37 Best Stops Between Gulf Shores and Paducah (2024)

Was here over the weekend, the place was sold out They must not be fully staffed. 30-minute lines to get coffee in the morning, and 2 1/2 hour wait to get into any of the restaurants on Saturday night. For a place where you are paying $300+ a night, the best options for food are the Food Trucks they have outside. And 4 drinks from one of the lobby make-shift bars were $50. Very pretty property and the staff was good considering the situation. But the property was not prepared for a full house. One of the restaurants lost our credit card, which someone the next day tried to use. And the phone in the room was broken the entire time, even after we informed the front desk twice.Had higher expectations but we still had a nice time, should have been much nicer. I understand the lack of employees, but if you aren't able to provide a premium product, you shouldn't ask for a premium price. Crazy thing is, I would probably go back under different circ*mstances. It is a very beautiful property. Landscaping is beautiful.

What a beautiful hotel!!! It has been such an amazing experience here! From the gardens to the music, it has absolutely been worth the expense. They have had live music each night and even a fountain light show for free! I took the delta boat ride throughout the hotel and that was super nice. Some of their restaurants are overpriced with not overly amazing food, but that has been the only downside. The pool and hot tub are nice and there are plenty of locations to get a drink or snack! Loved wandering around here and finding all of their attention to details!

Overall had a really pleasant stay here. The gardens are absolutely magnificent and it’s fun how they are all intertwined with all of the rooms. If you have an inside facing room, you should have a small balcony looking on to the gardens which is fun to people watch from. The views all around make you feel like you’re in a lush tropical environment. Be prepared though, to be charged for everything, and everything is expensive. Breakfast sandwich…10 bucks, water…5 bucks and so on. We did not attend the water park as it’s not part of your hotel stay, but took a peek at the area it looks nice. Service was friendly everywhere we went the the food was average. A neat place to stay none the less.

My family and I have been going here for over 10 years and loved 🥰 going until…It became Marriott. It lost its personality and human touch. We ask for accessibility rooms near the elevator in our profile and when booking or checking in. We were placed at the end of a hall near an elevator that the bellman said he took the long way to avoid the incline for the wheelchair. When checking out we spoke to Felicia who did her best to help . She engaged the manager, Thomas and things went down hill. He was not considerate or concerned about the fact that we were not give the ADA provisions that we requested. He was very short with his answers and threw $50.00 at us like that was an apology. It was not and consumers pay too much to come to these hotels and not be treated with respect or regard. There are other hotels happy to have our time and money separately or collectively. COVID protection is over, but hotels are still claiming up charge and bad service to its tab! We are powerful together and change is needed! People not profit first please!

I stayed for 4 nights last week as was not overly impressed as this is listed as a luxury hotel. I stayed in the Garden section of the hotel, first walked into my room, and stepped and a super sharp piece of plastic I thought was glass. My bathtub was filled with 1 inch of water, there was hair in the shower and hair throughout the room. The room was not well lit, even with all lights on. Also, it was NOT soundproof in any capacity to the point where you can hear any and all conversations clearly. I used the iron which had a large crack in it and didn’t work, so I had to have a new one delivered to the room which did arrive promptly.We stayed with a large group who was in a different section of the hotel and said that their rooms in that section of the hotel smelled like a trash chute. We had dinner in the older section of the hotel and immediately smelled the trash odor which was borderline unbearable.The atrium is remarkable and is what you are paying for. There are a variety of things to do in the hotel as well, however, that being said, I would not stay overnight or pay more than $150/night.

The Gaylord Opryland is a strikingly beautiful conference center. Clean and well-maintained, the staff is friendly and helpful. The amenities are astounding. There are many nice choices for grabbing a snack or a full meal even late into the evening. However, the Gaylord needs clearly marked handicapped access areas and MORE ELEVATORS to the various session rooms. I was using a knee scooter because of a toe injury, and at one point I had to abandon the line for the elevators going to the mezzanine level because they would show up on the second floor already full from the main floor. The doors would open, there be no room for more passengers, and the doors would close and go on to the mezzanine level. A friend had to carry my scooter while we used the stairs after we waited for 20 minutes. As a result, we were late for our workshop. I realize it is very difficult to retrofit a large hotel with more handicap options but the planning should’ve been better when it was renovated.

