Margaritaville vs Tempo by Hilton vs AC Hotel Nashville: The Value Verdict (2026)
- Best value overall: AC Hotel Nashville Downtown. $0 resort fee, a heated rooftop pool with whirlpool and cabanas, the rtb! rooftop bar, and the Music City Center garage one block away for roughly $25–$35 instead of $54 valet.
- Newest and best for a Broadway-first trip: Tempo by Hilton. A 2024 tower 2 blocks off Broadway with a 5th-floor heated pool, Lovelorn lounge and Bluestone Lane café; the $25 fee comes back as a daily food-and-drink credit.
- Best for families, groups and a pool party: Margaritaville Hotel Nashville. Standard rooms with sleeper sofas, Jimmy Buffett suites, Fins Bar on a heated rooftop pool deck with fire pits and live music; $25 fee, valet $50.
- Walk to Lower Broadway: Tempo about 4 minutes; Margaritaville and AC Hotel about 5 minutes (3 blocks south on Rep. John Lewis Way).
- Three-night math: with sample weeknight rates, AC Hotel comes in about $158 cheaper than Margaritaville before parking, entirely because of the fee.
Compare Live Nashville Hotel Rates & Availability
If your Nashville budget stops short of the Four Seasons but you still want a heated pool, a rooftop bar and a walk to the honky-tonks, three towers built since 2019 compete for the same booking: Margaritaville Hotel Nashville (425 Rep. John Lewis Way South, opened late 2019), AC Hotel Nashville Downtown (410 Rep. John Lewis Way South, directly across the street) and Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown (127 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, opened 2024). Two are in SoBro 3 blocks south of Broadway; the third sits on the north edge of downtown next to Nashville Yards, 2 blocks off Broadway.
They are not interchangeable. One charges no resort fee at all, one refunds its fee as a daily credit, and one charges it outright. Room sizes, pool floors and parking options differ enough to swing a four-night bill by several hundred dollars. The fees, parking rates and check-in times below were verified in October 2026; building and room facts come from the hotels’ own sites and opening coverage. For the whole south-of-Broadway hotel cluster, see our SoBro Nashville hotels guide.
| Margaritaville | Tempo by Hilton | AC Hotel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | SoBro / Downtown Nashville | Core Downtown (Adjacent to Nashville Yards & Broadway) | SoBro / Downtown Nashville |
| Price level | Upscale | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Best for | Relaxed tropical-meets-honky-tonk vibe, heated rooftop pool, JWB Grill & Starbucks on-site | Brand-new 2024 tower, Bluestone Lane cafe, 5th-floor pool terrace, Peloton wellness rooms | Sleek European-style rooms in SoBro with a large heated outdoor pool, rtb! rooftop bar & $0 resort fee |
| Pool | Fins Bar heated rooftop pool deck with fire pits & live acoustic music | 5th-floor outdoor heated pool & Lovelorn rooftop bar terrace | Large heated outdoor rooftop pool, whirlpool, cabanas & rtb! rooftop bar |
| Walk to Broadway | 3 blocks south of Lower Broadway & Country Music Hall of Fame (5-minute walk) | 2 blocks off Broadway (4-minute walk to Lower Broadway & Fifth + Broadway) | 3 blocks south of Lower Broadway & Country Music Hall of Fame (5-minute walk) |
| Resort fee | $25 + tax per night | $25 + tax per night (includes daily F&B credit) | None ($0 mandatory resort fee!) |
| Parking | Valet $50/night | Valet $52/night | Valet $54/night (Music City Center garage 1 block away ~$25–$35) |
| Check-in / out | 4:00 PM / 11:00 AM | 4:00 PM / 11:00 AM | 4:00 PM / 11:00 AM |
| Rates | Check Margaritaville Rates | Check Tempo by Hilton Rates | Check AC Hotel Rates |
Three new towers, three ideas of a mid-priced downtown hotel
Margaritaville Hotel Nashville is a 12-story island-themed tower that opened in late 2019 at the corner of Rep. John Lewis Way South and Korean Veterans Boulevard. Opening coverage put it at 166 hotel rooms plus 52 Margaritaville Vacation Club by Wyndham suites, so the building runs to about 218 keys. The brand’s formula is intact: Fins Bar on the rooftop pool deck, JWB Grill downstairs, a full Starbucks off the lobby, a merchandise store, and the 1,942-sq-ft Jimmy Buffett Suite on the top floor with two bedrooms and three bathrooms.
