For those transiting through Atlanta on their way to wider destinations, or if you're visiting Porsche's race track near the Atlanta Airport I may have found the best hotel for you.
Living in the Atlanta-area from time to time I need to stay at a hotel for work or travel reasons and my go to has always been the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel, being apart of the Marriott brand I always get good value of my Titanium status and the airport view hotel rooms are spectacular.
However on this occasion I had to be at work at 4AM near the Atlanta airport on July 5th, I just so happened to have an expiring IHG free night thanks to my IHG credit card and figured a hotel by the airport would be much quieter than at my apartment when it came to noisey fireworks. And of course I was right, I slept through the entire night without fireworks waking me up.
Booking
I have the older version of IHG's base line credit card, the IHG Rewards Club Select which affords me a $49 annual fee plus a free night every year on my card anniversary. This I think is quite the value if you know where and when to redeem the night.
Last year I managed to score quite the redemption at the Intercontinental in San Diego and I felt it was well worth the annual fee. This last year however I hadn't had a chance to book any trips where a free night was available or the selection of IHG properties was spectatular. Coming up on my expiriy period I decided a short staycation was perfect for my mental health for the July 4th holiday and being forced to get up so early.
A "essential room" normally retails for $225 per night on Member Discount or 52,000 IHG points for one night. In the grand scheme of things I am at minimum getting $176 value from this one redemption. Well worth it in my book.
Location
The hotel is located in the northeast corner of the Atlanta Airport and is located right next to Porsche's US headquarters and expirence track. If traveling by hotel shuttle it is a little further of a drive than most Atlanta Airport hotels, so give yourself 10-15 minutes extra if you need to use the shuttle to catch a domestic flight. However if you are traveling on an international flight it is one of the closest hotels to the international terminal.
Check-In
The check-in lobby is nice and well appointed, the restraunt is located just next to the lobby and easy to find. I was sure to use the secret code word when checking in and initally they wanted to offer me free breakfast or a hotel credit for food and beverage. However due to the very early nature of having to get up and leave the hotel I would not be able to use this benifit.
The check-in staff was nice enough to waive the parking fee for the one night that I was staying in exchange which worked out perfectly to me and I'm happy to see they were willing to work with me to find a better perk. Otherwise I would have pair $30/night just to park there.
The Room
I'm not sure if capacity at the hotel was low that night or I really am just that special, but I managed to get a pre-arrival upgrade to their '1 Bedroom Suite Track View' which suprising until I actually saw the living room area for the suite. I should note that probably most of the people staying at this Kimpton are either vising Porsche HQ or their Expirence Center, thus this isn't a hotel you'll spend most of your time in.
I was a little disappointed in the living room area of the room, it looks like they turned a hallway into a living space with a couch, TV, an arm chair, and a desk. The space feels very narrow as most of the room's space is dedicated to the bedroom. It feels like they should have just knocked down the wall to the bedroom and made it a larger open space with a lounge area. It would have made the bedroom feel more airy and open rather than the cramped nature that it feels when you walk through this lounge area.
On the opposite side, the bedroom area is very nice and large. The king bed was very comfy and the shower, which is connected to the bedroom without a seperate door into the area, was large and nice.
Food
One of the big selling points to the Kimpton is the roof top deck with a bar/restaurant area that overlooks the airport and the Porsche track. On the day in question that I stayed neither the lobby restaurant or roof bar was open.
The roof deck was open and on the warm day was perfect to lounge out in the chairs and watch the airplanes for a bit. It's a nice place and when opened and in operation with food would make a perfect lounging area.
Amenities
The hotel has a small gym and indoor pool. I would not considered this one of the best amenities or something I would bring the kids to. But it's something that the hotel can put down as available on site.
The pool area is very small and good for lounging around, similiarly the gym area is small but the equipment looks upkept and in good condition.
The hotel also offers complimentary bike rentals to bike around the area however given the area I really didn't find this useful.
Service
Everyone who I interacted with at the hotel was nice and pleasant to talk to. The check-in staff worked with me to find a better perk because of the very early morning hour that I would leave the hotel and everything in the room looked cleaned, setup nicely, and there was even a card to order any forgotten items you may be missing for your stay.
Final Thoughts
Overall I think the Kimpton Overland Hotel is my favourite choice for a overnight hotel by the Atlanta Airport. The rooms are clean, the views are spectuacular for a #avgeek like myself, and I think compared to all of the other hotels around the Atlanta Airport it feels the most modern and "new." The higher tiered rooms could use some improvement in layout and design; I've stayed at the hotel before in one of their 2 Queen bedrooms and found them much more acceptable in their room layout and design.
