Review - Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead

December 3rd, 2021

Enroute:

Atlanta is a city which I’ve driven through a handful times, but never actually visited. A friend of ours had tickets to the SEC Championship game (don’t ask me why or what even is the SEC Championship) and invited us to tag along. After a quick glance at the 35ºF weather in NYC for the weekend and a balmy 72ºF in Atlanta, we were on a Friday PM flight from LaGuardia to ATL.

The Waldorf is in a subdivision in Atlanta called Buckhead. Having lived in DC, Buckhead immediately reminded me of Tysons Corner. Traffic during Friday rush hour was predictably horrendous, so we thought the better of it and took the MARTA, which was extremely convenient from the airport as it required no transfers.

Check-in:

Our friend had already reserved the rooms, so we just met up at the bar for a few (quite a few) drinks before headed up to the rooms. The hotel’s main restaurant & bar was closed for renovation, so they instead had a makeshift bar on the second floor in one of the meeting rooms. It served its purpose (no pun intended), but there was not much in terms of ambience if you are looking for more than just a beverage.

Unpack:

We had an accessible king room. The hotel structure was rather striking, along with the residences.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Exterior

The room was quite large, as most things in the South are. Upon entry there was a wide foyer with closets to the right.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Foyer

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Closets

Straight ahead was the bathroom, which was sizable as expected, given it’s an accessible room. The bathroom featured separate tub and shower.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Bathroom

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Bathtub

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Toilet

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Toiletries

Toiletries were the standard Ferragamo ones at all Waldorfs, which I don’t particularly like. Actually you know what, I hate them. The scent was simply too potent, permeating the whole room into a Abercrombie & Fitch store. Fun fact, this hotel used to be the Mandarin Oriental Atlanta. Of all the US cities that Mandarin doesn’t have a presence in, you would think they’d go to San Francisco or Chicago before Atlanta? Of course that didn’t last long as otherwise the hotel wouldn’t be the Waldorf now. It feels highly unlikely that it went through any major renovation during rebranding, so I can see how people checked into this hotel when it was a Mandarin and wondered if they were in the wrong place.

By the bathroom door was the minibar, which wasn’t stocked. I’m high key over hotels using Covid as an excuse for things at this point. Like it’s been two years since we stopped disinfecting Amazon Prime boxes, put the f**king Pellegrinos back in the stupid fridge😤.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Minibar

Pardon our old-fashioned on the counter. Next was the equally spacious bedroom. The entire room felt rather drab. The bed was comfy, though.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Bedroom

Lastly in the room was a small terrace. The hotel was surrounded by apartment buildings so there wasn’t a view or anything, unless you consider yopros playing beer pong a view.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Deluxe Accessible King Room Terrace

I thought the room itself was fine. Personally I don’t have high expectations for Waldorf properties in the US, and this one was no exception. It was decent enough, but it felt more like a nice Westin.

Refuel:

Our schedule for the weekend didn’t leave us with much downtime. On Saturday morning we decided to just order room service breakfast, as the game was in the afternoon. You can find the digital menu here:

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead In-room Dining Breakfast Menu

We had an iced latte, a coffee, pancakes, and spinach and goat cheese omelette. Delivery took roughly 45mins. We had to follow up once but it wasn’t too bad of a wait. The food was okay.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead In-room Dining Breakfast

Unwind:

On Sunday, I took a walk to the hotel’s recreational facilities just to check things out.

While not the flashiest looking gym, it had an abundance of equipment and was nicely spread out. The spa was decent, but the pool was a lot prettier.

The pool had nice deck furniture and a little balcony. From the balcony you could walk down to the courtyard which was kind of charming? It looked onto a parking deck across the street but the plants were cute.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead Courtyard

Depart:

Waldorf Atlanta was great for our short weekend stay. While the property itself wasn’t all that inspiring, it was overall a satisfactory experience. Based on the location, the hotel is mostly geared towards business travel for companies in its vicinity. We didn’t interact much with the staff, but whenever we called they were friendly and prompt. I’m not sure how much the room was for our stay but I can’t imagine whatever the premium over other midscale hotels being worth it.

Review - Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead

December 3rd, 2021

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