How to Stay Cool by the Pool During a Summer in Nashville

Have a splashing good time this summer!

How to Stay Cool by the Pool During a Summer in Nashville
SoundWaves at Gaylord Opryland; Photo credit: © 2019 Gaylord Opryland

Unless you already have your own pool, staying cool on a hot summer day in Nashville usually requires a lot of work. Either you have to pack up all your gear in the car and head out to a local lake for some motorboatin’ or sneak into the apartment complex next door to use their pool or put up with all the kids paddling around in the community center pool. None of those are ideal options. If all you want to do is hang out poolside with a drink in your hand, some of Music City’s finest hotels would welcome you to spend some time with them.

Photo courtesy of Cambria Nashville Downtown
Photo courtesy of Cambria Nashville Downtown

At the Cambria Nashville in the heart of downtown, they’re all about Sunday Fundays with locals and guests alike invited to gather by the pool from 2:00 until 6:00 pm every Sunday during the summer. The pool bar serves up all sorts of specialty cocktails, shots and frozen treats by FrutaPOP – the adult Popsicle company with servers circulating the pool area selling drinks and offering light bites. Cambria’s Sunday Fundays also feature partnerships with local distilleries and breweries for fun add-ons like curated playlist that guests can download to continue the party at home plus contests, prizes and other swag. Live music will keep the party pumping to get your head in the right space to kick off the work week.

Courtesy of Hotel Preston
Courtesy of Hotel Preston

Closer to the airport about ten minutes from downtown, Hotel Preston is hosting a series of special poolside events at their boutique property throughout the summer. Visitors can relax under a poolside cabana or take on their friends in fun games like cornhole, giant Jenga, ladder toss, table tennis or a rousing match of volleyball on the hotel’s court.

On the last Thursday of each month, Hotel Preston hosts their “Straight Up & Toasted Series” featuring live Jazz poolside, whisky tastings from local distilleries, Uncle Nearest Whiskey and Crowned Head cigars. Each weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Hotel Preston will host “SaturYaY Pool Parties” with a live DJ spinning poolside and selections of premium canned beers and wines.

SoundWaves at Gaylord Opryland; Photo credit: © 2019 Nashville Guru
SoundWaves at Gaylord Opryland; Photo credit: © 2019 Nashville Guru

For the wettest and wildest summer experience in town, you’ll need to book a room at the Gaylord Opryland Resort to take advantage of their massive new SoundWaves entertainment complex. But don’t worry about having to book a room; this is an all day and into the night experience, and you won’t want to go home after you discover everything that SoundWaves has to offer. (Plus they’re offering special discounted rates on certain dates for locals!)

The $90 million indoor/outdoor water and music attraction covers 4 acres and features an amazing array of options for aquatic fun including eleven water slides, a wave pool with a huge 37’ LED movie screen, indoor surfing on their FlowRider system, party rooms and cabanas available to rent for a little privacy, lazy river ride for tubing and all sorts of bars and restaurants to keep you fed and watered during your day at SoundWaves. SoundWaves Experience Package guests have early access to the park from the time it opens on their day of arrival until check-out time the next day, so you can stretch a one night stay into more than a day of entertainment.

Fun for the whole family, SoundWaves is more than just a run-of-the-mill water park. It’s a completely immersive experience with the benefit of access to the rest of the amenities that Gaylord Opryland resort has to offer after you head back to your room to dry off.