Photo: Mark Rankin / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)Graduate Nashville
Steps from Vanderbilt and Music Row, this Graduate Hotels outpost turns Nashville's musical DNA into a design bit — colorful, collegiate, a little theatrical. The real draw is upstairs: White Limozeen, the Dolly Parton-tribute rooftop bar that's become one of Midtown's hardest reservations.
Graduate Hotels builds each property around the university town it sits in, and the Nashville outpost — opened in 2019 — leans into Vanderbilt and Music Row with a playful, almost theatrical hand: bright, collegiate-nostalgia interiors in the 205 rooms, a lobby coffee bar built for lingering, and a karaoke bar tucked just off the entrance for guests who want to start the night before they've unpacked.
The property's real center of gravity is the roof. White Limozeen is a full Dolly Parton tribute done up in crushed velvet, gold trim, mirrored chandeliers and an onyx wraparound bar, presided over by a nine-foot, 942-pound chicken-wire bust of Dolly by artist Ricky Pittman. There's a wading pool ringed with hot-pink umbrellas, a menu that plays French bistro classics as party food — caviar, steak frites, champagne jello shots — and a bar list built for photographing before you drink it. It draws a crowd well beyond hotel guests, which is the point and the catch.
This is a hotel for people who want to be in the middle of Midtown's energy rather than removed from it — walkable to Vanderbilt, Music Row's studios, and West End's restaurants — and for groups (bachelorette parties, birthday weekends, visiting Vanderbilt parents) who'd rather the hotel be part of the entertainment than a quiet backdrop to it. It's not the pick for travelers wanting understated luxury or a hushed lobby.
Highlights
- —White Limozeen, the Dolly Parton-themed rooftop bar, is the property's main event — expect a scene Thursday through Saturday
- —A karaoke bar sits just off the lobby for pre- or post-dinner singing
- —205 rooms done in bright, collegiate-nostalgia design rather than minimalist boutique style
- —Rooftop wading pool with pink umbrellas is open to hotel guests by day
- —Walkable to Vanderbilt, Music Row, and West End Avenue restaurants
Insider tip
White Limozeen takes reservations and fills up fast on weekends — book online several days ahead if you want a table rather than standing room at the bar.