Hotels in Atlanta

Three hotels in downtown Atlanta. Clockwise from top: Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, Ellis Hotel, Carnegie Building

Founded in the 1830s as a railroad terminus, Atlanta experienced rapid growth in its early years to become a major economic center of Georgia, with several hotels built to accommodate for this growth. Following its destruction during the Civil War, Atlanta experienced a resurgence and another hotel boom commenced in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. In the later half of the 20th century, hotel skyscrapers began to appear on the skyline, including what was at the time the tallest hotel in the United States. Later, a trend emerged of converting old office buildings into boutique hotels.

History

Early history through the early 20th century

Atlanta Constitution article from 1913 describing some of the hotels in the city

The White Hall Inn, located in present-day West End, Atlanta, is generally considered to be one of the first hotels in the area, predating the founding of the city by several years and laying outside the original city limits. ^[1] As the area's population began to grow following its establishment as a terminus for the Western and Atlantic Railroad in 1837, several hotels arose to service visitors to the city. The first hotel built within city limits came in 1846 with the construction of the Atlanta Hotel. ^[2] It was joined later that year by Washington Hall. ^[3] Several more hotels would follow, including the Trout House in 1849. ^[4] However, these buildings, as well as many other Antebellum era buildings in the city, were destroyed during the Burning of Atlanta, a significant event preceding Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War. ^[5]

Following the war, Atlanta rebounded and began to rebuild at a rapid pace. New hotels arose to replace those lost during the war, including the Kimball House (1870) and the Markham House (1875). While many of the hotels before and after the war were built around State Square in downtown Atlanta, by the 1890s many of the newer hotels were being built north of the area along "upper Peachtree". Some of these notable buildings included the Majestic Hotel (1898) and the Piedmont Hotel (1903). ^{[6] [7]} Also starting around this time, several hotels opened on Hotel Row near the newly opened Terminal Station in South Downtown. Among these was the Terminal Hotel, built in 1906 by prominent Atlanta businessman Samuel M. Inman. ^[8] However, stiff competition from other hotels in downtown caused the area to experience a decline a few decades later. ^[9]

Mid-20th century

Main articles: Winecoff Hotel fire and Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States

Atlanta was home to the deadliest hotel fire in United States when a fire broke out in the Winecoff Hotel on December 7, 1946. In the ensuing disaster, 119 people died. ^[10] This event contributed to massive changes in North American building codes. The Winecoff would remain abandoned for several years before reopening in the 1950s with a changed name. ^[11] In 1964, the Supreme Court case Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States pertained to a motel in Atlanta and was a landmark case in the Civil rights movement. The owner of the Heart of Atlanta Motel had refused to rent rooms to African American patrons and the case pertained to Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination in public accommodations. The Supreme Court against the motel owner and affirmed the constitutionality of the act. ^[12]

Later 20th century

Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel

The later half of the 20th century saw several skyscraper hotels take shape on the Atlanta skyline. John C. Portman Jr.'s Peachtree Center plan included the construction of multiple high-rise hotels in downtown during the 1970s and 1980s. Arguably the most notable of these was the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. Upon its completion in 1976, the building was the tallest hotel in the world, the tallest building in Atlanta, and the tallest building in the Southeastern United States. ^[13] Other Portman-designed hotels included the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in 1967 and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in 1985. The hotels in Peachtree Center, along with others in the surrounding downtown area, constitute the Hotel District neighborhood in downtown Atlanta, named in reference of the numerous hotels in the area.

Recent history

Since the late 1990s, a trend that has emerged in Atlanta has been the repurposing of old office buildings into boutique hotels. In 1996, the Rhodes-Haverty Building (1929) was converted from office space to a hotel, and it currently houses a Residence Inn by Marriott. ^[14] Similarly, in the 2010s, the Carnegie Building (1925) and the Candler Building (1906) in downtown Atlanta were converted to hotels. ^[15] Conversely, some historic hotel buildings have been repurposed for other uses, including office space. Examples of this include the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel (1924), which was repurposed for office use in the 1990s, and the Imperial Hotel (1910), which now serves as low-income housing. ^{[16] [17]}

