The Russell: A Stay in Eclectic East Nashville

For our anniversary this year, we decided on a get-a-way in our own city. With COVID-19 cases rising and travel being limited we thought it would be a great opportunity to explore an area close to home. East Nashville is a hip, creative area with murals, yummy food spots and lots of color.

Our first stop was Mexican food at Mas Tacos por Favor for lunch. Authentic street tacos, pozole, and fried plantains. Brent is a huge fish taco fan and may have found his go-to fish taco place here in Nashville. The iced coffee is flavored with horchata, yum! We grabbed our food and sat outside in a covered area off the side of the restaurant. It’s worth noting for payment, they take cash or Venmo, no cards at this time.

Next, we walked around the surrounding area viewing the quaint bungalows with colorful exteriors and front porches full of locals enjoying the afternoon air. We love checking out landscaping and dreaming of what we could plant in our own yard. These flowers were catching my eye.

Our hotel, The Russell, was the highlight of our stay in East Nashville. Located in historic Edgefield neighborhood, an old church was converted into a modern sleek boutique hotel. There are 23 rooms that are all unique in shape and size due to the original architecture of the building. Bursts of color and style were everywhere with nods to it’s roots of being a house of worship.

There was so much to love about The Russell. Church pews lined a perimeter wall in the lobby while also being used as headboards and nightstands in the hotel rooms. The stained glass windows were restored and brought an enormous amount of color and light to the space. The colors of the stained glass were used as inspiration for the interior design color palette. The clever signage and well thought out graphic design was defiantly a perk that shined with creativity. Ornately painted banners decorated the lobby wall with promotions of Nashville’s finest, from Dolly to hot chicken. So much interest was found in the light fixtures, textiles, and furniture choices. It truly felt as though we’d discovered a gem by finding this hotel, a hidden treasure that’s so close to home.

A photo booth was sectioned off with golden floor-length velvet curtains. A telephone area and charging station were also found behind the curtains. A true wonderland of things to discover and explore. A recording studio sets behind a locked door with a glass window to peek in on the performance. I’ve heard they’ll offer the studio or local podcasters for free, worth checking into. A curated collection of books from one on how to be southern to a book on enchanting treehouses line the bookshelves. Hotel guests are encouraged to borrow a book, read it then return it.

A Tech-Friendly Hotel

The hotel is concierge-free. Everything can be done via your phone from check-in to check-out with free wi-fi available throughout. They do have cameras in all the common areas and keypads to gain entry to the building and your room. The lobby has luggage cabinets with digital locks in case you need to store your belongings. In the room, they had phone charging stations, speakers, a noise machine, and a personal air conditioner/heater.

The Highlights and Lowlights

The parking is free which is always a bonus for us. It’s a great area for walking and East Park is a block down the street. The Turnip Truck, a neighborhood grocery store, is a 5-minute walk away. There’s a nice coffee and tea station available to all hotel guests in the lobby near the entrance. The hotel surprised us with it’s level of luxury. The sheets were PeachSkin and the bathroom had super comfy robes. We loved the complimentary basket of free local goodies and bottles of water. I especially liked this snack.

The check-in time of 4 pm seemed super late to us and check-out was at 10:30 am. Although we found out later we could have asked for a later checkout. Also, there’s no elevator which we didn’t mind but I know this could be an issue for some. They do have a dumbwaiter that can be used to transport your luggage from floor to floor.

The Russell: A Hotel with a Purpose

Another unique aspect of the hotel is that when you stay a night a portion of the cost is given to local homeless ministries through their rooms for rooms program. You’ll be helping someone that is experiencing homelessness to find support. The program offers showers, beds, and meals to those in need.

We chose the pink room because I’ve always wanted a pink walled room but have never taken the plunge. I adored it. This hotel ranked near the top of hotels I’ve stayed in. It was clean, awesome design, unashamed to use color boldly and full of convenience with the use of technology. A huge bonus was the historical and architectural elements of the building.

For our evening dinner, we landed at Lockeland Table, a nice community kitchen and bar with a wood-fire pizza oven and farm to table offerings. Brent ordered a steak and I went with fish. It was a great evening even though the muffled sound of our voices was hard to hear behind our masks.

Our after-dinner stroll took us to Lockeland Springs Park. Sadly the March 2020 tornado hit the area and we noticed many uprooted trees and the park looked quite bare. Several sections were marked off with signs noting a recent planting of seeds plus several new trees were planted. It was encouraging to see the community taking part in the planting and rebuilding after destruction.

Even though The Russell was not affected many businesses in this part of town were. A great video game place we liked to visit got hit really hard and is no longer open. It was difficult to see the tornado destruction around East Nashville but things are slowly and surely making a comeback. We were happy to spend our time and our money supporting local shops and restaurants that were so badly hit by the tornado and now the coronavirus. We didn’t travel far but it seemed like a whole other world; one we enjoyed a great deal.

What hotel in your city would you love to stay in for a night?

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