| Opryland Hotel |
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Information AboutOpryland Hotel |
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HISTORY The property, given a general theme toward " Southern Hospitality ", opened as Opryland Hotel in 1977 adjacent to the Opryland USA Theme Park and the Grand Ole Opry house, from which the hotel took its name. The hotel originally featured 600 guest rooms, a 20,000 square foot (2000 m²) Ballroom , and 30,000 square feet (3,000 m²) of convention space. Originally built by the National Life & Accident Insurance Company, Opryland Hotel was sold to then- Oklahoma City -based Gaylord Broadcasting Company (which soon after changed its name to Gaylord Entertainment Company ) in 1982 , along with most of National Life's entertainment properties, including WSM Radio , Opryland USA, and the Grand Ole Opry. In 1983 , six years after opening, Opryland Hotel completed its first major expansion, dubbed "Phase II". This large undertaking added 467 guest rooms, moving the total to 1,067. Phase II also brought 30,000 square feet (3,000 m²) more of ballroom space, and added the hotel's first signature Atrium , the Garden Conservatory. Under large panes of glass and filled with plant life and fountains, the Garden Conservatory is designed to allow guests to experience a walk in a tropical garden without going outdoors. Hundreds of rooms have balconies overlooking the Conservatory. This was the first truly unique thing the hotel had to offer, and it set the stage for the next two expansions. By 1988 , Opryland Hotel had expanded to 1,891 guest rooms. In the "Phase III" expansion, another 18,000 square foot (1,700 m²) ballroom was added along with the Cascades, a second atrium designed to complement the Garden Conservatory. The Cascades is covered by an Acre of glass, and features thousands of plant species and large artificial Waterfalls . As part of Phase III, but delayed by one year, another 4,000 square foot (400 m²) ballroom opened, designed for more intimate settings and smaller functions. Separate from the Phase III expansion was the addition of an 18 hole Golf Course , "Springhouse Golf Club", located 2 miles east of the hotel. The par-72 links-style course was home to the BellSouth Senior PGA Classic from 1994 to 2002. It has since been renamed "Springhouse Links". Opryland Hotel completed its "Phase IV" expansion in , Water samples from more than 6,000 rivers throughout the World , including every registered River in the United States , were poured into the Delta River. The Delta Expansion solidified the trend that Gaylord was focusing more efforts on its hotel division than its theme park, as the massive undertaking swallowed up any and all land the theme park could have expanded upon. Alas, following the 1997 season, the Opryland USA theme park ceased operations and was demolished. Simultaneously, Gaylord Entertainment announced a Joint Venture with the Mills Corporation for construction of the 1.2 million square foot (110,000 m²) Opry Mills Shopping Mall on the site. The park closure hurt occupancy rates at Opryland Hotel for the next five years. Gaylord Entertainment later divested its share of the mall and now leases the property and the "Opry" name to Mills Corporation. After the theme park closed, Gaylord considered taking the "Opryland" name off the hotel, since "Opryland" (a name which was considered to be most synonymous with the theme park) no longer existed. Extensive Market Research showed that the hotel would have to rebuild its Reputation without the "Opryland" name, so it was kept. In the late 1990s , Gaylord Entertainment acquired the Ramada Inn on McGavock Pike, just across the street from Opryland Hotel. It was given a major renovation and dropped its Ramada affiliation to be known simply as "The Inn at Opryland". It is now affiliated with Radisson Hotels . This Motel is marketed toward guests wishing to receive Opryland quality and amenities at economy prices. In 1999 , the new Gaylord subsidiary "Opryland Lodging Group," which was formed in 1997 to plan expansions, was renamed "Opryland Hotels" as it began to see its plans for sister properties in Kissimmee, Florida and Grapevine, Texas come to fruition. Another hotel was later announced for Prince George's County, Maryland . As a result of these new plans, the hotel was renamed Opryland Hotel Nashville and given designation as the company's Flagship property. The other hotels in the chain were to be named "Opryland Hotel Florida", "Opryland Hotel Texas" and "Opryland Hotel Potomac", respectively. On October 26 , 2001 , Opryland Hotel Nashville was rebranded as Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center (or '''Gaylord Opryland''', for