Assignment 7: Heather

I visited the Comfort Suites located in downtown Atlanta directly above Underground Atlanta. According to the website the intended clientele includes businessmen and out of town government officials. This makes sense due to its location so close to the Capital. However this is their Monday through Friday clientele. I visited on a Saturday and could hardly get in the door due to the crowd of tourists checking in. The location of the building also works very well for tourists as it is located across the street from the Five Points Marta station and is within walking distance to the World of Coke and Georgia Dome. The exterior design of the building is quite unusual as it has gone through three building phases. The bottom portion of the building is the historic facade of the building (which was a candy factory) from the late 1800s. This portion of the building is light grey in color and has some great ornamental detail. The second phase of the building is a later addition of red brick that adds on about ten stories. The final, top portion of the building (which cannot be seen in this picture) is made to look like the bottom historic portion of the building. The overall look of the building is a bit like a sandwich with the grey portions sandwiching the red brick. This additional height allows for 156 rooms, far more than would be allowable in the five historic floors. However the historic part of the building plus its location attracts government officials as well as heritage tourists with its sense of history. Many of the services offered by the hotel are directed to the businessmen and government officials. These include: banquet and meeting rooms, teleconference calls, fax service, secretarial service, computers with Internet, free wifi, and free newspapers Monday through Friday. However some services relate to the tourists that frequent the hotel on the weekends. These include: multi-lingual staff, currency exchange, numerous brochures displayed by the front door, and an airline ticket desk.

There is no parking at the hotel. However for $18 a night the hotel offers valet service. You pull up to the front door and your car is then taken to a nearby parking garage. However many parking garages are located within a few feet of the hotel for an $8 a day fee. The hotel also offers complementary transportation services and car rentals.

The lobby is quite small and was packed when I went in on Saturday. I returned on Monday in the afternoon to get a picture of it. There was no one in the lobby at this time. There was a much more casual atmosphere on Monday than the chaos on Saturday. There was only one hotel employee in the lobby on Monday whereas on Saturday I was met at the door by an employee who was ensuring only people staying at the hotel were coming in. She was one of about five employees in the lobby that day. There is one couch and two chairs. Directly next to the couch is the check in desk so there really is no privacy. There are outlets for computers located beside the seats however I did not see anyone using them either day I went. The lobby is modern in design which is quite a contrast from the exterior of the building. The lobby is primarily intended for people waiting to check in or to receive their cars from the valet service. No one seemed to want to hang out and talk to people at this location due to the cramped space and lack of privacy. There is no bar or restaurant located inside the hotel. This is really not needed at this hotel as the Underground Atlanta food court and Kenny's Alley is located immediately out the door of the hotel. This hotel was quite interesting as it combines the historic elements of the property and location on the exterior with the modern convenience of a hotel for all types of clients on the interior.