ATLANTA

We traveled with a group of 10 to see the Nascar Race at Talladega Superspeedway as part of a trip won from Microsoft by eMazzanti Technologies, so I must preface this by saying that this was not my booking.  My experience on this trip was purely as a passenger.

TRANSPORTATION

Continental Airlines
Newark to Atlanta > Atlanta to Orlando (On to another event)

ACCOMODATIONS

W Hotel Atlanta Downtown
We stayed in the very posh (very $2000/night) WOW Suite and it lived up to it’s name.  The room was on the 12th floor and looked out over the convergence of several freeways which gave the impression that they were driving into the hotel.  The visual effect was stunning at night.  The room was an impressive 1100 square feet with 1 bedroom, 2 baths, a large dining room and living room with floor to ceiling windows and the W’s typical modern purple decor.  My initial instinct was that the room would be an excellent place to host the 10 guests for dinner.  This was the beginning of our troubles.  The hotel staff was unaccomodating and wouldn’t work with us to do simple things like send up additional seating or having food sent up from the restaurant that wasn’t on the bar-type room service menu. 

 As part of our travel package we had a pre-arranged breakfast in a private meeting room on teh morning of race day.  While the breakfast was billed at $20 per person for a limited continental breakfast, we returned to the hotel that evening only to be welcomed by a bill for beverages from that morning.  They charged us $8 a bottle for water and $4 a bottle for veryfine apple juice!  It was outragous and we made this know to staff who were polite, but unwavering on this matter.

FLAVORS

The restaurant at the W, Steak was a great experience in food and service.  They accomodated our group with no reservation and were very welcoming to the children travelling with us.  The complimentary pop-overs offered with the meal were divine and the steak was the best I’ve ever tasted.  Please note that while they are very good with the children, they do not know how to work their own high chairs and frankly, I couldn’t figure them out either, so bring the stroller if need be.

WHAT TO SEE

As mentioned above, the primary purpose of the trip was to attend the Nascar race at Talladega Superspeedway in nearby Alabama.  We had access to the Hospitality Village at the race which was a great way to spend the hours before the race.  Members of the group also received a track walk and could meet some of the drivers in our hospitality tent.  When the races began, everyone headed over to the grandstands.  Our seats were just about as high as you can imagine and it’s very difficult to get to your seats as the rows have only about 8 inches of space to walk through as you make your way into the row.  This is pretty scary as the seating is the steepest I’ve ever seen.  I eventually gave in to the crying of my 11 month old and my own fear of heights and made my way back down to the concourse level where I found it quite nice to walk back and forth the almost 1 mile long stadium with my son while watching the race at a comfortable elevation.

DO OVER

There are 3 W hotels in Atlanta and this one’s primary purpose seems to be condo sales.  As such, the staff is small and facilities are limited (no grand lobby or W boutique).  I would select one of their alternate locations where their primary focus would be guest services.