AC Hotel Nashville Downtown is the European-minimalist Marriott brand (hardwood floors, open closets, no clutter) in a 22-story tower with 209 rooms, sharing its block with a Residence Inn and a SpringHill Suites in a tri-brand complex. The rooftop is the selling point: a heated outdoor pool, whirlpool and cabanas plus rtb! (“rooftop bar”), which rooftop guides place on the 21st floor with views back over the Music City Center roof to the skyline.
Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown is the youngest, a 16-story lifestyle tower with 306 rooms that opened in 2024 where Rosa L. Parks Boulevard meets Broadway, beside the Nashville Yards development. It reads like a design hotel at a mid-range price: Bluestone Lane Australian café in the lobby, Lovelorn lounge and pool bar on the 5th-floor terrace, and a set of Peloton-equipped wellness rooms. Hilton Honors status and points apply, which matters for the fee (more below).
Location & walk times from Margaritaville, Tempo and AC Hotel to Lower Broadway, Bridgestone Arena and Music City Center
Margaritaville and AC Hotel face each other across Rep. John Lewis Way South, 3 blocks south of Lower Broadway. From either front door it is a 5-minute flat walk north past the Country Music Hall of Fame to the honky-tonks, 6 to 7 minutes to Bridgestone Arena at 501 Broadway, and 2 to 3 minutes to the Music City Center entrance on Korean Veterans Boulevard. Nissan Stadium is about 20 minutes on foot via the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, which is why both hotels book out on Titans weekends. If a game or concert is the point of the trip, our hotels near Bridgestone Arena and Nissan Stadium guide ranks every option by walk time.
Tempo is on the opposite side of Broadway, 2 blocks north-west of the honky-tonk blocks, with a 4-minute walk to Lower Broadway and the Fifth + Broadway complex and about 8 minutes to Bridgestone Arena. Its neighbor is the Grand Hyatt and the Nashville Yards entertainment district, so the restaurants and venues of Nashville Yards are closer than the convention center, which is roughly a 12-minute walk. The trade-off: Rosa L. Parks Boulevard is a traffic artery and rooms on that side hear it, whereas the SoBro pair sit on a quieter one-way street. Street noise at all three is far below what you get 1 block off Broadway.
Pools & rooftop bars: Fins Bar vs Lovelorn vs rtb!
All three have heated outdoor pools, which is the reason they are in the same comparison, but the character differs. Margaritaville’s deck is a party: Fins Bar pours frozen drinks beside the pool, there are fire pits for the evening and live acoustic sets on weekends, and the deck closes periodically for private events (the hotel posted exactly such a closure during our October check). Opening coverage described the deck as sitting on a podium level rather than at the top of the tower, so skyline views come from Fins’ railing rather than from on high. Access is for registered guests.
AC Hotel’s rooftop pool is the largest and most resort-like of the three, with a whirlpool, cabanas and a pool bar, and because the hotel is part of a tri-brand complex the deck is shared with the Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites guests, so weekends get busy by early afternoon. rtb! upstairs is an indoor-outdoor bar near the top of the tower that serves drinks and small plates into the evening. Tempo’s 5th-floor pool is the smallest but the newest, a heated rectangle on a terrace with loungers, umbrellas and the Lovelorn pool bar, and it is the one most likely to be calm on a weekday morning. Our rooftop pools and bars ranking puts all three in context against the luxury towers.
Rooms compared: Margaritaville sleeper sofas vs Tempo’s 334 sq ft vs AC’s European minimalism
Margaritaville publishes no square footage except for the Jimmy Buffett Suite, but its room list is the most family-friendly: the Standard King includes a seating area with a sleeper sofa, the Standard Two Queen sleeps four, the Deluxe King sits on higher floors with city views and a pull-out sofa, the King Suite adds a living room with a queen sofa bed behind a dividing wall, and the one-bedroom Livin’ It Up Suite looks over the pool deck. Accessible versions of each category have roll-in showers. For a parents-plus-two trip this is the easiest room to book without paying for a suite.
