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Atlanta's Haunts and Havens:
13 places to lay your head
by Allison Fields
Get ready for some serious Southern hospitality! It's the capital of the South - a phoenix-like city that has experienced rebirth many times in its history. Once burnt to cinders by Sherman on his march to the sea, it continually exhibits its intrepid heart by rising from the ashes with new neighborhoods, restaurants, entertainment venues, office towers that touch the clouds and, of course, hotels to welcome visitors. Spending the night in Atlanta can be as distinct as you want it to be - from a B&B with historical flair to a boutique and a "cinematic" bastion. Travelgirls, take your pick!
ONLY IN ATLANTA
We start out with a few places unique to this corner of the world. Keep an eye out for peach cobbler and listen for the Southern drawl as you quench your thirst with some tea, served sweet, of course.
Go ahead, take a spell on the fainting couch-the King-Keith House
Like the Southern belles of old, this alluring painted lady showcases her feminine wiles with antique lace, filigree and heavily ornate embellishments. Whimsical and frilly details abound in this Queen Anne gem in Atlanta's oldest suburb, Inman Park, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Near the bohemian Little Five Points neighborhood awash in off-beat stores and restaurants, the upscale boutiques of the North Highland area, as well as Downtown, the King-Keith House is the perfect starting point for exploring the city.
Plush velvet settees, tall transom windows, 12-foot ceilings, carved fireplaces and a banquet table with a lazy Susan awaiting buttermilk biscuits and cheese grits are just a few of the stately home's time-warping features. The perfect tea-sippin' front porch with white wicker rockers greets you, and visitors may also enjoy the large, mosquito-free, screened-in back porch overlooking a beautifully landscaped garden complete with fountain and romantic niches. Opposite the porch is a picturesque private cottage straight out of Hansel and Gretel that is also available for bookings.
Sepia photos and oil paintings of the house's own debutantes beckon guests to creak their way up the stairs to the second floor, where four jewel-colored rooms and yet another outdoor porch await. Ask for the spacious King Room, with a prominent stained-glass window towering over the headboard and private bath replete with claw-foot tub. The 1890 King-Keith House is the perfect B&B for the travelgirl who likes her mint juleps with a splash of old-school South-thankfully minus the corset and pantaloons! 889 Edgewood Ave. NE; 800-728-3879; www.kingkeith.com
The Ashley Inn
Theater, Art and Azaleas-the Ansley Inn
Midtown's Ansley Park - with its crazily wandering and winding streets, abundant green spaces and even a nine-hole golf course - sits smack-dab in the middle of Atlanta's urban jungle. To the west of the affluent residential oasis is the commercial Peachtree Street and to the east is this city's version of Central Park - the lake-plentiful, hilly Piedmont Park.
This area of town also boasts some of the finest cultural institutions in the country, including the orchid-filled Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Woodruff Arts Center, home to the nationally recognized Alliance Theatre, world-class High Art Museum and award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It's all within walking distance of the intimate Ansley Inn, a delightful English Tudor mansion built in 1907. The first floor is especially spacious, and although it contains many period pieces from Chippendale and Empire, the inn doesn't feel like a museum; it's comfortable with such modern touches as worn-in sofas, cable TV, high-speed wireless Internet, jetted bathtubs and in-room climate control.
Guests are served a full hot Southern breakfast in the striking and cavernous dining room. Travelgirls will especially appreciate little extras like the complimentary wine and cheese, "welcome home" cocktail and $10 gift card to your choice of four great local restaurants: La Tavola Trattoria (Italian), Sala (Authentic Mexican), South City Kitchen (fine contemporary Southern) or the Food Studio (New American). Skyscrapers may tower in the distance, but the earthy Ansley Park Inn makes you feel right home in the heart of Atlanta. 253 Fifteenth Street; (404) 872-9000; www.ansleyinn.com
The Beauty and the Beastly Airport-Maison LaVigne
She's the fairy godmother of Hapeville. First, she'll whisk you away from the airport, taking you for a short five-minute drive to her magical little cottage tucked behind a butterfly-filled garden and trellis gate overflowing with grape vines. There, you'll discover her feminine world of flowers and chocolates, a formal tea room and white baby grand, Italian soaps and Portuguese fine linens. But the icing on the mill-feuille is the French cuisine. You see, you've stepped into "the house of the vines," Eileen Randman's own little taste of Provene.