My husband, youngest child and I stayed here this past weekend. We were greeted by Cory, a bellman, and he was so helpful as we unloaded, got checked in, and found our room. This place is massive and has a some fascinating history. Cory shared some fun facts and also helped us navigate to a couple places within the resort. We got to watch many of the Christmas lights being hoisted up and hung from the rafters. There's plenty to see and do right here but there's also a large mall within walking distance. Highly recommend!

Absolutely gorgeous place! And massive!Didn’t stay here but had to come in to visit and look around because of how pretty it looked and definitely left happy. The multiple greenhouse/atrium style areas were insane. You could spend hours in here alone and be satisfied with all of the plants, decorations, and art designs.We took the boat tour and it is highly recommended! Very funny jokes paired with historic facts made it feel like a Disneyland type of ride. The shops were great and provided tons of walking around and browsing.Overall loved it here and would highly suggest checking it out

Me and my husband stayed a few nights here . We had a balcony that we could walk out and sit, our room was perfect . The most BEAUTIFUL PLACE I’ve ever seen. It’s very breathtaking from the moment you walk in. Some places had live music , if you go to Jack Daniel’s I recommend the Chicken Fried Chicken, So great . Definitely did not won’t to leave as it’s so full of life . 10/10 recommend this resort . Walking through to see all the water falls and plants was very worth it. Hoping to go back one day .

The Gaylord is a beautiful hotel and a great location for our conference. It is ultimately too far away from downtown to enjoy Nashville. There is an extremely religious vibe to the campus, and even though there are bars and delicious restaurants throughout, there was an agenda. The room was fine and clean, terrace and garden view was nice. Doors to the bathroom and closet are too close together, and everything bumps together every time one opens a door. The shower drain was broken. On my last day, I had a 12 pm. checkout, and housekeeping banged on my door 3 times after I had requested to be left alone. There isn't a grocery or pharmacy close by, so either plan on driving or paying 3 times as much for anything you need.

Been years since my last visit & the atmosphere outside the rooms are still amazing. So much to experience & so much to see. Especially if you have kids. This is a great place for them with LOTS of areas to explore & experience. Unfortunately, guessing COVID has taken its toll. The rooms did not live up to the cost. When I arrived there was left over syrup dotted on my counter from I’m guessing the previous guests, which my hands & computer found. Yuk! The shower head had pink stuff building on it, & it was very dusty in the room. The front desk was good about sending someone up to clean up the room, but they only did the main room, & left streaks on the TV. Seemed like a very half a&$ed attempt, but I’m assuming staffing has been a challenge.For what you pay, It’s a “grand” experience outside the room, but not inside. Don’t get me started with the cost of parking per day. It should be valet at those prices!

Very huge and Beautiful. They have plants and trees from all over the world and it's just gorgeous. A huge selection of shopping and restaurants. I saw many families there and they have activities for the children. They decorate for every holiday and season. Very comfortable beds/rooms if you're staying the night. The fountain show is very beautiful at night. They have an inside river with a boat to take you throughout to see the beautiful scenery. It is a little pricey but it's well worth it.

An amazing hotel! Almost feels wrong to call it a hotel, it’s basically a resort. It’s incredible how it’s essentially a small town inside of a building. The atmosphere is incredible. The water, the glass ceilings, the sounds, you could really make an entire vacation out of this hotel alone. I would also definitely pay the extra price for an interior view room, it’s amazing to just be able to look out on the hotel from your balcony. It’s a little pricey but definitely worth it to stay here for a few days.

