Where (Not) to Stay in Atlanta: Crowne Plaza Midtown * River City Belle

I am a mega fan of IHG brand hotels and have been for the better part of a decade. It helps that I have achieved Platinum status with the hotel chain. Before booking our hotel in Atlanta, I carefully reviewed all my options… googled distances… and read reviews.

I selected the Crowne Plaza Midtown based on price and location. I booked even though I knew the property had a plethora of negative reviews. I assumed my fellow travelers were picky.

On check-in day we arrived in Atlanta a few hours early, the hotel graciously agreed to allow us to check-in early. As we were traveling on a budget, we opted to self-park rather than valet park our vehicle. Sounds like a good idea, right? Nope!

After parking, we entered the hotel from the pedestrian bridge and headed to our room via the escalator. At the top of the escalator, we found a construction site. Workers were diligently installing carpet. Naturally, we turned to go down the escalator to return to the main floor… however, the down escalator was broken… talk about feeling trapped. Ultimately, we dragged our luggage through the area profusely apologizing to the workers we were disturbing. We had to hand carry our luggage over a few racks of carpet to get to the elevator. We headed up 24 floors to our city view room.

I opted to pay a little extra per night to enjoy the city view room option. I wish I hadn’t, we weren’t in the room much and I’m not sure the view was worth the extra money. Our room was clean and spacious but the balcony door was bolted shut. I asked hotel staff about the bolted door, and they explained there’s a new GA ordinance that required locking balconies due to safety concerns.

The hotel is not conveniently located to Atlanta’s main tourist sites. I was dismayed when I realized that the .5 miles to the World of Coke from the hotel were not a safe walking route due to traffic patterns and the interstate ramps. Parking in the tourist area of Atlanta is pricey. To effectively move around town we’d have to pay for parking at both our hotel and in the tourist area… that equates to a lot of parking fees! The hotel is close to the city’s nightlife and club scene. The only restaurants within walking distance from the hotel where we stayed were The Varsity and Gladys Knights’ Signature Chicken and Waffles Restaurant. We were only able to get a table at The Varsity. The line at Gladys’ was out the door every night. The food must be delicious!

At night, the hotel is a flutter of activity of stylish people heading out for a night out on the town. Seriously, some of these people belonged on the cover of magazines! I always felt under dressed while walking around the lobby. However, in the middle of the night, the hotel was NOISY! Every night from 2AM-3AM there was a chorus of slamming doors, laughter and screaming. I’m glad the other guests were enjoying their time… but I wanted to SLEEP at night.

The main door of our room would not close without being slammed. We arrived from our night out around 11 PM to find hotel door cracked. At first, I freaked thinking someone had broken into the room. However, all of our personal property was in tact and I don’t think anyone even noticed that the door hadn’t properly shut. But, that scenario could have ended SO differently.

After a two-night stay, I was ready to check out and head home.

If we return to Atlanta, these are a few properties I would love to try out. Don’t worry I did a little recon, you won’t be disappointed.