REVERB Downtown Atlanta

Photo courtesy REVERB Downtown Atlanta

Boutique hotels are opening all over Atlanta. The city’s hospitality landscape, which was once dotted with convention-friendly skyscrapers and biscuit chains in tourist-friendly destinations like Downtown and Buckhead, is rapidly changing thanks to a wave of more intimate, fun-filled accommodations that pop up from Alpharetta to College Park. This is good news for visitors, but also for locals – who, more than ever, have reason to stay close to their home.

While Atlanta’s first downtown “boutique” hotel, the Glenn Hotel, opened in 2006, the metropolitan area is lagging behind comparable cities for “unique, lifestyle options,” said Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief Sales Officer at Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. He names the Hotel Clermont, the Kimpton Overland and the Candler Hotel, which was built between 2017 and 2019, as trendsetters.

But with more than a dozen concepts opened since early 2020 – most of them in development long before the pandemic – Atlantica is quickly catching up, with standout properties that include everything from destination bars and restaurants to rooftop pools with skyline views and offer unique amenities such as soundproof capsules and bowling alleys. More hotels are planned for 2022, including a Nobu Hotel in Phipps Plaza and a third Kimpton in Midtown.

Here are 10 of the newest hotels – and what makes them unique.

The Burgess Hotel

Photo courtesy The Burgess Hotel

The Burgess HotelThe Burgess Hotel

Photo courtesy The Burgess Hotel

The Burgess Hotel
Open: January 2020
Pet friendly | Food | Fitness center
This former Wingate by Wyndham hotel in Buckhead was renamed Burgess in January 2020. Decorated in bold colors, rich textures and original artwork, the 102 rooms and common areas reflect the global travel and Asian heritage of owners Freny and Burges Jokhi. including eight suites with international themes, including one with a lively tone of “London Hip” inspired by 1950s Pop Art. The hotel has three gastronomic concepts, including a tapas bar by the pool in the courtyard, a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant, and Mr. B, an elegant cocktail bar.

AC Hotel Atlanta Airport Gateway by Marriott
Open: January 2020
Pet friendly | Food | Swimming pool | Airport | Fitness center
Just a free two-minute ride on the ATL SkyTrain from the airport, the AC is the newest boutique option in the south of the city. The spacious 222 rooms – equipped with soundproofed windows, large desks, ergonomic chairs and fresh bed linen – are suitable for both work and play. Additional facilities include a fitness center with a peloton bike, a saltwater pool, and an elegant lobby lounge and restaurant.

REVERB Downtown AtlantaREVERB Downtown Atlanta

Photo courtesy REVERB Downtown Atlanta

REVERB Downtown AtlantaREVERB Downtown Atlanta

Photo courtesy REVERB Downtown Atlanta

REVERB Downtown AtlantaREVERB Downtown Atlanta

Photo courtesy REVERB Downtown Atlanta

Reverb Downtown Atlanta
Open: December 2020
Pet friendly | Rooftop bar | Fitness center
Atlanta’s thriving music scene made the city an ideal choice for the first location of Hard Rock’s newest hotel concept, Reverb. The 195-room hotel with a view of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium serves as a community hub for creative people, with a rooftop bar where live shows with local artists take place and a coworking space with private, soundproofed cabins, equipped with Fender guitars for recording a podcast or playing an impromptu jam session. In-room Alexa apps provide audio guides to Atlanta’s best nightlife, food, and more, curated by local celebrities like Big Boi and CeeLo Green.

Kimpton Sylvan AtlantaKimpton Sylvan Atlanta

Photo courtesy Kimpton Sylvan Atlanta

Kimpton Sylvan AtlantaKimpton Sylvan Atlanta

Photo courtesy Kimpton Sylvan Atlanta

Kimpton Sylvan Atlanta
Open: February 2021
Pet friendly | Food | Rooftop bar | Rooftop pool | Fitness center
An adaptable reuse of a 1950s building in the heart of Buckhead, the newly renovated Sylvan lives up to its name – derived from the Latin word for forest – with giant oak trees lining the grounds, 5,000 square feet of green topiary, and planters both indoors and outdoors and even a garden-themed bar on the ground floor. Other highlights include a rooftop pool and lounge, St. Julep, and a mid-century-inspired supper club, Betty.

