RS Recommends: The Best Hotels for Music Fans
There’s a lot for music-loving travelers to like about the Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.
The place has a 7,000-seat entertainment venue, suites suitable for a pop sensation, and a lagoon-style area with bungalows perfect for hiding from paparazzi. But the thing that stands out most about the property is its shape. The Guitar Hotel is literally configured like 450-foot, back-to-back guitars. But the Guitar Hotel is far from the only place where music enthusiasts can shake a leg before kicking up their feet.
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From an icon in the Colorado mountains that rocks to an establishment that just rolled out in Atlanta, there are cool spots around the country that make sure all your senses are spoiled during your stay.
Below you’ll find a list of some of the best hotels that sound like great escapes this spring and summer.
1. Reverb by Hard Rock, Downtown Atlanta
When you walk into Reverb, you instantly feel what the designers were going for. Check-in kiosks aren’t so much reception desks as they are mini ticket counters, where you load your own key at a computer. Right behind that area is a meeting room that bears a striking resemblance to a radio station studio. Private rooms for personal calls look like recording booths.
Things have a similar tone in the guest rooms. The 195 units, accented by framed Gregg Allman autographs or books about John Lennon, are perfect for a downtown ATL getaway after you’ve seen a concert across the street at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. If you want to truly feel like a star, though, pony up for the oversized Roadie Room. The row of bunk beds there purposely looks like the inside of a tour bus. You and your crew can complete the night with amazing libations and live music at the gorgeous RT 60 rooftop bar.
2. The Elizabeth Hotel, Ft. Collins, CO
The Elizabeth Hotel
Like an old cassette, this Colorado beauty has its A side and a B side. The former is its down-home, communal air. Though the Elizabeth Hotel has only been around since 2017, the place feels like an old friend. That’s as much due to the staff’s overwhelming warmth as it is the hardwood floors and exposed-brick walls found in the rooms. When people visit this college town — Colorado State’s beautiful campus is less than five minutes from the hotel lobby — looking for a restorative stay, the Elizabeth Hotel is always atop the playlist.
The other side to this premium establishment is, of course, its love of music. The Crosley record players in every room aren’t there merely for decoration. In fact, you can check out more than 1,000 LPs in the record library that can be borrowed for personal use. And if the live jazz at the onsite Sunset Lounge or a set at the adjacent Magic Rat venue inspire your own playing, stop by the hotel’s Instrument Lending Library to pick up a guitar or keyboard you can use during your visit.
3. Virgin Hotels New Orleans
Virgin Hotels New Orleans
Opened in August 2021, Virgin Hotels New Orleans is already turning heads around The Big Easy. But when you boast 238 rooms and suites splashed in European elegance with a dash of Louisiana edge, that’s not hard to do. And when you’re somehow able to do all of that while still serving great food (The Kitchen at Commons Club) and good times, it gets even easier.
The Bar at Commons Club only adds to the ambience, being the perfect place for cocktail sipping while listening to live soul-infused pop. On the top floor, you’ll find Dreamboat, a sort of lounge-meets-restaurant-meets-chill spot where you’re occasionally greeted with a DJ spinning, but always met with Instagrammable views of downtown NOLA from the wraparound rooftop.
4. The West Hollywood Edition
West Hollywood EDITION's Sunset
At last count, there were more than 1,000 hotels in L.A. To separate itself from the accommodating fray, The West Hollywood Edition could have easily gone with some elaborate themes or gimmicks. Instead, the 190-unit hotel lets its fabulous location (at the corner of West Sunset and North Doheny) and sophisticated design style (helmed by the innovative Ian Schrager) do most of the talking.
However, once you make your way to the subterranean club, Sunset, things get a tad louder. Offering one of the hottest night scenes in the city over the past few years, the leather-covered, disco-ball-filled space harkens the energy of Sunset Strip clubs from the Sixties and Seventies. Hotel guests certainly dig it. Locals love it, too. And the roster of celebrity guest DJs (Questlove) and surprise performers (Lil’ Kim) is more impressive than some venues triple the size.
Buy:
West Hollywood Edition
at
$548+
5. The Goodtime Hotel, Miami
The Goodtime Hotel
Though superstar Pharrell Williams is a part-owner of this South Florida address, the hotel doesn’t insist on having signed platinum plaques all over. Here, the designers brushed with much more vibrant strokes. Rooms are splashed in pastels and animal prints. More pinks and aquamarines fill the lounge and lush lobby. There’s an unapologetically Fifties-style beach soiree vibe to the Goodtime Hotel.
Once you make your way up to the rooftop for the Pool at Strawberry Moon, however, you’re immediately transported to a Vegas-style party in 2022. Weekends are highlighted by lavish get-togethers where DJs mix the hits while bartenders stir the drinks. The dizzying combination will leave you and your crew ecstatic.
Buy:
The Goodtime Hotel
at
$251+
6. The Verb, Boston
The Verb Hotel
Boston’s role in music history is an important one, with groups from Aerosmith to New Edition calling it their hometown. The Verb, which sits in the shadows of the city’s beloved Fenway Park, proudly celebrates it all. While some of the locally bred artists are commemorated through posters and pictures, non-Bostonian artists passing through over the years are immortalized with autographs and coffee table books. The Verb feels like a retro-chic museum that just happens to offer plush beds.
After you’ve toured the lobby gallery, hung out with the cool kids at the pool and nibbled on spicy tuna rolls at Hojoko, make your way back to your room. Depending on where you’re sleeping, you could have Elton John pics, Queen images, or blown-up Boston magazine covers hanging over you. Oh, and that wall of vinyl you saw downstairs? There’s a record player in your room, which ensures all those albums can be put to good use.
When Backstage at The Verb opens its doors in Summer ’22, you’ll be able to rock out even louder with an overnight experience in one of 10 custom-designed trailers filled with music memorabilia, curated art and other unique pieces of tour life.
7. The Central Station Memphis
The Central Station Memphis
Part of the boutique Curio Collection from Hilton, the Central Station is a 123-room hotel produced from the former headquarters of the Illinois Central Railroad. The re-envisioned property shows an elevated eye (industrial furnishings, soaring ceilings, sliding barn doors), yet it never shies from its musical heart — and no, we’re not just saying that because there’s a wall of speakers in the lobby.
It goes beyond photo backdrops at the Central Station. Bishop is the onsite French brasserie that hits all the right culinary notes. Eight & Sand is where you’ll find great drinks, a catalog of records tied to Memphis, and a weekly get-together for music industry types. And from the patio on Thursdays in the warmer months, you can catch Live at the Tracks, the hotel’s showcase of local talent.
Buy:
The Central Station Memphis
at
$155+
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