The Printing House: Nashville’s newest design-led hotel an homage to glory days of city’s publishing industry

Nashville is a city of contradictions.

For every group of wide-eyed, country music-loving pilgrims to Music City there is an opposing, cocktail-fuelled bachelorette party.

And for every pink cowboy hat-wearing blow-in, there’s a softly spoken local with nothing more than a warm welcome on their mind.

The Printing House, the city’s newest — and arguably most stylish — property, is chock-full of the latter, making its case clear as a destination of choice for the more judicious traveller. Yes, southern hospitality is a real thing, and this hotel demonstrates it not just in abundance, but also with flair.

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Entry to this sanctuary space is via a lift to the fifth-floor reception area, which already lends ROAM’s arrival an air of a Bond villain’s lair. Once safely ensconced, the sense of this hotel as a haven is compounded. A contemporary take on mid-century modern defines the fixtures and furnishings of the vast communal space, a similarly expansive roof terrace from the upper storey offering commanding views over the city beyond.

And stories, in a roundabout way, is what informs the design of this building.

“Before Nashville was known as ‘Music City’ it was a centre of printing and publishing”, explains the hotel team’s Mark Weiner over a hearty breakfast of sunny side up eggs and sourdough toast ($23, lashings of ketchup) at on-site cafe, The Press House.

“The city’s position at the heart of the USA’s ‘Bible Belt’ created demand for religious books and gospel sheet music. And the proximity of the Cumberland River to this part of Nashville made delivering printing supplies easier.

There was a printing mill on this very site.” Printing thrived in this neighbourhood to the middle of the 20th century, and the interiors of The Printing House (cue the vintage printing blocks adorning the wall at the ground floor lobby) reflect the forms and motifs of that era.

Designed jointly by Ratio Architects and TKC Architecture & Engineering, the fifth-floor social space flexes zonal design to soften the blow of its considerable square footage.

Elevated simplicity and symmetries draw the eye. From floor-to-ceiling windows to sophisticated rattan, vinyl and soft-upholstered easy chairs and sofas, and from bolster-furnished booths to fluted dark wood panelling, all is presented as refined, elegant, polished — literally, in the case of the copious brass finishes applied to dome-topped table lamps, stands, seating structures and light fittings.

A design language evoking the transition from Art Deco to mid-century extends to each of the 187 guest rooms and suites. Ours, a queen size, on the 11th floor having all the feel of being torn from the pages of a 1960s interiors magazine, replete with custom-milled furniture including a walnut console table, inviting banquette and luxurious ensuite.

Thought has even been applied to the building’s exterior, with raised sections of the wall viewed from the terrace echoing the profile of an open book.

And it’s from this balcony and associated Letterpress Lounge that ROAM’s stay hosts memorable encounters. With a bar tended to by the ever-unflappable Rachele, there are cocktail options ($22 upwards) from which to select your sundowner (or drop $145 on a bottle of Moet).

Food ($20-$55) is equally easy on the pocket, but big on taste. A red pepper flatbread accompanies a cold one while chatting to a father and son visiting from Indiana to celebrate Jr’s 21st. Yes, here, strangers talk to each other (a post-jog business traveller, honeymooners, early morning golfers . . .)

And also here, nobody can do enough for you — from the valet to front desk, housekeeping to barista, the hospitality and good cheer on offer are enough to declare this might be America’s friendliest city, and one of its most warm-hearted lodgings. Who knew that one of the nation’s reddest states would throw its arms open so genially to an outsider?

Like we said — a city of contradictions.

THE PRINTING HOUSE501 3rd Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee, 37210, US

PRICERooms from approx. $410 per night.

THE INSIDERThe Broadway strip, nightlife hub of Printer’s Alley, Johnny Cash Museum, Bridgestone Arena, Ryman Auditorium, and Country Music Hall of Fame are all a brief downhill walk from the hotel’s front door. For an essential slice of the contemporary Nashville music scene, a 10-minute stroll takes you to the Jack White-owned music store, Third Man Records, and its associated alternative music venue, The Blue Room. Catch a live show from one of the household names of tomorrow.printinghousenashville.com