List of hotels

Name	Image	Built	Architect	Notes
Atlanta Hotel		1846		The first hotel to be built within Atlanta's city limits. Destroyed in 1864 during the Burning of Atlanta. [18]
Washington Hall		1846		Built shortly after the Atlanta Hotel. Destroyed in 1864 during the Burning of Atlanta. [19]
Trout House		1849		Confederate President Jefferson Davis gave a speech here in 1861. [20] Destroyed in 1864 during the Burning of Atlanta. [5]
Kimball House		1870	William Parkins	Built on the site of the Atlanta Hotel. Destroyed by a fire in 1883 and rebuilt in 1885. Razed in 1959. [21]
Markham House		1875		Built by William Markham. [22] Destroyed by fire in 1896. [23]
Hotel Aragon		1892		Demolished in 1930. [24] [25]
Majestic Hotel		1898		Demolished in 1927. [26]
Piedmont Hotel		1903	Willis F. Denny	Underwent renovations in 1928–1929. Demolished in 1965. [27]
Candler Building		1906	George Stewart George E. Murphy	Tallest building in the city at the time of its completion. [28] Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Repurposed in 2016 for use as a boutique hotel. [14]
Terminal Hotel		1906		Built by Samuel M. Inman across from Terminal Station. Part of the Hotel Row district in downtown. [9] Destroyed by fire in 1938. [29]
Imperial Hotel		1910	Edward E. Dougherty R. M. Walker	Abandoned in 1980. [30] Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Currently serves as low-income housing. [30]
Georgian Terrace Hotel		1911	William Lee Stoddart	Declared a contributing property to the Fox Theatre Historic District in 1978. Underwent renovations in 1991. [31]
Ellis Hotel		1913	William Lee Stoddart	Originally known as the Winecoff Hotel. Site of the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire. [10] Reopened in 1951 as the Peachtree on Peachtree Hotel. [11] Later served as housing for the elderly. Reopened in 2007 with its current name. [32] Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
Hotel Ansley		1913	Jerome B. Pound	Renamed the Dinkler Plaza Hotel in 1953. Razed in 1973. [33]
Connally Building		1916	William Lee Stoddart	Originally built as an office building. Converted to a hotel in 1990 following a renovation and the addition of eleven stories. [34] Currently houses a Fairfield by Marriott. [35]
Glenn Building		1923	Wadley B. Wood	Originally built as an office building. Converted to a boutique hotel in 2006. [14] Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Atlanta Biltmore Hotel and Biltmore Apartments		1924	Schultze & Weaver	Operated by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts between 1967 and 1979. Added to National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Converted to an office building in 1999. [36]
Briarcliff Hotel		1924	G. Lloyd Preacher	Built by Asa G. Candler Jr. as a luxury apartments and hotel. Originally known as The Seven-Fifty. [37] Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Clermont Motor Hotel		1924		Originally built as the Bonaventure Arms Apartments, converted into a hotel in 1939. [38] [39] Famous for the Clermont Lounge, Atlanta's first and oldest strip club, which opened in the 1960s. [38] Renamed Hotel Clermont following renovations in 2018. [38]
Henry Grady Hotel		1924	G. Lloyd Preacher	Named for Henry W. Grady. Demolished in 1972 to make way for the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. [40]
Carnegie Building		1925	G. Lloyd Preacher	Built as the Wynne-Claughton Building, originally served as an office building until its repurposing into a boutique hotel in 2010. [41] Currently houses a Courtyard by Marriott. [15] Added to National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
Hotel Indigo Atlanta Midtown		1925	Francis Palmer Smith	Built as the Carlton Bachelor Apartments and later known as the Cox-Carlton Hotel. [42] Reopened in 2004 as a Hotel Indigo. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Rhodes–Haverty Building		1929	Francis Palmer Smith	Originally built as an office building. Tallest building in Atlanta at the time of its construction. Added to National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Repurposed in the mid-1990s to become a hotel. [43]
Atlanta Cabana Motel		1958	Jay Sarno (developer)	Demolished in 2002. [44]
Hyatt Regency Atlanta		1967	John C. Portman Jr.	Originally known as the Regency Hyatt House. Part of Peachtree Center. [45]
Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel		1976	John C. Portman Jr.	Tallest hotel in the world and tallest building in Atlanta at the time of its completion. Part of Peachtree Center. [13]
Atlanta Marriott Marquis		1985	John C. Portman Jr.	Largest hotel in Atlanta. Part of Peachtree Center. [46]
Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead		1990		25-story hotel in Buckhead. Originally built as the Hotel Nikko Atlanta and owned by Nikko Hotels. [47] Purchased by Hyatt in 1997. [48]
Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta		1992	Rabun, Rasche, Rector & Reece, Architects	Located in the GLG Grand. Originally known as the GLG Grand Hotel and later the Occidental Grand Hotel. Became a Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts property in the late 1997. [49]
Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead		2008	Robert A.M. Stern Architects Milton Pate Architects	Originally known as The Mansion on Peachtree. Renamed The Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta in 2012. Gained its current name in 2018. [50]

References

1. Kurtz & Kurtz 1982, pp. 27–28.
2. Martin 1902, p. 45.
3. Garrett 1969a, p. 237.
4. Pioneer Citizens' History of Atlanta, 1833-1902 1902, p. 29.
5. Garrett 1969a, p. 374.
6. Garrett 1969b, p. 442.
7. Hillyer 2015, p. 156.
8. Galloway 2002, p. 63.
9. Morrison 2019, p. 52.
10. Blass & Rose 1998, p. 36.
11. Garrett 1969b, p. 606.
12. Barnett & Blackman 2020, p. 44.
13. Kelly 2019.
14. Stafford 2016.
15. Stafford 2019.
16. Trubey 2016.
17. Steffen 2010.
18. Clayton 1999, p. 27.
19. Clayton 1999, p. 81.
20. Martin 1902, p. 167.
21. Martin 1987, p. 301.
22. Reed 1889, p. 94.
23. The New York Times 1896.
24. Taylor 1930.
25. Zimmerman 1999, p. 63.
26. Garrett 1969b, p. 854.
27. Martin 1987, p. 454.
28. Kahn 2018.
29. Garrett 1969b, p. 527–529.
30. Lee 2013.
31. Craig 1995, p. 78.
32. Christian 2008.
33. Ariail 2013, p. 29.
34. Gournay 1993, p. 4.
35. Hotel Management 2013.
36. Diamond 2016.
37. Jones 2012.
38. Kincaid 2018.
39. Clanton 2019.
40. Zimmerman 1999, p. 72.
41. Schoolcraft 2010.
42. Craig 2012, p. 115.
43. Davis & Davis 2011, p. 23.
44. Henry 2017.
45. Rice 2016.
46. Felton 2008, p. 47.
47. Thalimer & Thalimer 2008, p. 129.
48. Hickel & Botha 2003, p. 201.
49. Seward 2013.
50. Godwin 2018.

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