I would say when it comes to resorts, this is the best resort that I have ever been to. I was there for a conference and it is incredibly large and comfortable. The rooms are large and comfortable. I rarely sleep well in hotel rooms but in this case, I slept very well. There are small things that they could improve. For example, in the gym, they can easily add a section for a bench press or dead lift. I only ate at their restaurants once because it is way over priced. Every night instead of eating at the resort, I just walk 15 mins to the mall and the cost is half as much.

The resort was huge and absolutely gorgeous. There's a water park inside called Soundwave which was pretty cool. The inside of the resort has a small water fall and lots of trees and flowers. At night the light lights up and its mesmerizing. The restaurants inside the resort was pretty good too. Definitely would come back again

Hickory steakhouse was perfect. Nicholas was a great server with an excellent helper. Appetizer shrimp were large, crab cakes didn't have much filler, bacon was yummy. The steaks were all perfectly seasoned and cooked, lobster mashed potatoes were amazing with 2 tails on top, desserts were good. Wine selection had something for everyone. The mixed drinks were different and refreshing. Miss scarlet, the smoky old fashions, and the one with frambois were very well received. Just a great place to eat.

Absolutely amazing place! And massive!Came here for an office event. Looked very pretty during Christmas and definitely left happy. The multiple greenhouse/atrium style areas were insane. You could spend hours in here alone and be satisfied with all of the plants, decorations, and art designs.We took the boat tour and it is highly recommended! Very funny jokes paired with historic facts made it feel like a Disneyland type of ride. The shops were great and provided tons of walking around and browsing.Overall loved it here and would highly suggest checking it out

Overall, the hotel/resort was OK, and the grounds/common areas were cool. The gardens and walkways were filled with beautiful plant life. The waterfalls were gorgeous, and the sound of the fountains was relaxing. The indoor pool space was nice and clean and nearly empty, but the locker rooms were ice cold. The outdoor pool/spa areas were closed due to snow. There are plenty of overpriced stores and restaurants to eat at.The food we had was good except for the salads we ordered from room service, which were $20 each with no meat, and then they left off the cheese and olives, so it was a pretty overpriced bowl of iceberg lettuce.The rooms were decent and good-sized. I loved its balcony overlooking the gardens and a giant walk-in closet/dressing room. I did not love that the walls were so thin that you could hear the toilet in the next room flush. Not to mention the screaming baby for over an hour in the middle of the night, which woke me up and kept me awake. There was no microwave to heat leftovers, although there was a mini fridge. The shower was ADA compliant; however, the bar holding the shower head was not correctly connected and awkward to take down. Also, there were two shampoos and no body wash. It would also be nice to have two sitting chairs in a room this size. Most people travel in pairs.The resort's sheer size is incredible, and there is much to do. But considering that I came in visibly disabled and used a cane to walk, the staff assigned a room that was the absolute furthest from the conference center (the reason we were there), so I spent the entire week limping in pain from one end of the resort to the other to make it to the meeting. There are no reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals to assist them in traversing the massive facility. What would be a 5-minute walk for an average person forced me to leave 20 minutes before the meeting to ensure I could get there. While I could have RENTED a scooter or wheelchair, I don't feel I should have to do that when it would have been so easy to assign a room closer to the conference area or offer a shuttle from the front to the back.Then, in the conference/ballroom lobby area, there are no benches or seating for those who need to wait and can't stand for extended periods.My most significant memory of the week will be the amount of pain I was in by the end of every evening and the lack of sleep due to pain and thin walls. It unfortunately overshadows the beauty of the resort, which should have been otherwise very enjoyable.

Enjoyed my stay at the Gaylord - am here for a conference. It's massive, beautiful and a plant lovers delight. A stream meanders through the middle with vegetation all around. Know that you will walk - a lot - and there are lots of stairs to navigate if you don't figure out the somewhat tricky pathways. They do have helpful staff positioned strategically to help guide you when you get lost (and you will). I had it all down by the end of day two but did 10k steps today and never went outside. My room was nice, but far and I definitely would ask for something near the courtyard if I'm ever back here. Housekeeping never showed up until around 4 each day so there's that. If you are here for a conference, bring the family if you can...lot's for them to do. Great variety of places to eat without leaving the building. It's like a mini theme park (but nice). Fantastic gym and pool.

