rsidhu

I'm attending a conference next week and staying at the Sheraton Atlanta Downtown. Based on the reviews on tripadvisor it's not a highly recommended hotel, but that's where the conference is being held so I'm staying there. Could someone recommend restaurants and shops around the hotel? I won't have a car but am willing to take public transportation. Thanks in advance!

xrae

Will you be going out by yourself or with a group? I stayed at this hotel for a conference a few years ago and it's actually not that far from restaurants. I wouldn't walk unless I was in a group, but that's just me. I think downtown Atlanta's hilly topography is deceiving at times. I even walked from Georgia Dome to the hotel in 3" heels one evening! (Not a recommended daily activity).

stumpworks73

The aquarium is an easy walk. The Art Museum is a short cab ride. Lennox Square and Phipps Plaza shopping is an easy MARTA ride. The CNN tour is a short walk.

Pay attention to the after dark advise. Downtown Atlanta is not safe.

padams421

Downtown Atlanta is just like most other major urban cities. I would not categorize it as unsafe but you need to use common sense and good judgment in wandering around after dark.

rsidhu

Thanks for the advice. I just got back from staying at the Sheraton Atlanta for a conference. Since the conference was held in the Sheraton, I didn’t have a choice but to stay there. I just wanted to add my impression of the hotel and surrounding area in hopes that it might help someone else. I couldn’t find much info on the hotel other than the really bad ratings on tripadvisor!

I would like to begin by commenting on how friendly the locals are. They were so nice and always eager to help. I never had any issues with finding my way. They were so polite.

The hotel is about a 20 min taxi ride from the airport. I stayed in room 538, which was tiny and so was the bathroom. The room was quite dusty and was showing its age. The bed was extremely comfortable and the lighting in the room was adequate.

The hotel facilities are pretty good. The gym was nice with new equipment and large plasma TVs. There is an outdoor pool but I didn’t see many people in the water. The late night bar/restaurant was full every night but that may have been due to the conference.

We took the MARTA to go shopping at Perimeter Mall, Lennox Square, and Atlanta Station. There was always someone at the MARTA station to help travelers with buying tickets and to answer questions. We went to a couple of restaurants that were walking distance from the hotel. We walked to Daily’s, which is an upscale steakhouse and also had dinner/drinks at the top of the Westin. I highly recommend both.

Hope this helps!

sailors1st

How far is the Sheraton from the Downtown Hilton? My conference is at the Hilton but Hotwire looks like it only has a couple hotels that are 3.5 stars besides the Hilton so I thought I would try that if I wasn't risking being too far away.