First look: Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal opens with restaurant, rooftop lounge

You can now get a room at the Nashville International Airport terminal.

Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal hotel officially opens its 305 rooms, including seven suites, to guests with a ribbon-cutting. The 10-story upscale hotel and meeting center has a restaurant, rooftop lounge overlooking the airfield, banquet hall and a coffee shop.

Its entrance at 2 Terminal Drive is on the fifth-floor bridge connecting the airport terminal lobby with its garage and ride-hailing center. The hotel's rooftop pool deck and lounge look down on the undulating terminal roof and airfields from 15 stories above the ground.

"It's so convenient for guests," said General Manager Bill Derbins. "There are probably 50 hotels near the airport. But we don't need shuttle buses, you can just walk across the bridge."

Metro Nashville Airport Authority contracted with Franklin-based Chartwell Hospitality in 2020 to develop the hotel in partnership with the airport, which financed parking and surrounding infrastructure. The addition is part of a much larger airport redevelopment plan that started in 2017 called BNA Vision. A new central terminal lobby, marketplace and international arrivals center opened in January 2023.

Most recently, an eight-gate satellite concourse opened in October to help with surging passengers expected to grow from 21 million in 2023 to as many as 24 million this year and 35 million in 2030. A $1.4 billion New Horizon plan is now underway to prepare the airport for continued rapid growth.

Early plans for a second terminal are also underway.

At the new hotel, a water fountain greets visitors on the airport's terminal plaza. Inside the lobby lounge, designs include marble accent walls and rich, music-themed artwork with one display of 16 trumpets and musical-themed paintings like vinyl record pressing. A wall of 1,200 wine bottles faces the lobby at the entrance to Aviators restaurant.

Meeting areas include a banquet hall and six breakout board rooms. The lobby is decorated with informational displays about pioneers of aviation history and a rug with a map of Nashville.

The rooftop deck has a pool, firepit, lounges and bar with 100 patio seats and 70 chairs inside. Guests also have access to a gym with treadmills, bikes and weights. There is a lower-lobby valet with a private elevator.

Guest rooms have triple-pane windows to offset airport noise.

The average room rate for a single king bed or two-queen bedroom is about $230. Suites typically sell for about $150 more than that, Derbins said.

Derbins said this is the 20th hotel he has managed and the fifth airport hotel. He relocated from New Orleans to open the BNA site.

"It's an airport property — that's why it's a big deal. There aren't very many on-airport hotels," Derbins said. "The bridge to the terminal is right outside and the quality of the hotel is so high."

Aviation restaurant is now open for breakfast and dinner with lunch served in the lounge. The rooftop Sky Lounge is open daily 2 p.m. to midnight.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: First look: Hilton BNA Nashville Airport Terminal opens