Wylie HotelWylie Hotel

Photo courtesy Wylie Hotel

Wylie HotelWylie Hotel

Photo courtesy Wylie Hotel

Wylie HotelWylie Hotel

Photo courtesy Wylie Hotel

Wylie Hotel
Open: May 2021
Pet friendly | Eating with a view | Fitness center
When it opened in 1929, this historic Old Fourth Ward building was a long-stay hotel and housed one of Atlanta’s first LGBTQ + bars – Mrs. P’s Tea Room – and later the legendary MJQ dance club. Resurrected as the Wylie Hotel in May, the compact and colorful 111-room hotel blends the city’s past and present with vintage prints and postcards mixed with abstract modern art, bespoke furniture from Björk Studio and inspired by mid-century modern Contactless check-in and other services provided via the Intelity Smart Room app. Dine Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as lamb lollipops from the grill in the cozy dining room or the glass-enclosed bar of Mrs. P’s Bar & Kitchen with a view of the Ponce City Market.

Bellyard HotelBellyard Hotel

Photo courtesy of the Bellyard Hotel

Wylie HotelWylie Hotel

Photo courtesy Wylie Hotel

Bellyard Hotel
Open: May 2021
Pet friendly | Eating with a view | Fitness center
Its name is a nod to West Midtown’s past as a hub for railroads and livestock stores. The Bellyard at the Interlock is the first boutique hotel in this fast growing area. The spacious 161 rooms and suites have folding desks, cozy window sills with additional storage space, LCD SmartTVs and minibars with local delicacies. But the hotel’s common rooms are the real eye-catchers. Linger in a garden courtyard with a sunny mural by local artist Lacey Longino or sip cocktails with skyline views in the lush greenery of Jennifer Rust Botanicals in Drawbar, the hotel’s lobby lounge and a popular hangout for local influencers.

The Hamilton Alpharetta
Open: August 2021
Food | Fitness center
The first boutique hotel in downtown Alpharetta has a dramatic classic exterior that conjures up the glamor of rail travel and blends vintage charm with modern conveniences. It offers three separate restaurants, including Roaring Social, a sophisticated whispering pub that is entered with a “secret” password via RoSo Clothiers. With velvet sofas and cut crystal glasses, the sophisticated room serves delicacies such as truffle fries and tailor-made smoked cocktails. Let the good times roll in with almost nightly live music and compact bowling alleys. The lavish guest rooms are furnished with Waldorf Astoria beds, blackout curtains and crisp Frette linens.

Epicurean Atlanta HotelIn the Epicurean

Photo by Erik Meadows Photography

Epicurean Hotel Atlanta
Open: September 2021
Food | Rooftop pool | Fitness center
In this culinary-inspired hotel with 178 rooms and 22 suites in Midtown, food is the focus. Watch the chefs work on dishes like wood-fired veal rib eye and cauliflower panna cotta around the leather-wrapped zinc bar in the Reverence lobby restaurant, or enjoy cocktails and snacks outdoors in the sprawling Aerial Kitchen and Bar ninth floor. Other attractions include a resort-style rooftop pool with private, air-conditioned cabanas and the Epicurean Theater, a demonstration room that hosts cooking classes, wine tastings, and other culinary events.

Element Atlanta Midtown
Open: October 2021
Fitness center
As a Marriott concept for health-conscious travelers, the Element offers bright, apartment-like rooms with fully equipped kitchens and spa-inspired bathrooms. Start your day with breakfast options like vegetable omelets and fresh granola, or grab ready-made meals and healthy snacks from a well-stocked pantry. Work up a sweat with Lifetime Fitness cardio machines, dumbbells or the peloton bike in the state-of-the-art fitness center, which is open around the clock, and then relax with organic beer and wine in the free, four-day training weekend reception.

Thompson BuckheadThompson Buckhead

Courtesy Thompson Buckhead

Thompson Buckhead
Open: November 2021
Pet friendly | Food | Rooftop pool | Fitness center
With a sleek exterior that mimics the neighborhood skyscrapers, this national-branded buckhead outpost oozes modern cool. The hotel’s interior is warm and modern, with jacquard fabrics and tones of ruby, gold, and peach. The 201 guest rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling windows with city views, 400 thread count Sferra linens, and DS & Durga bath products, but the standout spaces here are the hip rooftop pool with private cabanas and Dirty Rascal, the Italian-American restaurant run by the is headed by local chefs Todd Ginsberg and Josh Hopkins.

This article appears in our November 2021 issue.