Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Nashville

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Grass downtown

This is the practical problem nobody mentions. Downtown Nashville has very little grass, and guests at The Nash, Thompson, Hutton and Hayes Street all report the nearest relief spot being a block or more away, which is a long way at 6am in the rain. The Westin has a grassy relief area with a waste station on site, The Hermitage has a relief patch across the street and Hayes Street has a small one at the front, and those are the exceptions.

Weight limits

The line here is 50 lb and a lot of hotels sit on it, including JW Marriott, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Centric, The Westin, Fairlane and The Untitled. Above it: Sheraton Grand, Hotel Fraye and The Printing House at 75 lb, Union Station at 65, W Nashville at 60. No published limit at Virgin, Kimpton Aertson, Holston House, Hutton, Hayes Street, Canopy The Gulch, Urban Cowboy, Germantown Inn and The Hermitage. Four Seasons and Omni both cap at 25 lb.

Fees

Free at Kimpton Aertson, Virgin Hotels, Holston House, Thompson, 1 Hotel, Sheraton Grand and Four Seasons. USD 25 per dog at The Printing House, USD 35 per pet per night at Hayes Street, USD 50 at Germantown Inn and Urban Cowboy, USD 75 at Loews Vanderbilt, Fairlane, Dream, Hotel Fraye and The Untitled. USD 100 to USD 150 across most of the Marriott and Hyatt downtown stock, and USD 250 per dog per stay at The Hermitage.

Leaving the dog in the room

More of Nashville says no than you'd expect. 1 Hotel, The Joseph, Four Seasons, The Westin, Noelle, Dream, Hyatt Centric, Sheraton Grand and Germantown Inn all rule it out. Omni allows it with a kennel, Fairlane with a crate, and Renaissance requires the dog confined. If you're going out for dinner, check this before the booking rather than after.

Eating out

Nashville's patio culture does a lot of the work. Tennessee Brew Works, Edley's Bar-B-Que in 12 South, TailGate Brewery, Frothy Monkey, Urban Grub and Peg Leg Porker are all known for taking dogs outside. There's also Urban Dog Bar, a membership dog bar with 5,000 sq ft indoors and 15,000 sq ft outside, split by dog size, if you want somewhere the dog is the point.

Bringing a dog into the US

Since 2024 the CDC requires every dog entering the United States to meet its import rules, including a microchip and a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, and which set of rules applies depends on where the dog has been in the previous six months. Work it out on the CDC's own Dog Importation Navigator rather than from a forum, and remember USDA rules sit on top of it.

Getting there and getting about

Nashville International, BNA, is about 13 km south-east of downtown, roughly 20 minutes by car. There's no direct flight from Ireland and limited transatlantic service generally, so most European travellers connect through a US gateway, which means a second airline pet booking and a second in-cabin allowance to secure. WeGo runs the buses and the WeGo Star train, and its animal policy wasn't reachable to confirm, so plan on driving or a ride-hailing app. Downtown hotel parking is usually valet only.

Vets

Nashville Veterinary Specialists + Animal Emergency at 2971 Sidco Drive, (615) 386-0107, is open 24 hours every day with an emergency doctor on site at all times. BluePearl Pet Hospital at 2409 21st Avenue South, 615 383 2600, also runs 24/7 emergency care, and it's the nearer of the two for Midtown and Green Hills, about ten minutes from the Vanderbilt hotels.

Best walks

Centennial Park is the best walk in the city with a dog, 132 acres on West End Avenue with a mile loop round Lake Watauga and a fenced off-lead dog park split into small and large sides, which is why Loews Vanderbilt, Hutton, Hayes Street, Hotel Fraye and Kimpton Aertson all work so well. Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park gives nineteen acres of lawn and a long walking mall north of downtown, within reach of The Hermitage, Holston House, Fairlane, Sheraton Grand and Germantown Inn. From any SoBro hotel the obvious morning route is the Ascend Amphitheater lawn, the riverfront greenway and then the John Seigenthaler pedestrian bridge across to Cumberland Park. Public Square Park is the quick one for the downtown cluster. In East Nashville, Shelby Park and the Shelby Bottoms Greenway give miles of riverside trail on the lead plus a fenced off-lead area, and the Stones River Greenway runs ten paved miles out towards Percy Priest Lake. Gulch Dog Park is small but it's the only off-lead patch you can walk to from a downtown hotel.

When to go

April to early June and September to early November. Nashville summers are hot and heavy with humidity, and the pavements downtown hold it well into the evening, which is hard work for a dog with no grass to stand on. Spring gives you Centennial Park and the riverfront at their best and the patios are open. Autumn is the quieter half of the shoulder and the greenways are at their nicest. Winter is mild enough to walk but the outdoor dining that makes this city work with a dog thins right out, so check before you plan a trip around patios.