This gourmet cook actually moonlights as your hostess. A graduate of the Ritz Escoffier in Paris, she also owns the always-packed Corner Caf\'e9 just a few steps from the front door of the B&B. All travelgirls should be so lucky as to wake up with their own private chef. Your hot breakfast will be something quite extraordinary; she whips up a made-to-order feast, quite a change from the little boxes of Frosted Flakes and store-bought muffins of many bed and breakfasts. Book ahead and enjoy Eileen's talents in other ways as well - she offers private formal high teas, cooking classes, dinner parties for special occasions or romantic interludes and will even accommodate small business conferences in her upstairs sunroom. This Renaissance woman will truly make your wish her command.
With its deep burgundy walls, gauzy mosquito netting, rich brown velvet and silk covers, columned bathroom and claw-foot tub, the king-size Bordeaux Suite will surely make your dreams lavender-scented. And be sure to ask your travelgirl hostess to tell you about her annual "Table of Friends" private chef-guided culinary tour of Paris! But since she just returned from another monthlong jaunt to the Ritz in Paris for a breakfast pastry seminar, for now you can simply luxuriate in buttery croissant heaven at Eileen's lovely B&B, a world away from the nearby Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. 3532 South Fulton Ave., (404) 754-5137; www.maisonlavigne.com
the Indigo Hotel
Yes, there are 32 streets named Peachtree in the city, but this quirky, 140-room hotel actually fronts the infamous north-south thoroughfare that sometime-resident (and huge Atlanta fan) Elton John named his album after and that every Atlantan uses as a universal reference point. Part of the InterContinental Group, the new Indigo Hotel delivers a rejuvenating hideaway in the midst of the hubbub right at the Midtown/Downtown dividing line and directly across the street from the equally distinct Fox Theatre.
The sharp interior design is dominated by blue walls and green details, bright-white crown molding and ceilings, hardwood floors, area rugs and giant still-life photos of fruits, veggies and plant fronds. The fresh lobby - a wi-fi hot spot - mimics some sort of Caribbean garden room, including oversize chairs and plenty of sunlight. Guest rooms also give a sense of the outdoors with incredibly stark whites, pale yellows and, of course, blues, but what really sets the rooms apart are the spa-inspired bathrooms with glass-bowl sinks, steam showers and oxygenated showerheads offering that much-needed morning jolt.
The hotel allows pets (there's even a canine cocktail hour!) and features a state-of-the-art, bright-orange fitness center (one of the only areas that deviates from the color scheme). But the oxygen-pumping showers aren't the only way this hotel wants to jump-start your day. Java junkies can get their fix at the on-site coffee shop that brews Starbucks, and if that's not enough, can also take advantage of a couple of packages centered around America's national love affair with the Seattle-based beans - "Indigo Indulge" and "Indigo Invigorate" include the coffee in-room with breakfast or after dinner. In fact, the Indigo Hotel seems to be centered around buzzing the working gal - from a distinctly sharp ambience and bathroom fixtures with a "kick" to always-available caffeine concoctions. 683 Peachtree St. NE, (404) 874-9200; www.ichotelsgroup.com
"Oh, fiddle-dee-dee, it's not Tara. But I suppose it will just have to do"
the Georgian Terrace
What would Yankees, not to mention the world, think about the South were it not for that iconic film and spitfire character that would forever freeze this region in an antebellum haze of gentility and fan-fluttering? On the same note, what would Atlanta be without this historic suite hotel, where Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable sipped bubbly and hobnobbed with local dignitaries at the world-premiere reception for Gone with the Wind in 1939? Luckily, neither of those questions ever need be answered; unlike the doomed Confederacy, the movie and the Georgian Terrace will most likely live forever.
Built in 1911 as a "Grand Dame," the distinguished and storied hotel has seen thousands of weddings and special events and more than its fair share of notable guests, including Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, Charles Lindbergh, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tallulah Bankhead and Rudolph Valentino. In the soaring lobby and spilling out onto the front veranda along Peachtree is the Savoy Bar and Grill, the finest locale in Atlanta for unabashed people-watching. Opposite the hotel, guests can enjoy the intriguing Fox Theatre - with its faux starry sky and Moor-inspired architecture. Catch a touring Broadway musical, the Atlanta Opera or the annual film festival, among other offerings.
