Why Landing Was the Perfect Fit for a Six-Week Pharmacy School Rotation in Nashville

Hi! My name is Savannah Hayes, and I currently live in a Landing with my husband, Clay. We moved from Birmingham to Nashville in October so that my husband could complete a six-week pharmacy school rotation at Vanderbilt University.

Landing was the perfect fit for us because of how short our stay in Nashville was going to be. Here’s my story about why I chose to live with Landing, some of my favorite things about my apartment (and Nashville!), and our plans for the future.

Why we decided to live with Landing

Back in March, when Clay found out he would have a rotation in Nashville, it was an easy decision to go with Landing. Honestly, if I hadn’t known about Landing, we likely wouldn’t have even had the opportunity to go to a new city at all. I just wasn’t aware of anything else that could fit our need to stay somewhere for just six weeks.

We have two dogs and have been in our Birmingham apartment for two years now, so we’ve accumulated quite a bit of stuff. And for only a six-week stay, it wouldn’t have made any sense for us to get a brand-new, unfurnished apartment, and finding another short-term option would have been way more expensive, less flexible, and likely not furnished at the same level of quality that I knew we would get with Landing. We still have our apartment back in Birmingham, so it worked out that we could keep all of our stuff there and know that both spaces were taken care of. 

We chose Nashville because we wanted to get a feel for what it’s like to live there. Plus, next spring, Clay will start his residency, which is a year or two years at one specific hospital. So we really wanted to get a feel for Nashville and let him see what the healthcare systems were like there, because if he liked it, he would likely go out for a residency so we could stay here longer-term. It’s been great being able to test out the city and see what it might be like living here! 

How we found our Landing

When we were choosing an apartment, location was the biggest thing for us because we wanted to be close to Vanderbilt. Using Landing’s website was easy—I just set my neighborhood on the map, entered in my dates, and started browsing! We found a great apartment within walking distance to Vanderbilt, and it even had a pool, library, poker room, movie room, and some really nice offices as extra amenities.

My application to Landing was approved within 24 hours, and I immediately started getting communication from them about what my check-in day would look like. I also had to do a few outstanding tasks, like getting my parking set up and sending in my pets’ vet records. But the communication and follow-up were all wonderful. 

What it was like checking in to our Landing

Nashville is only a three-hour drive from Birmingham, so we were able to drive to our Landing. Because our apartment was furnished, all we really had to do was pack our clothes and shoes (arguably too many of them, but still!). I still spent a good amount of time packing and figuring out what I did and didn’t need to take, but it was such a relief to know that checking in, moving in, and getting settled was going to be all taken care of. 

When I was about an hour or two outside of Nashville, I got a text from my host saying, “Hey! I’m on my way. I’ll make sure everything’s great for you. Just text me when you’re close and I’ll meet you in the lobby.” When I showed up, she was wearing her Landing shirt, so I knew it was her and didn’t have to awkwardly look around. She even helped me get my dogs upstairs!

Walking into our Landing was so comfortable. Our host lit a candle, played coffee shop music on our TV, dimmed the lights, and opened up the blinds and curtains. The bed was made perfectly, the towels were all folded, and the furniture was positioned perfectly. It was so peaceful and cozy. 

At first, we definitely had this moment of, “This isn’t my stuff,” where you feel like you’re in a hotel. But within two days, we had one of those nights where we felt so happy and cozy in our Landing that we decided to just stay in!

Everything here is so aesthetically pleasing that I don’t get my usual itch to switch something up in my living space. I don’t feel the urge to buy a new rug or coffee table because it’s already so great. 

Exploring Nashville as a ‘residential tourist’ 

My favorite part about being here for longer than the normal week or weekend that I’ve visited before is discovering that every few miles, each neighborhood has its own little city within it with a cute street filled with shops, coffee shops, and great restaurants. It just feels a lot more local than I ever thought Nashville was. It’s a big city, but you can find these little pockets with a super-local community (and really good food!). 

And it’s been great getting to be a part of our own community here. We live on a quieter block about five minutes from downtown, so we have a great area to walk our dogs and are close enough to the action to experience the iconic and more touristy Broadway area. The party buses people use for birthdays or bachelor/bachelorette parties actually begin two streets away from us—I even saw one with a hot tub in the back the other day! I’ve also loved visiting the amazing rooftop bars and seeing the city from the top of these beautiful hotels. 

It’s like being a “residential tourist.” Our stay is pretty short given that we’re here for six weeks, but it gives us just enough weekends to go out and do the touristy things, and just as many weekends to walk around the block and find some cool local stuff to explore. Even with just six weeks, it feels like we’ve had plenty of time. So far, we’ve been able to go see the bridge across the river and the Batman Building, as well as go to a Predators game and a Titans game. We’ve loved Arrington Vineyards, and 12 South is our favorite little part of town! I can even get to two or three places without a GPS now!

My advice for other Landing members

If we were to be in Nashville longer-term, I would probably spend this length of time in a couple of different neighborhoods around Nashville. Living in a city as big as Nashville, I just see our neighborhood for the most part, and there are a dozen others that are just as great to live in. 

With Landing, you don’t have to just move from city to city—you could try the West End, East Nashville, Midtown, and Franklin to get a feel for what the entire city is like. I think that if we end up anywhere other than Birmingham long-term, I want to try doing that. 

Also, I would really encourage people to go with the Landing Explorer option if you don’t have hard dates for your visit. I liked the idea of not having a set end date and found a lot of security knowing that I have this apartment for as long as I need it. If you want to move to a different neighborhood or city, you just need to give Landing a 30-day notice. The process for me has been so easy and seamless that I could totally envision us doing that and having a year or longer of jumping around and exploring different neighborhoods and cities.

What’s next for us

As we wait to find out where Clay will do his residency, it’s nice to know that Landing will be an option wherever we end up. He’s actually made a spreadsheet of every residency program he’s interested in and whether there’s a Landing in that city or not! 

Carrying all of our stuff, two dogs, and two humans potentially across the country is daunting, so we probably wouldn’t move to a city where Landing wasn’t available (though there are few cities like that these days). 

And, when we inevitably move to another one sometime in the future, it’s so nice to know what to expect. 

Want to live with Landing?

If you’re looking to move somewhere new, Landing offers fully furnished apartments in over 375 U.S. cities, all with flexible lease terms, no application fees, and no deposits. Check out Landing’s apartments today!