Some but not all AC hotels are built new from the ground up, like this one in Atlanta (Chris McGinnis)
AC Hotels is one of Marriott’s newest brands. It started out in Spain in 1999, spread throughout Europe, and is now making a move on the U.S. where there are 19 hotels open.
Last week I stayed at the new AC Hotel Atlanta Buckhead, located adjacent to the city’s tony Phipps Plaza shopping center on the northern edge of Buckhead. My midweek rate was $185 per night plus tax. Parking in the underground deck was $20 per night.
Here are notes from my stay and a walk-through with Jamie Krueger, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing:
Like the rest of the hotel, the check in desk is clean, austere with a hip designer look (Chris McGinnis)
This Buckhead property opened last August. Atlanta will get two more AC Hotels this year– one downtown and another in Midtown. There are other AC hotels in Boston, Chicago, New York, Irvine, Phoenix, San Jose among other cities. (See all locations.)
Some, but not all AC Hotels are built new-from-the-ground-up like the one in Atlanta. Some are conversions from other hotels, so design and features can vary. (For example, its recently opened Atlanta downtown hotel used to be a Holiday Inn.)
The brand is aimed squarely at the millennial market and the design is super minimalist. Rooms have gray faux wood floors, white sheets, some beige wood and leather furniture. This baby-boomer would describe it as somewhat cold and austere, but I know there are travelers out there who like those clean lines and functional design.
The view from my room on the 6th floor looking south across Phipps Plaza toward the Buckhead skyline (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Rooms are clean and cool with all white bedding, wood and leather trimmed headboards and built-in benches, faux wood floors (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Bathrooms clean and functional, no tubs, but only sliding glass doors separating them from the room (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
There are 166 rooms in this six story building fronting the Phipps Plaza Parking lot. It’s located at the corner of Peachtree Road and Wieuca Road. The hotel gets 4 out of five stars based on 78 TripAdvisor reviews.
The only carpeting in the hotel is in the hallways. The lobby and rooms have faux hardwood floors. It has a gray and brown color palette throughout. Bathrooms do not have traditional doors– instead you’ll find sliding glass panels, which are not sound or light-proof, which may cause disturbance when there’s more than one guest in the room.
Cool feature: Windows are “self tinting” which means they turn bluish in direct sunlight. This helps cut the air conditioning bill and will help the hotel get its LEED certification later this year. Regrettably, none of the room windows open to the outside, which is a turn off to me.
There is a small, square indoor hotel pool, not set up for laps, and appears more like a big hot tub.
In a nod to its Spanish roots, shaved jamon Iberico served at breakfast (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
An impressive and robust selection on the breakfast buffet feels very euro (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
I was very impressed with the robust selections at the breakfast bar. The sliced meat, cheese, muesli, warm quiche, loaves of bread, croissants, espresso and especially the shaved jamon Iberico made me feel like I was in Europe.
Breakfast is the only meal served at the hotel. During lunch or dinner, there’s a light-bite tapas style menu. Plus there are many restaurant options in the surrounding area and adjacent mall– and a free hotel shuttle for rides within a two-mile radius.
Hotel business center located adjacent to lobby area includes art, books and business equipment (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Always a good sign: When a hotel provides half and half for in-room coffee (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
AC Hotels offers its own designer soap– smells great, but it’s like trying to wash your hands with a golf ball (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Like other Marriotts, basic wifi is free. Higher speeds run $5 per day unless you are gold or platinum elite (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
This looked like one of those irritating motion-sensing thermostats that turn off in the middle of the night. However, A/C blew softly and cooly throughout the night (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
Standard weekday rates run about $249 per night, and $189 on slower weekends. (But as we all know, rates can vary significantly based on demand.)
The hotel bar is the nerve center of the hotel– bartenders are (of course) mixologists and have created an unique menu of craft, signature and barrel aged cocktails to choose from. Guests can order tapas such (which are likely enough for a light meal) including bruschetta, mixed salads, nuts, olives, aioli potatoes, etc.
Read more about the AC Hotels chain here.
On summer nights, the hotel has a live DJ and when it’s not too hot, guest can sit indoors or outdoors. The bar and lobby space doubles as special events space, so you could find yourself in the middle of a party when you go down for a drink.