As many grand old buildings do when hard times fall on once-prosperous areas, the Georgian Terrace closed for a time in the 1980s. It saw another major transformation in 1991, when it was made into condominiums and following that, an apartment building. When restorers brought it back to its former glory and luxury in the mid '90s, the kitchens, refrigerators, microwaves and even electric range/ovens remained, and an all-suite hotel was born. Request a room with a balcony and savor antique-style furnishings, European duvets and "dream" beds in every room. Travelgirls can also get sun-kissed at a rooftop swimming pool while enjoying skyline vistas. Hoop skirts and parasols may be a thing of the past, but the Georgian Terrace still echoes with Southern drawls and gentlemen callers. Scarlett would surely be proud. 659 Peachtree St. NE, 800-651-2316; www.thegeorgianterrace.com
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
As all major metropolitan centers, Atlanta has an abundance of tried-and-true chains, both luxury and moderately priced, but read on to find out about some cool travelgirl perks at several of these well-known hotels.
Material Girls Dig It-the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead
When in town, the red-string-wearing, Y2K-approved Madonna gets in touch with her diamond-studded roots hiding out here in penthouse bliss. For nearly a century, this name has been synonymous with extravagance, and the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead lives up to that reputation with its spacious suites and top-of-the-line service. Located in the wealthy Buckhead enclave, the hotel has a prime location opposite both of the city's fashionable malls - Lenox and Phipps.
The main thing that sets this lavish hotel apart is its incredible, highly acclaimed cuisine. One of only 14 restaurants in the country to have received the Mobil Travel Guide 2005 Five Star Award (and one of two in Atlanta), the Dining Room serves innovative Mediterranean fare with French, Spanish, African and Arabic influences prepared by new Chef Arnaud Berthelier along with wine pairings by sommelier Chantelle Grilhot. What's more, the newly opened Gallery event space is the place for glitzy-girl bachelorette parties or showers. Ladies, unite! (or at least do lunch) at this hotel popular with the most fabulous and famous of travelgirls. 3434 Peachtree Road, (404) 237-2700, www.ritzcarlton.com
Luxury for the Chocolate Lover-the Four Seasons Atlanta
Grapefruit and White Chocolate Mousse Cake, Southern Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie, Chocolate Baklava \'85 These are just a few of the samplings at the Four Seasons' creamy dreamy Chocolate Buffet - a favorite feature of the city's other Mobil Travel Guide Five Star Award-winning restaurant, Park 75. Executive Pastry Chef David Jeffries begins each cocoa creation with Valrhona, one of the richest chocolates in the world. From that basic ingredient springs some of the most decadent and addictive desserts around. The legendary buffet is set up on the terrace between the exclusive restaurant serving New American cuisine and the chic late-night lounge, an upscale hotspot for the well-dressed and well-moneyed.
Right in the heart of Midtown and around the corner from Crescent Avenue -home to some of the best clubs and trendiest restaurants - as well as the Woodruff Arts Center and other cultural venues, the super luxe hotel makes your stay in Atlanta walkable (a wise idea after indulgence on this level). The buffet changes weekly and is open October 28 through April 30 on Fridays and Saturdays from 9PM until midnight. Could there be a better travelgirl evening than a Broadway-caliber show at the Alliance Theatre and a nightcap of a Rice Krispie treat dipped in chocolate-fountain goodness? Certainly not for the choco-devotee.75 Fourteenth St.; (404) 881-9898; www.fourseasons.com
Spastic Fountains, Fish and Rock 'n' Roll-Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown
Packed with wet tots during Atlanta summer scorchers, Centennial Olympic Park commemorates the 1996 festivities. There you'll find the five-ringed Olympic symbol made into a fountain of intermittently shooting streams of water \'e0 la Old Faithful. Next door to the soggy recreational area is the Embassy Suites Hotel, a chain that takes the atrium to a whole new level. With its guaranteed two-room suites, this economical choice has become a mainstay for the budget-minded who appreciate lots of arm room.
