Virgin Hotel Nashville

You would expect Virgin Hotels and Nashville to find their way to one another eventually. The former is the accessibly hip boutique-hotel arm of Richard Branson’s youth-culture empire, and the latter is one of the most straightforwardly fun cities in America. Even so, it wasn’t inevitable that the actual Virgin Hotels Nashville should look as good as it does. This eye-catching brick-and-glass structure stands at the north end of Music Row, just outside of Downtown, with its extraordinarily lively nightlife. And its interiors feature Virgin’s favored mid-century space-age aesthetic, but with a very welcome industrial edge to the public spaces.

The rooms, meanwhile, offer a softer, warmer vision, with plenty of blond wood, and plentiful sunshine courtesy of the loft-style windows. The comforts are modern, even a bit futuristic, including Lucy, the Virgin brand’s in-room digital assistant. Just as important in a Virgin hotel, of course, are the social spaces: Commons Club is the hotel’s multi-purpose lounge space, featuring a bar and an eclectic American restaurant, and The Pool Club is the rooftop oasis, with its poolside loungers and cabanas and its expansive menu of food and drinks. The Late Great, the hotel’s speakeasy-style bar, is reached through a hidden entrance, and features occasional live music or DJ sets; Funny Library, the coffee shop, doubles as a daytime co-working space.