celebrating The Season At The Hermitage

Naturally, the hotel’s new design called for a fresh holiday look, envisioned by Patel, with gold and silver trimmings to deck the halls without upstaging the building’s impressive architecture.

Decking The Halls

A 15-foot-tall tree stands in the Grand Lobby, a tradition that dates back decades. “It always makes a beautiful setting for seasonal gatherings,” says Vickstrom, noting the many families who pass through here each year. Adorning the branches are decorations from the hotel’s collection of glass-ball ornaments and garlands, many of which were sourced by Patel herself over the years. Draped along the banisters and fireplace mantel are swags embellished with magnolia leaves and gold ribbons, while glowing wreaths are hung all around. Trees are displayed in the adjoining veranda and ballroom, with distinguished color schemes complementing their settings. Dusty blues echo the sky painted on the veranda’s ceiling, and rustic copper tones and deep reds play off the rich wood paneling in the ballroom. The end result? A beautiful backdrop for an exciting array of festive events.

A Tea Time Tradition

Tea service has been one of the offerings at The Hermitage since day one, but in 2021, a themed Nutcracker Tea was introduced. Bite-size sweets, drinks, and live music make for a memorable afternoon, especially when paired with a performance of Nashville’s Nutcracker at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center across the street.

It just wouldn’t be the holidays at The Hermitage without their Christmas Day Brunch in the lobby. The menu includes hits such as prime rib, Cornish game hens, a seafood bar, salads, Southern sides like braised collard greens, and a dessert table with eggnog cheesecake.

“I love seeing family traditions take shape at The Hermitage,” says Patel, who brings her own children to the holiday brunch. Like Patel, I’ve begun taking my 5-year-old daughter each year. To see her twirling around the same festooned halls where her great-grandmother once danced, well, that’s my kind of Christmas magic.