Its ultraconvenient Downtown location makes this one even more attractive. In addition to the park, the hotel is very near the new $250 million Georgia Aquarium, the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Dome (home to the Atlanta Falcons), the CNN Center, the Tabernacle concert hall and Philips Arena, where the Atlanta Thrashers and Hawks hold court and big-name musical acts perform. The well-connected travelgirl should consider staying here after scoring a pair of tickets to a sold-out show! 267 Marietta St., (404) 233-2300; www.embassysuites.hilton.com
More Mod than the Squad-W Atlanta at Perimeter Center
The W Hotel has some serious philosophy behind its Zen branding, focused on pampering and cosseting the harried business traveler. Just a hop, skip and a jump from Atlanta's 285 Perimeter Loop (which residents have used as one more way to attach a label to themselves: ITP for those living "Inside the Perimeter" or OTP for "Outside the Perimeter"), this tranquil hotel is the best choice in Atlanta's high-end suburb of Dunwoody and near another popular mall, Perimeter Mall. The lobby is known as the "Living Room" and the fitness center as "Sweat." Guests can "adopt" a goldfish for the night, and Bliss body products are stocked in every bathroom. In other words, this hotel tries hard to set itself apart and succeeds, with a heightened level of calm and comfort for the travelgirl who appreciates hotels with an offbeat attitude. 111 Perimeter Center West; (770) 396-6800; www.starwoodhotels.com
Westin's Peachtree Plaza
Around and around we go-the Westin Peachtree Plaza
For generations, Downtown visitors have taken the scenic elevator to the 73rd floor of the well-appointed Westin Peachtree Plaza-one of the tallest hotels in the Western Hemisphere-for panoramic views of the city and top-notch dining. At the summit is the rotating Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar and View, with its three-story windows, contemporary American cuisine and live jazz by the Mose Davis Trio. While above the clouds, travelgirls can enjoy another rotating feature, the monthly art installation featuring hot local and national artists. Have a "Peachy Keen" daiquiri and take home the souvenir glass in the shape of Georgia's favorite fruit. 210 Peachtree St.; (404) 659-1400; www.starwoodhotels.com
Pig's Feet and Oysters at Atlanta's Aphrodisiac Destination-the InterContinental Atlanta
Only a year old, the shiny new InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead is dressed to impress from head to toe with an abundance of marble, stylish architecture and classy d\'e9cor. You wouldn't guess by its name alone, but the Au Pied de Cochon, or "Pig's Foot," Restaurant is actually one of the most elegant in the city and a must-do for those seeking the ultimate romantic interlude au fran\'e7ais. The intimate atmosphere is enhanced by hand-painted Rococo murals and Venetian chandeliers. Reserve well in advance for one of the three highly coveted booths made for lovers; they have movable curtains capable of providing complete privacy. Atlanta's only cognac bar-appropriately dubbed XO-carries about 60 different varieties for the discriminating palate. The incredibly fresh raw bar will tempt seafood enthusiasts and timid novices alike. The oysters, lobsters, shrimp, clams, stone crabs and mussels are all flown in daily from around the globe. Of course, you could try the signature dish, a giant roasted (you guessed it) pig's foot, but even the most graceful travelgirl would have a hard time pulling that one off. 3315 Peachtree Road NE; (404) 946-9000; www.ichotelsgroup.com
Just You and Neiman Marcus-JW Marriott Buckhead
Perhaps your favorite fantasy goes something like this: You roll out of bed to find a yummy continental breakfast prepared just for you. Slipping on your most comfy slides, you open the bedroom door and chords of heavenly music fill the room\'85 Before you is a marvelous world filled with two levels and several wings of swanky designer shops and top department stores. If you feel like someone just read your mind, the JW Marriott attached to Lenox Square Mall may be your daydream come true. Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Judith Leiber, Anthropologie, David Yurman, Herm\'e8s, Burberry, Nicole Miller, Betsey Johnson\'85 Where's a travelgirl to start? Luckily, there's no need to rush; the mall stays open til 9PM, and your bed is via Versace. Now, will it be the Ferragamos or the Stuart Weitzmans? Decisions, decisions\'85 3300 Lenox Road; (404) 262-3344; www.marriott.com
Straight from Japan-the Grand Hyatt Atlanta
You can't go wrong with a high-end Hyatt, but this Buckhead hotel near Lenox Square has a rather exotic past. The 15-year old, 25-story double-towered building opened as Hotel Nikko, and the Far East can still be felt from the moment you enter the lobby. Dominating the atrium is a fetching and verdant Japanese garden highlighted by a 30-foot cascading waterfall. Take in the view while relaxing in the Onyx Lounge, where you can order one of the hotel's signature drinks-the "Grand Martini" or the "Strawberry Vanilla Mocha." Kampai! 3300 Peachtree St. NE; (404) 365-8100; www.grandatlanta.hyatt.com
travelgirl tip :
Check out www.atlanta.net for details on the LEGENDARY SHOPPING PACKAGE available from many Buckhead-area hotels.
Packages include: accommodations, breakfast, parking and a shopping voucher to kick off your spending spree.