Tempo’s king rooms are listed by booking sites at about 31 sq m, roughly 334 sq ft, with the brand’s signature touches: a Bluetooth-enabled mirror, a workspace that folds away, blackout shades and a walk-in shower. Wellness rooms add a Peloton bike. AC Hotel’s rooms are listed at about 350 sq ft for both the King and Two Queen layouts, with hardwood floors, a glass rain shower, an open wardrobe and almost nothing on the surfaces, which some guests find calming and others find spartan. None of the three offers a soaking tub in standard categories.
| Hotel | Rooms / floors | Standard room | Family or group option | Top suite | In-room notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaritaville Hotel Nashville | About 166 hotel rooms + 52 Vacation Club suites / 12 floors | King with sleeper sofa or Two Queens (size not published) | King Suite with queen sofa bed behind a dividing wall; Livin’ It Up one-bedroom suite | Jimmy Buffett Suite, 1,942 sq ft, top floor, 2 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms | Coastal white linens, pull-out sofas in most categories, roll-in showers in accessible rooms |
| Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown | 306 / 16 | King about 334 sq ft (31 sq m per booking listings) | Two Queen rooms; connecting rooms on request | Suites with separate living area (sizes not published) | Bluetooth mirror, fold-away desk, Peloton bike in wellness rooms |
| AC Hotel Nashville Downtown | 209 / 22 | King or Two Queens about 350 sq ft (booking listings) | Two Queen rooms; Residence Inn suites with kitchens in the same complex | Corner suites (sizes not published) | Hardwood floors, open wardrobe, glass rain shower, minimalist desk |
Dining & coffee: JWB Grill and Starbucks vs Bluestone Lane vs AC Kitchen
Margaritaville is the only one with a full-service restaurant on site: JWB Grill does steaks, seafood and brunch and has a private dining room, Fins covers poolside food, and the Starbucks is a genuine one with the full menu, which on a 7 AM convention morning beats any lobby café. Tempo’s Bluestone Lane serves the Australian café menu of flat whites, avocado toast and breakfast bowls from early morning through lunch, and Lovelorn takes over for cocktails and small plates in the evening; there is no dinner restaurant, but Nashville Yards and Fifth + Broadway are 4 minutes away. AC Hotel follows the brand pattern: AC Kitchen does a paid European-style breakfast and AC Lounge serves tapas-style plates and gin cocktails, with the pool bar and rtb! upstairs.
If free food matters to your math, none of these three includes breakfast. The hotel that does, with an evening reception thrown in, is across Korean Veterans Boulevard: read our Drury Plaza Hotel Nashville Downtown review before you decide, because free breakfast plus free evening drinks plus $0 fee plus $38 self-parking is a hard combination to beat at this price level.
Fees, 16.75% tax & parking: the 2026 true cost at Margaritaville, Tempo and AC Hotel
Nashville (Davidson County) hotel bills carry 9.75% sales tax (7% Tennessee plus 2.75% local, including the 0.5% transit surcharge approved by voters in 2024) plus Metro’s 7% hotel occupancy tax, a combined 16.75%, plus a flat $2.50 per room per night. Mandatory resort and destination fees are taxed at the same 16.75%. As of October 2026: AC Hotel charges none ($0 mandatory resort fee), Tempo charges $25 + tax per night but includes a daily food-and-beverage credit, and Margaritaville charges $25 + tax per night with no credit. The table uses sample non-event weeknight base rates to make the difference visible.
| Hotel | Sample base rate | Room + 16.75% + $2.50 | Fee incl. 16.75% tax | Night total before parking | Parking options |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AC Hotel Nashville Downtown | $240 | $282.70 | $0 | $282.70 | Valet $54/night, or Music City Center garage 1 block away about $25–$35 |
| Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown | $250 | $294.38 | $29.19 ($25 fee, returned as a daily F&B credit) | $323.57 | Valet $52/night |
| Margaritaville Hotel Nashville | $260 | $306.05 | $29.19 ($25 fee) | $335.24 | Valet $50/night |
Over three nights the gap between AC Hotel and Margaritaville is about $158 before parking, and if you use the convention center garage instead of valet the gap grows by another $19 to $29 a night. Tempo’s fee is the least painful of the two that charge one, because the daily credit converts it into breakfast at Bluestone Lane or a round at Lovelorn, and Hilton Honors points stays typically waive resort-style fees across the brand, so check the fee line on an award booking. For the complete list of downtown hotels with nothing added, use our no-resort-fee Nashville hotels audit; for the full bill anatomy, see Nashville hotel taxes and fees explained.
Park once, walk everywhere
From AC Hotel or Margaritaville, the Music City Center garage at 701 Demonbreun Street is a 2-minute walk and typically charges $25–$35 per day; see our downtown Nashville parking guide for rates and entrances. Tempo has no equivalent public garage on its doorstep, so budget the $52 valet or arrive by rideshare.
