Can a city have to many hotels? Can a neighborhood have to many LUXURY hotels? Well, that's a question asked around Midtown Atlanta these days!

First, we had condominium buildings everywhere we looked, and now it's hotels...and not your roadside, pull up in front of the room, plastic cups wrapped in plastic kinda motels....

....these new guys will set you back a few Ben Franklins' for a night. And you can bet you won't be parking your Mercedes in front of your room!

Currently, there are 2 luxury properties in Midtown in operation:

The Four Seasons Hotel is the ultimate in luxury, and features 244 guest rooms and suites, a spa, fine dining and more. This building also has Above The Four Seasons, which are condominium residences.

The W Hotel Midtown Atlanta was recently converted from the former Sheraton Colony Square Hotel...and is quite the "hot spot" in Midtown Atlanta! This was no simple conversion...the cost was around $100,000 PER ROOM! Considering the hotel has 467 rooms, you could of almost built a new one for that...but probably not in this location, where it's part of the Colony Square Office complex.

And, Coming Soon To A Corner Near You....

Hotel Palomar Atlanta will open in Early 2009 on West Peachtree Street at 7th Street. Convenient to the many major law firms in Midtown Atlanta, as well as Georgia Tech, Hotel Palomar was to have been topped off with luxury condos (imagine that concept) but that was scratched before construction began.

Along with 304 guest rooms, the hotel will feature 10,000 sq.ft. of meeting space. The original plans called for a totally cool pool bar concept that would be open to the public (what the guests will think of that?) in the area to the left of the tower...not sure if that is still going to be. Valet Parking at this hotel will be a nightmare...as the valet has to drive 4 blocks from the front door of the hotel to the garage entrance, since both Abercrombie Place and West Peachtree are one-way streets! Hmmmm...

The Lowes Midtown Atlanta is scheduled to open in 2010 with 414 rooms, 24,000 sq.ft. of meeting space, spa, lobby bar, restaurant and...wait...are you ready.... 60 luxury condominiums on the top of the building!  It will be an awesome building/hotel, but could face some real challenges is the proposed HUGE nightclub opens directly across from their front entrance. (Might not be such a quiet night sleep after all)

Here is the rendition of the building, the Lowes being on the right and the 1010 Midtown Condominium Residences on the left.

A side note....1010 Midtown started closings this past week. I've not been inside the building since a hard hat tour, but will be there Tuesday Nov 18 for a Broker event and then the Grand Opening is on Thursday. Pictures to follow!

I've heard the amenities level/pool is suppose to be awesome!

Have also heard they have only sold 35 of 400+ units!

Even the new owners of the Bank of America Plaza are considering converting several floors of office space to a luxury hotel. Hmmm.

Then....as if we don't have enough, It was announced by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Atlanta-based Tivoli Properties that they plan to build the ultra-luxury hotel and residences at 1138 Peachtree Street, just North of the Lowes and 1010 Midtown. (In fact, almost across the street from Lowes.) The hotel will have 198 rooms and be topped by 71 condominiums (imagine that) ranging in price from $1.8-$15 million! Tivoli President and CEO Scott Leventhal said the company already has 19 condo reservations, buyers being both local and from overseas. The building will have four restaurants and bars, and the lobby will be on the 30th Floor. I've seen early plans for this building and this maybe the lobby for BOTH the hotel and condos. Or the hotel lobby maybe on the ground level.

Once started (note, once started) it will take about 30 months to build the 53-story glass skyscraper, meaning an opening would not happen before early 2011. This project was first announced back in March 2007 in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and about the same time, Mandarin Oriental moved it's development office to Midtown Atlanta.

So if your travel plans in the coming year include a visit to Atlanta, and especially Midtown Atlanta, you are going to have some swanky places to rest your wear feet after a busy day of meetings or playing tourist.

If you feel so inclined to make your stay more permanent, please feel free to contact The Thom And Ray Team....we'd be happy to assist you in purchasing one of these "suites in the sky."