Beautiful hotel, gardens are spectacular! I don’t give a 5 stars because they had some deficiencies during our stay. They were run out towels in the 2 swimming pools. The price of the rooms is expensive for having these issues. They should have a more friendly and easy reservation system (app or website). I needed to go in person to book for a spa and the same happened to book in the aquatic park. Restaurants offer good food with different prices. My family and I have a great time but I feel the service was just ok. I was expecting more for the price that we paid.

When my wife and I arrived to our room at 9am Friday morning we were greeted with a room with little to no heat and the smoke alarm going off minutes after unpacking. The thermostat in our room did not work no matter what temperature we set it to. Our room was right next to the outside heater so at 5am we were woken up when it kicked on and blasted on high for about 30 minutes. We were also very disappointed in the fact that I couldn’t drop my wife off at the front desk with our bags when the windchill was in the -20’s since they had the drop off zones blocked off for our section of the hotel. We tried calling services multiple times on our personal phones and in room phones and never got an answer. $33 a day for parking is outrageous, especially when you are not guaranteed a parking spot. The atrium was also very cold, almost as cold as in our room forcing us to wear jackets for most of our stay at this resort that’s known for being a tropical stay. The “blankets” on the bed were just extra bed sheets, we would have froze if we didn’t bring our own blanket. Very very disappointed with this resort for how much a room costs. Not having the water park at least included with the room is unthinkable, even the cheapest resorts offer a swimming pool for free. The power has gone off at least 6 times during our 2-day 1-night stay. We will never stay at Opryland again and will deter anyone we know from staying there.

For the price of this hotel, I expected to to not have the issues we went through. We called the hotel a week prior to get early check in as we were going to a concert and would at the concert both when check in began and ended. We get there and they tell us we can’t check in until 4pm (this is normal check-in time). We told them our situation and that we wouldn’t be able to check in in their time slot. We were told again that despite calling for early check in we couldn’t. Finally, a supervisor overheard and sorted that issue out. This was good considering when we got back to the hotel that’s we were required to show our hotel key before we could even pull into the very front of the hotel property. If they did not allow us to check in early, it seems we would have been stranded for the night. We were then told we paid for self-park at check-in as well. However, when we first left the premises, we found out they didn’t put our parking pass onto our hotel key card. We then had to pay $115 over the course of our 1 night stay because they didn’t do this correctly. Even when we checked out, we told them because they tried to charge us at the desk for parking AGAIN, we showed them the receipts and they decided not to charge. They told us when we left for the final time to swipe the key card and it would let us out without having to pay again. It did not. We then had to hold up the line to call someone and get them to open the gate so we could leave and not be charged yet again. The rooms were okay, there’s nothing spectacular about them. The lobby was really the only wow factor of this hotel. The rooms look like any standard hotel room. The cleaning I also expected to be better for the price. It was cleaned okay but I expected it to be better than your average normal hotel cleaning considering it’s a 4 star hotel. All in all, I wouldn’t stay here again considering the price. Yes, it’s nice for pictures but nothing else.

Remember to use HoteITully.ᴄᴏm when booking a hotel. This web site will compare hundreds of booking websites and normally will have rates a lot cheaper compared to others! Thank me later on! This place is one of my favorites in the area. I have been coming here for years. If you decide to stay here you for sure won't be disappointed.What a beautiful hotel!!! It has been such an amazing experience here! From the gardens to the music, it has absolutely been worth the expense. They have had live music each night and even a fountain light show for free! I took the delta boat ride throughout the hotel and that was super nice. Some of their restaurants are overpriced with not overly amazing food, but that has been the only downside. The pool and hot tub are nice and there are plenty of locations to get a drink or snack! Loved wandering around here and finding all of their attention to details!

