Which Starwood hotel in Atlanta?
 

I have to attend a conference in Atlanta in the spring. The official hotel is the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. I would prefer to stay in a Starwood hotel. Where should I stay? These factors are important for me:

- nice hotel
- good gym (or close to a park suitable for a long run)
- reasonable prospect of Platinum upgrade
- some restaurants/shopping nearby

I would prefer a hotel within 20 minutes walking distance of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, but would consider a hotel located further away if there was a good reason.

Starwood Hotel Choices in Atlanta
 

Fellow FTers -

I have enjoyed staying in almost all good Marriott hotels in DownTown, Midtown and Buckhead. Now I would like to try the starwood chain. I am currently a starwood platinum member.

Let me know the best starwood hotels in Atlanta -

I am looking for a hotel
- Close to MARTA, as I do not plan to rent a car
- Good Safe location, I mean safe to walk for dinner or a stroll in the morning. (For this reason I avoided Renaissance Midtown)
- A good concierge lounge preferable offering free breakfast and free evening snack. And preferably has bottle water so that I don't have to pay extra for that.

Please let me know your choices.

Appreciate your responses and Thanks in Advance.

Cheers!

Twenty-two minute response, time, CheapElite - that's not you at your best. Without discipline this will regress into one of those other boards where a new post asks where to stay in Waikiki or Disney World seemingly every other day. :D

St. Regis is by far the nicest. It is close to several nice restaurants that are in walking distance; Chops/ Lobster Bar (steakhouse), Nava (upscale southwestern) and Paces 88 (inside the hotel). Marta (subway) is about 1.5 miles away. It is walkable and safe but it is much easier to use the hotel shuttle, which consists of two Bentleys. The hotel is gorgeous, but when the 1 1/2 times I stayed there the staff was extremely green and not well trained. It should be better by now.

The W Downtown in my opinion is the nicest of the Atlanta W's. The rooms aren't tacky like W midtown or Buckhead. BLT is the restaurant, but I was not impressed since the steak I ordered medium rare came out raw the 1st time and med well the second. The bar in the hotel was nice and has a towering backdrop to it. The crowd at the hotel can be hit or miss depending on whats in town that weekend. Depending on how comfortable you are in urban environments will determine whether or not you'd feel safe here. It sits between two train stops that are no more than a 1/2 mile in either direction. The restaurants surrounding it include French American Brasserie, Mellow Mushroom pizza, Hard Rock, Fire of Brazil (churrascarria), and Jalapeno Charlies (mexican). City Grill is a higher end restaurant that is about 2 miles away so the shuttle might be a better bet to get there.

The W Midtown is probably the most fun of the Atlanta group. Whiskey Park and the Living Room are always busy and create a very lively, young and drunken atmosphere. The rooms I have stayed in are accented in purple and had unbelievably comfortable beds. Something that I remember is that the tv's in the rooms are HD flat screens, but none of the channels came in in HD quality. Room sizes very greatly and I cannot recall anything special about them other then the beds. Spice Market is the restaurant and if you've eaten at the one in NYC then you've eaten at this one. TAP (brewpub / restaurant) has great drinks and beer but the food is awful, Tamarind (thai) is delicious if you like spicy food, and La Pietra Cucina ( progressive Italian) is phenomenal. IIRC its 4 long blocks from the hotel so the shuttle might be best.

W Buckhead is the smallest of the group. I have never been able to get a suite (only 4 of them) paid, comped or otherwise. It ruins are much brighter than the other two with plenty of whites used in the color scheme. Bathrooms are see through and seemed to be almost equal in size to the living area of the rooms I've stayed in. The hotel used to be a Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza if that helps explain the layout of rooms. Also Whiskey Blue is the night life on the top floor. Depending on the night you will be charged admission to get in. It is a damn good time though. Market is the restraurant in the hotel and it is another Jon George Vongerchiten operation. Food was forgettable and has gotten hammered by the local press. Interesting thing is that Ian Winslade is chef de cuisine at Market and Spice Market simultaneously. Bluepointe( asian fusion) is pretty good. Most of the female staff there are built and look like models. Aja (asian emphasis on singapore) is great for a party scene, but the food sucks. Tavern at Phipps caters to the upper 30- 50 crowd with bistro style sandwiches and steaks. Bartenders are some of the best in the business. NY Prime is a steakhouse that is almost built on top of Aja and it is across the street from Tavern at Phipps as well. The largest mall in the southeast, Lenox and the most expensive Phipps Plaza are within 3 blocks of the hotel. There are plenty of other restaurants, clubs and bars that are all within the 2 mile shuttle radius. Train station is 1/4 mile away and its an extremely safe area.