Value verdict: which of the three should you book?
- AC Hotel Nashville Downtown wins on value for couples and business travelers: the lowest all-in bill, the biggest pool deck of the three, rtb! upstairs, a cheap garage next door and a 5-minute walk to Broadway. Pick it unless you need a sofa bed or a dinner restaurant in the building.
- Tempo by Hilton is the choice if Broadway, Bridgestone Arena and Nashville Yards are your evenings and you want the newest room downtown; the fee-as-credit model makes it cheaper than it looks for anyone who eats breakfast at the hotel.
- Margaritaville is the family and group pick: sleeper sofas in standard rooms, two-queen rooms for four, suites with real living rooms, Starbucks downstairs and a pool deck that behaves like a vacation. It costs the most after fees, so book it for the amenities, not the price.
Families comparing suite layouts across downtown should also read our best Nashville hotels for families, and travelers weighing these three against the city’s pricier towers can browse every head-to-head in our Nashville hotel comparison hub.
Detailed profiles & rates: AC Hotel, Tempo by Hilton and Margaritaville
AC Hotel Nashville Downtown
- NO Resort Fee ($0/night)
- Large heated outdoor pool & whirlpool deck
- rtb! (live on the green) rooftop bar
- Part of the tri-brand Marriott complex 3 blocks off Broadway
Sleek European-inspired Marriott in SoBro just three blocks from Lower Broadway, offering one of downtown’s best heated pool decks and zero resort fees.
Prices vary according to travel dates and availability.
Tempo by Hilton Nashville Downtown
- New 16-story lifestyle Hilton tower (opened 2024)
- 5th-floor outdoor pool & Lovelorn bar
- Bluestone Lane Australian coffee shop
- 2 blocks from Broadway
Opened in 2024 just two blocks off Broadway, featuring a 5th-floor outdoor pool terrace, Lovelorn rooftop lounge and Bluestone Lane café.
Prices vary according to travel dates and availability.
Margaritaville Hotel Nashville
- Heated rooftop pool & Fins Bar with live music
- 3 blocks from Lower Broadway & Country Music Hall of Fame
- JWB Grill & full Starbucks on-site
- Spacious rooms & Jimmy Buffett suites
Island hospitality meets Music City in SoBro, just three blocks off Broadway with a heated rooftop pool deck, Fins Bar and JWB Grill.
Prices vary according to travel dates and availability.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which has the cheapest total cost: Margaritaville, Tempo by Hilton or AC Hotel Nashville?
AC Hotel Nashville Downtown, in nearly every scenario. It charges no resort fee (Margaritaville and Tempo each add $25 + 16.75% tax per night, about $29.19), and it is the only one with a public garage one block away at roughly $25–$35 a day instead of $50–$54 valet. On a three-night stay that is typically $150–$250 less than Margaritaville for similar base rates.
Do all three hotels have a heated pool?
Yes. Margaritaville has the Fins Bar rooftop pool deck with fire pits and live music, AC Hotel has a heated rooftop pool with a whirlpool and cabanas shared with the Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites in the same complex, and Tempo has a heated outdoor pool on its 5th-floor terrace beside the Lovelorn bar. All three restrict the pool to registered guests.
Is Tempo by Hilton Nashville closer to Broadway than Margaritaville?
Slightly. Tempo at 127 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard is 2 blocks off Broadway, about a 4-minute walk to Lower Broadway and Fifth + Broadway. Margaritaville and AC Hotel are 3 blocks south of Broadway in SoBro, a 5-minute walk, but they are closer to the Music City Center (2 to 3 minutes) and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Which of the three is best for a family with kids?
Margaritaville. Its Standard King rooms include a sleeper sofa, Standard Two Queen rooms sleep four, King Suites add a living room with a queen sofa bed, and the pool deck, Starbucks and JWB Grill keep everyone fed without leaving the building. AC Hotel’s tri-brand complex also offers Residence Inn suites with kitchens if you need to self-cater.
What does the Tempo by Hilton daily fee actually include?
As of October 2026, Tempo charges $25 + tax per night and returns it as a daily food-and-beverage credit usable at Bluestone Lane and Lovelorn, so guests who eat or drink on site effectively pay nothing extra. Hilton Honors points bookings generally waive such fees; confirm the fee line at booking.
