The Opryland Hotel has long been a favorite of ours both for their amazing Christmas light displays and for the general wonder one feels when wandering through the gardens, or taking the boat ride through the Delta.  When we heard they were opening an indoor/outdoor waterpark, we were delighted and this past week we finally got to take a staycation and check it out!  SoundWaves made a huge splash in our opinion!

To access the waterpark you either have to book a room night and choose the waterpark package, OR you can rent out a party room that includes wristbands.  We took advantage of the Davidson County Resident discount and spend the night so we could have two days of water fun!  (They also have a TN resident package discount if. you live elsewhere in the state.). We timed our adventure well as kiddos here are already back in school but the summer weather is still going strong.  The hotel and park were both virtually empty [one lifeguard said they had only sold 158 passes for the days we were there!] and we felt totally comfortable with the COVID measures in place in the hotel - all the staff were masked and occupancy was so low we barely saw any other guests and it was easy to social distance.

The park itself is immaculately clean, well-laid out and boasts incredible attractions like a wave pool, tons of water slides, a Flowrider surfing/knee board simulator, lazy river and lots of splash pad areas for littles.  Stretchy wristbands make it simple to access the park and never loose your ticket and there are lockers and cabanas available to rent to keep your valuables safe if you don't want to leave them in the room.  

Our favorite attractions were the "Record Launch" centrifuge tube slide, and the Up Tempo Rapids River.  We highly recommend wearing a life jacket in the Rapids so you can pick your feet up and just float along!  We probably spent half our time there just floating this thing in circles as our daughter loved it so much!  They also have an adults only area with an infinity pool and other relaxing spaces that we didn't get to check out on this trip.

Overall, we give this 5 out of 5 stars and while we definitely want you to stay at The Carriage House while you're in town, you might just want to add a night to your trip to make some waves before heading home!

A distance panorama of the wave pool.  They play fun music videos on that huge screen!

The park is so massive that it's impossible to get a photo of the whole thing - but this is the outdoor slide complex with the splashpad.  The building to the left is the indoor part of the park including enclosed slides that are open year round, and the giant wave pool is behind me!

As a short-term rental host, we are always on the lookout for products that help us make our space clean and welcoming for our guests.  We've had several hosts and guests alike reach out lately with questions about specific products so we thought we'd compile a little list here...who doesn't love a good "favorites" list?

Quick note: this blog post does contain Amazon.com affiliate links which means if you click on a link and purchase that item, I will receive a small commission (but it won't change the price for you at all.)  I'm only sharing items with you that I personally own and wholeheartedly believe in - and think you will love as much as I do!

1. Cubietime Alarm Clock - We saw this alarm clock in a high-end hotel on vacation while we were building our Carriage House and I'd Googled it and ordered it right on the spot.  One of our all-time favorite electronics, it features a dimmable screen, alarm, lots of plug-in-ports and a sleek design.

2. Amazon Basics "Hotel" Duvet - We make our beds with a lightweight down-alternative comforter inside these inexpensive-yet-luxe duvets.  The guests love them because they are comfortable and gorgeous and we love them because they are easy to launder, relatively wrinkle free and well made.  We prefer them in white with either light or dark grey trim...word to the wise, the grey embroidery trim is not bleach-friendly and turns tan.  However, if you accidentally run the duvet through with bleach (like I did), just bleach the pillow shams to match and you've got a tan-trimmed matching set!

3. 'Lectrofan White Noise Machine - I'm almost ashamed to admit how many of these we own, but I can attest to their supreme awesomeness in the world of white noise machines.  We were gifted our first one by our friend Erin who boldly ignored the wimpy "baby shusher" I'd added to my registry when I was pregnant and bought me this instead insisting it was the only way to go.  She was right.  We recently hosted chef/blogger Amy Hannon in our Carriage House and she told me that she and her daughter had each ordered one the minute they woke up from their first nights sleep.  So now you have 4 endorsements in one paragraph and really, what are you even waiting for?  I also personally own this custom made travel case for when I'm on the road and highly recommend.

4. Hairdryer Bag - A great way to keep your hairdryer and all it's accessories organized.  Stash the whole thing in a drawer, under the sink, on a bathroom shelf...no matter where you put it, this bag keeps it clean and fancy-looking.

​5. Hairdryer - Truly the number one thing I always want to bring but never want to pack, we've loved keeping this hairdryer in the drawer for our guests.  It's not the most expensive one on the market, but it's been a solid little workhorse that gets the job done.  We keep the attachments in the hairdryer bag so its all together for anyone who needs to utilize them to keep their locks looking their best.

6. Makeup Washcloths - Makeup stains are the number one threat to the safety of your bed and bath linens so we highly recommend including some of these black cloths with a little note encouraging folks to use them to remove heavy makeup.  *Most* of our guests are happy to comply and a few have even asked where I got them.  There are some cheaper options on Amazon as well like these, but I haven't personally tried them so I can't vouch for towel quality, and I didn't love the embroidery font as much.  But if you have a property with lots of bathrooms or just need to save a few $$ where you can, they might be worth trying out!

​7. Shaving Kits - This is an amenity that we have recently begun to offer and guests have really appreciated them.  The shaving cream and razor come in individually (not tested on animals) boxes so it's easy to leave in your bathroom organizer.  Even if you don't own/manage a short term rental, these are just great to take on trips anyway!

8. Dr. Fresh Toothbrush/toothpaste set - We love these sets because they come with both toothbrush and toothpaste and are TSA approved for a guests who might want to tuck them in their bag for the flight home.  Full disclosure, this isn't the cheapest place to order these little oral health kits.  We use these same ones but actually purchase them from The Dollar Tree because they are $1 each.  They are currently back-ordered on the DT website, and you have to buy a minimum of 24 of them if you purchase online, but here's the link in case you want to do that instead of just picking some up at your local Dollar Tree.

9. Dr. Teal's Bubble Bath - We've offered this bubble bath from the very beginning and guests absolutely love it.  I often hear feedback like, "after a long day of driving/flying, it was amazing to soak in a warm bubble bath before bed!"  I've found that this particular one is popular and often out of stock at stores like Target, Kroger or Wal-Mart so I tend to order it from Amazon for convenience.