The W Perimeter is awful. The hotel is much older and while it has been renovated some it does not deserve to wear the W label. The carpet in the suite I had looked like motel 6 carpet. The latch on the balcony was broken. There is a full kitchen with complete home sized fridge but it looks so beat up and worn I didn't bother using it. I stayed in the hotel for about an hour before I packed up and had the concierge switch my reservation to Buckhead. Another strike against this property is that other than the mall across the street there is nothing else of social value in this area. Train station is a 1/4 mile away.

The Westin Downtown is a great hotel in my opinion with a large atrium and a restaurant, the Sun Dial, which rotates. Scratch that last one. A few years ago when Atlanta was getting all those tornadoes the Westin was a casualty. One of the unique features besides the rotating restaurant was the building wrapped in circular glass. Lots of windows were lost and since the glass was custom made it had to be custom ordered to be repaired. It's not expected until 2011- 2012 for the renovations to be completed. The hotel still is open and all the restaurants that are close to W downtown are close to the Westin as well. If you're intown for a sporting event the Ga Dome and Phillips Arena are closer to the Westin. Subway is about a block away.

I think I've rambled enough, but if you have any questions that I didn't touch on feel free to ask.

I will rank mine as so, W Downtown, MARTA only 1 bock away, Westin Buckhead, a damn nice hotel with MARTA 1 block away, St. Regis Buckhead, W Midtown MARTA 3 blocks away, and Sheraton Downtown MARTA 2 blocks away, I really like this property, although it is older and not much to do without walking a ways.

If you plan to take MARTA to/from airport and walk with luggage, your realistic choices are both Westins and the W Buckhead. The St Regis is halfway between the Buckhead and transfer (name?) stations, but not walkable. The area has an outer suburban feel, although several upscale restaurants are within a block or so. Nevertheless, it's a very nice new hotel. Try to be there for the nightly opening of champagne with a knife. The other Buckhead properties are right at the MARTA Buckhead station and have lots of upscale stores and restaurants within a few safe blocks.

The downtown Westin has lots of problems. Perhaps its only advantage is that the elevator to MARTA is a half block away. In the early evening, I would walk to Planet Hollywood, the sports bar across the street, and maybe the M&S (try to pick up a $20 off coupon in the DL ATL Skyclubs) at CNN Center, but this reflects my comfort level in downtown Atlanta; I'm sure others would disagree and point to the downtown ambassadors on the streets. The Westin currently has no real restaurant of its own, best option in house could be the evening unwind snacks if the bar area is warm enough to be comfortable when you would be there.

The Westin Buckhead probably has one of the best club rooms of any hotel.

The staff at the Sheraton lounge are amazing; they were incredibly gracious and hospitable to my family when we were there in November. Case in point - arrived a few minutes after the lounge had officially closed w/ family in tow. I was really looking for just a few morsels that may be lying around the lounge. The lounge attendants who were still there took pity on us and literally loaded a bag full of goodies for us that we were able to take back to the room. This level of service continued throughout our stay. I would highly recommend the hotel if only for their level of service in the lounge.

Singlepoint

Thanks very much friends. For the next 2 weeks I'll be in Marquis and from Feb first week will start trying various options suggested by you all. I have booked Westin downtown for the first week and move to others in the following weeks.

Also I noticed that Westin has a 1 day no fee cancellation policy which is quiet different from other hotels which allow cancellation till 6:00pm on the day of arrival. Has anyone seen this or is it starting only this year?

Thanks!!