short), taking its name from its corporate parent. Gaylord Entertainment made the change seeking to take the "Opryland" name off of the new property in Florida. The Opryland Hotels division was renamed " Gaylord Hotels ," and the Florida property was given the name " Gaylord Palms ." The Texas hotel was initially going to be called "Gaylord Opryland Texas," but was later changed to " Gaylord Texan ," after more market research concluded it needed an identity of its own. The yet-to-be-opened Maryland property was renamed " Gaylord National ." Company officials at the time stated that the "Opryland" branding was strong to Nashville (and Texas, initially), but didn't fit with projects in other parts of the United States . {Link without Title} Despite the rebranding effort, most locals (including the broadcast media) still refer to Gaylord Opryland as "Opryland Hotel." In lieu of another expansion and as a result of the rebranding, the hotel underwent a $5 million renovation in 2003 . With it came a refurbishment and rebranding of several of the hotel's restaurants and pubs, new retail establishments, and building improvements. Plans were also announced to renovate and refurnish all of the hotel's 2,881 guest rooms over the next few years. According to a 2003 press release, Gaylord Opryland seeks to build a 5,000-seat Amphitheatre on the site in the near future. {Link without Title} HOTEL AREAS Unlike its sister properties, Gaylord Opryland has no universal structure layout as a result of its continued expansion. Because of this, the property can be very confusing to navigate, even for frequent visitors. Employees are even said to get lost in the hotel from time to time.
CONVENTION CENTER The Convention Center at Gaylord Opryland is in direct competition with the Metro government-owned Nashville Convention Center . Gaylord Opryland is built to handle large conventions, while the NCC is suited more for smaller gatherings. Nashville is currently considering plans to expand or replace the existing public convention center, claiming they are unable to attract major conventions due to the center's relatively small size. In contrast, Gaylord Opryland has expanded its convention center twice since NCC opened in downtown Nashville in 1987 and regularly attracts major conventions to the city. Gaylord Opryland currently features three exhibit halls and five ballrooms. Coupled with its massive hotel, Gaylord Opryland Convention Center can easily accommodate upwards of 10-12 separate gatherings at one time. On most weekends, guests will find at least two conventions taking place. The hotel currently boasts 109,465 square feet (10,170 m²) of ballroom space and 319,000 square feet (30,000 m²) of exhibit space. No further expansion plans for the Convention Center have been made public, but it is likely that the property has reached its maximum due to space limitations. Gaylord Opryland hosted Major League Baseball 's annual winter meetings in December 2002 , making Nashville the only city without a major league team to have ever hosted the event and putting the city into the national sports spotlight for a few days. The meetings were largely considered a success, and are expected to return to Nashville in 2006 or 2007 . MLB is also looking at the other three Gaylord properties for future winter meeting sites. LOCAL PURPOSES While Gaylord Opryland caters largely to the out-of-town convention market, it serves a large purpose for the local community as well. Many local high schools use the ballroom space for their yearly Prom s. It is also known for being one of Nashville's hottest "first-date" spots because of its central location, restaurants, walkways, and scenery. Many local companies also take advantage of the Convention Center's abundant meeting space. Management currently charges $10 to park Automobile s at the hotel, but locals have found a way around this charge by parking at nearby Opry Mills free of charge and walking the short path to Gaylord Opryland. A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS decorations inside the Garden Conservatory at Gaylord Opryland during "A Country Christmas"]] Throughout the months of November and December of each year, Gaylord Opryland attracts thousands of visitors to see the large display of Christmas decorations, dubbed ''A Country Christmas''. Millions of decorative lights are placed in the trees at the resort, and all three atria contain various decorations, including Animatronics . In addition, several special holiday-themed shows and attractions take place, including "ICE!", a display of ice sculptures, and the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. FEATURES
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