NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nashville is home to hundreds of hotels, but the Gallatin Hotel is unlike most.
First, the building used to be an East Nashville church. Second, you can’t just walk inside, you have to have a special code. The entire hotel is technology based.
“From the time you book with us, we’ll start to correspond with you via email,” says Micah Lacher of Anchor Investments. “You have a code to get in, and check yourself in and out of the hotel as you want. We do have a full team, but they all work remote.”
The biggest difference with the Gallatin Hotel is the reason behind it’s existence.
“We’re the only hotel brand in America that gives away the majority of our profits to homeless communities,” says Lacher.
Echoing the building’s history as a church that served the people of East Nashville for decades.
The Gallatin Hotel partners with Nashville organizations like ‘Room In The Inn,’ the Nashville Rescue Mission and Shower Up.
Lacher says they pay their bills through Anchor Investments’ other projects like commercial shopping centers and keeping their overhead low.
The hotel has no employees on site, including no front desk workers.
Lacher believes this model is the future of hotels.
“It’s funny during COVID everybody thought that we created this business model for COVID.” He continues, “Because it’s super safe. You don’t have to interact and breathe the same air as other hotel employees.”
“My wife and I, we travel now, and we always look for similar hotels because we love just being able to show up put our stuff down, check into our room, and go. We don’t wait in lines. We were there to experience whatever city we’re visiting, and we don’t want to wait in line for an hour to get checked into our room.”
The quick check-in process is no doubt a perk to Nashville tourists.
Their motto ‘Stay here, changes lives’ is more than just a slogan. Stays at their hotels, including The Gallatin, have provided more than 100,000 beds, meals, and showers to those in need in Nashville.
Anchor Investments has two other hotels in Nashville just like The Gallatin, The Russell Hotel and 506 Lofts.
by: Nikki Burdine