Bringing Women’s History to Life at The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville

by Briana Bonfiglio

When Dee Patel, managing director of The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, first stepped foot inside the property in 2003, painters perched on machine lifts meticulously touched up gold ceiling accents in the lobby that would soon welcome a new generation of guests – and welcome back old ones, too. 

“I thought, ‘Wow they’ve got these little paintbrushes. They’re not spraying it; they’re not plastering and slapping on paint.’ It was just really beautiful,” Patel told Travel Market Report. “That was my first impression of the level of intensity and precision that was being taken to really restore the public spaces during that time. And here I am, a 21-year-old kid in a candy store, excited that I was asked to be part of the opening team.” 

The hotel reopened under independent ownership that year after an already storied history, playing a significant role in the women’s suffrage movement in 1920. Patel insisted she start as the hotel’s housekeeping director (“If you don’t have a great housekeeping team, I’m not sure you have a great hotel,” she said, calling it the most challenging and important department) and has quickly risen the ranks over the past 22 years. She now steers the hotel’s vision as the first woman managing director in its 110-year history. 

Read the full article here.