Assignment 6: Angelica

The Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center is located at 3405 Lenox Road, directly across the street from Lenox Mall. It is advertised as being the only IACC certified Conference Center in Buckhead with 25,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel was recently renovated to include an outdoor pool, a new fitness center, and a new lounge. Although it is part of a major hotel chain, it seems to succeed in looking modern and trendy to fit in with the commercial and corporate buildings in the area. I would say the hotel is more geared toward the business or young professional clientele because of it’s conference rooms and ample lobbies for meeting spaces.

The first photograph is an exterior view of the hotel from the north façade. Because of the hilly topography in the area, the parking lot is located behind the building in the lower elevation. Self-Parking is an additional $18 per night while Valet Parking is $26.

The second photograph is a close-up of the entrance to the lobby and the restaurant. Inside, the lobby is mostly open space with plenty of comfortable, colorful, and modern style seating arranged in u-shapes for further meeting space, with computer outlets and plugs and a few tables. To the left is the check-in desk with three clerks and two staff members dressed in the typical “bell boy” uniform. It was a relatively small space made to look larger with the high ceilings, large windows, and plenty of natural light.

In the third photograph is the entrance to the Shula’s 347 Lounge Bar & Grill located on the southern end of the lobby. The restaurant has a bar, private dining rooms, and is considered the new “hot spot” for local Buckhead dining. The bar and the exterior lighting of the entrance, especially at night (as seen in this photograph taken from the hotel website), works like a road sign in that it immediately grabs your attention and you have a clear view of the interior through the large windows. In the evenings I’ve driven by, I’ve always seen a large crowd gathered inside the restaurant and bar.

In order to access the rooms, there are a series of corridors along a long hallway. Since there were not many people in the lobby and a “bell boy” was wondering why I was wandering around, I took a quick, blurry photograph of the hallway to show the additional seating and lighting along the hallway. The use of plants and the orderly placement of things makes it a very professional, almost office-like environment but with soft lighting.

From the website, the rooms range from standard to presidential and executive suites. The standard rooms have small windows with desk workstations, and are located in the lower floors. The suites are in the upper levels and are obviously used for CEO’s or high executives. These rooms have separate dining and living area in addition to extra large bedrooms. This type of hotel would definitely encourage yearly conferences and travelling business people because it has all the amenities of home, work, and leisure.