This is one review among many, but absolutely deserving of the 5 stars. This hotel is by far the coolest place I’ve ever stayed. The rooms and location are great what you would expect- they are good and nothing to complain about. Yet the atmosphere of this place is so cool!We also did SoundWaves as part of our reservation and it was well worth it. This was a great experience for me and my family!

The indoor, public space is absolutely stunning. The horticulturalists have cultivated beautiful spaces where you can lose yourself both figuratively and literally.The rooms are comfortable. We did have a slight hiccup when we arrived, but the desk was able to resolve it quickly and professionally.There are many places to get a bite from a simple burger to the Gaylord staple, Old Hickory Steakhouse. You don't need to break the bank to fill your stomach.This was the only Gaylord we had not visited until this trip, and I truly feel it is the most beautiful.

It's not good if you are disabled and limited on where you can go. Everything costs extra. No booklet about resort and restaurant menus, all is available on your electronic devices. Food was only OK and long lines. Seemed weird that the Mexican restaurant had you wait in a very long line to order and prepay. Including the tip before you know what kind of service they provide. We tip according to the service we get. Check in and some employees even had a snooty attitude. At $650 per night per room, I would expect some respect, not an attitude. Dip in bed, slow drain in main sink, no makeup removal wipes and toilet paper I wouldn't buy even during the shortage. Concierge said the trolly goes downtown but forgot to mention during the week, only leaves at 9:30am. Took 1.5 hrs to get a step stool for our disability room. The bed was so high couldn't get on and off safely. Door peephole is at 6 foot. We won't consider staying here again. Every year my family travels to some nice resort around the world. It does look nice.

This place is absolutely stunning to stay at! There are many different conservatories with many different things to look at! The way this place was built is beautiful with plants, waterfalls, and great architecture! There is also a good amount of shops here that you can go to and there are good restaurants here! The hotel had everything you needed and it was nice and came with water bottles which is awesome because I always need water. The best part of the hotel is the balcony though because it looks out in one of the gorgeous conservatories! So if you are ever in Nashville I would definitely recommend staying here since I had such a great experience!

Absolutely an incredible and gorgeous place! And massive! During our stay at the Opryland Gaylord Hotel in Nashville, we had a great experience that exceeded our expectations. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted by friendly staff who made us feel welcomed and valued. The hotel itself is stunning with its beautifully landscaped atriums and vibrant atmosphere. The hotel is not just a place to stay, it’s an experience. I had a concern about noise because of the amount of people on the property but the room was perfectly quite and comfortable. The food was also very good with many options to choose from. The overnight parking was $28.00 a day. Overall, our experience was excellent, and I would highly recommend staying here for anyone looking for a fun experience, excellent accommodations, magical atmosphere, good food and great service.

This was my first time in Nashville. I came here for a work conference. Checked in at front desk. Walked a mile to my room to discover that my keys didn't work. Security came up, let me into my room. I requested them send someone back up with working keys. They did. New keys wouldn't work. Called front desk and requested they change my room. They did. Woke up at 7am and went to my work meetings. Came back to my room at 5pm. I had a white envelope with 2 $50 bills in it that my work had given me as spending stipend. Looked inside the envelope to discover 1 $50 bill missing. No one else was in my room ever except for the person who cleaned my room for the first time. Horrible experience. Staff who steals money. Maybe I shouldnt have put the envelope on the nightstand next to my bed, but really? Just steal 1 of the 2 $50 bills? Reported it to their security. Waiting for the hotel to correct this and make this right, so I can come back and remove this bad review. Until then, I don't recommend this hotel to anyone. Truly disgusted.

This hotel was nice, refreshing and relaxing. It was easy to get lost but they did provide everyone with a map with your room key. Nice restaurants and shops. It had everything you needed indoors including a library. It's like a perfect escape from reality. Definitely worth visiting.