Check Out a Rendering of the New Hotel in Downtown Decatur
Decatur Metro | August 11, 2016 | 10:28 am
Following up on our post from yesterday that rereported old news that a new Hampton Inn & Suites is coming to the vacant lot with the oft smelly ginkgo trees next to the Courtyard by Marriott on Clairemont Avenue, a reader pointed out that Vision Hospitality actually put out a press release back in May with a rendering and details of the coming hotel. Up there is the rendering and down here is the details…
The 145-room hotel will have a modern and thoughtful design that meets the needs of today’s modern traveler and the hotel’s Perfect Mix Lobby will feature a variety of seating and lighting options for both leisure and business travelers. Additional amenities will include an indoor saltwater swimming pool, meeting space, a 24-hour business center and a fitness center.
Projected to open in the spring of 2017, the hotel will be located in one of the most vibrant and eclectic communities in Atlanta. Centrally located in Decatur, guests will have access to a spectrum of authentic restaurants, boutique shops and a multi-modal transit hub, all within walking distance of the hotel.
This description reminds me of how some upscale menus use language like “béchamel sauce inspired by …. and gently fruited with heirloom…” “Thoughtful design”? Vs. careless design? “..spectrum of authentic restaurants, boutique shops and a multi-modal transit hub”? What is an unauthentic restaurant? Maybe a Mexican restaurant that pretends it’s French? And how many modes do we need to make a hub “multi-modal”? I count buses and trains converging at the MARTA station–that’s bimodal in my book. Maybe we are including the occasional taxi, zip car, and cyclist who dares to lock their bike and leave it all day?
I was flattered by “one of the most vibrant and eclectic communities”. I do think we are pretty vibrant for a place whose preferred image is a community of churches, homes, and schools. Our “eclectic” nature is fading by the minute. I calculate that we lose one percentage point of eclecticity with every $10,000 increase in average house price.
Co-sign this whole post, especially “Our “eclectic” nature is fading by the minute. I calculate that we lose one percentage point of eclecticity with every $10,000 increase in average house price.”
Hear, hear! *applause*
Authentic restaurant = not a chain restaurant. When I go to towns with big clusters of chain restaurants (usually with hotels nearby), it is so visually and gastronomically unappealing that I am even more thankful to live in Decatur.
And if we add the bike PATH and walking, I think we hit multimodal along with the MARTA stop and bus hub. Remember your context- Atlanta.
Trust me, you.lost it. I left last year. Goodbye, Buckhead south
Despite noted trends in the housing market and a loss in eclecticity, we are still a long long long way from being Buckhead south. Been to Buckhead lately?
Anyway, why a Hampton Inn? I recall when this was first pitched, it was a “botique” hotel. Maybe I just misunderstood another overused buzzword.
I was waiting for a boutique hotel too. Not that I know what one is but it sounded intriguing.
Indigo in midtown is a supposed botique hotel. I’ve had visitors to work stay there.
I think botique simply means “same price as a 4 star hotel, but puts on the ambiance of trying to be cooler”
I stayed in one in San Francisco that had a CD library and tiger print bathrobes in every room.
Nothing was ever pitched. The idea of a “boutique hotel” originated from citizen requests during the 2010 Strategic Plan and was included in one of the Plan’s tasks. But as with all situations where what a community wants requires other people putting up private money, the solution doesn’t always materialize in exactly the same way it was requested by those with no skin in the game. In this instance, it was a hospitality group that recognized the opportunity and stepped up to fill it with a Hampton Inn. It could have just as easily been a boutique provider but they didn’t step up. C’est la vie.