Overall, for a one-night stay, this was a nice, easy and efficient hotel at a decent price in an excellent location. I’d prefer a warmer ambience, but that might just be me.
Have you stayed at an AC Hotel? Would you? Please leave your comments below.
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Send via email from reader BK:
Marriott will be re-flagging the Sheraton in Pleasanton, CA this November. I had a recent stay here to bank some additional nights towards my Plat renewal.
The hotel has new ownership and the staff told me about the changes going from a Sheraton to an AC Hotel.
Goodbye: lounge; complimentary local shuttle van; room service; Green Choice points; lobby computers and printers. With fewer services, the hotel will need fewer employees. The hotel will get a long overdue refurbishment.
I should point out that there is a FourPoints across the street, and, Pleasanton has three other Marriott properties: Courtyard; Marriott; Residence Inn. Within seven miles from this hotel, there are two more Residence Inns and two more Courtyards. Seem overkill. But, I suspect Marriott wanted to introduce a new flavor in a saturated market of featureless Marriotts.
I imagine more SPGs (specifically Sheratons) will be re-flagged to cut costs. This is the start with the loss of amenities to fit the Marriott footprint$.
This is what I was told by the hotel and it’s also on AC’s website as “Iberico ham.” I don’t know ham well enough to ID it properly, but I have to say it was mighty tasty 🙂 http://achotels.marriott.com/about-ac-hotels
Haven’t stayed at Marriott’s version but looks like the same concept as Startwoods ALoft and Hilton’s Tru.
Are you sure it was Jamon Iberico they were serving? Was it attached to the black hoof? We’re they knowledgeable enough to know what they were actually serving. (E.g. Pouring Champange that’s from California is not actually Champange). That is the top line ham and most expensive one, so I find it hard to believe they would serve that vs. other popular types/styles that are more affordable, such as Serrano. I stayed in an AC in Barcelona and based on the price point and style of this chain it is not at the high end and their breakfast while decent was not on the same level as a full service Hilton or Marriott.
Have stayed at AC Hotels in Barcelona and Gava Mar. Loved them both. Can’t wait to try them in the US.
I very much enjoyed the location across from Mall of America last week. It was my fourth Marriott brand in a row (hello, MegaBonus!) and leaps and bounds better than the three prior nights. Interestingly, it was also the least expensive of the bunch and the only one where I was upgraded to a suite. I was extremely pleased with the experience and would highly recommend them. Although I otherwise enjoy SPG properties, I don’t like Aloft much at all (I refer to it as an IKEA dorm). However, the new parent has done a far superior job with both AC and Moxy, making them cool, comfortable, and relevant. I’m hoping Aloft will be updated significantly (or converted to one of these better brands) once the rest of the merger evens out. Sidenote: the AC living room sink is the first time I’ve experienced a garbage disposal in a property other than an extended stay brand. It’s quite fascinating considering there’s not a kitchen or cooking space, but maybe they think guests will be squeezing fruit for cocktails and put the limes down the drain! 🙂
Platinums get a $10 certificate for food (which could also work for tapas at night).
After staying multiple nights in other Marriott properties with doors, I was greatly my final night was in an AC with the sliding door. So much more room! Not to mention the bathroom itself was much more spacious than the other brands. I agree that’s it can be less than ideal in some instances with multiple people in the room. I was in a suite at the last AC, so I was in a separate bedroom (with a sliding door between it and the living room). My friend sleeping on the sofa bed was getting up before dawn for a flight, and thankfully the noise didn’t awaken me at all. So even though it was sliding, the door seemed to work fine to buffer the sound between the living room and the bedroom.
Unless I was travelling solo, the sliding glass panel between the room and the bathroom would be enough to keep me from booking here. Honestly, does anyone prefer a glass panel to a bathroom door?
I have found AC hotels a lot nicer than Aloft but I’m yet to stay at one in the States. Admittedly only stayed in an Aloft once – in Charlotte – and did not like it at all. I stayed at delightful AC’s in Berlin and London. Looking forward to my first US test of the AC in Madison, WI in a few weeks.
It looks like an upscale Aloft with a much nicer breakfast.
I was curious what AC was since I can see the one in downtown San Jose from Highway 87. Now, I know!
AC’s in north america are already much nicer. Those in Spain are really ….. basic.