NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The sprawling Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Nashville's cornerstone in the travel industry, is closed indefinitely because of floodwaters from the nearby Cumberland River.
On Monday, neatly arranged dining tables at the resort east of downtown were sitting in up to 10 feet of dirty water as crates of wine glasses floated by.
The resort, which bills itself as the largest non-gaming hotel in the continental United States, announced on its website Monday that it is not accepting overnight reservations for the next few weeks. City officials said it would be closed several weeks to several months.
The hotel, with 2,881 guest rooms, has hosted the NCAA convention and baseball winter meetings in the past. Then-President George W. Bush addressed the National Religious Broadcasters convention at the resort in 2008. Sarah Palin addressed tea party activists in February at the hotel.
It has more than 600,000 square feet of meeting space.
"By its sheer size, it attracts regional meetings or large national meetings," said Jan Freitag, vice president of Smith Travel Research.
It accounts for 12 percent of the rented hotel rooms in Nashville, and on average 20 percent of the tax revenue.
The hotel website Monday listed rates ranging from $149 to $464 per night. Resort officials said they were trying to relocate those with reservations in the next 90 days to other hotels under the Gaylord umbrella in Kissimmee, Fla.; Grapevine, Texas; National Harbor, Md.; and a Radisson in Nashville.
The nearby Grand Ole Opry House, where the famed country music show is presented several times a week, also had water inside. Managers were looking for alternate space for future shows.
