Mandarin Oriental Atlanta

Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta, Georgia 
$395 +
August 2016


Oh, Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta, I have such high expectations for you.  My last Mandarin experience - at Mandarin Oriental, Washington, DC - was phenomenal and I am anticipating this one to be equally enjoyable.

Maybe the visit is askew from the beginning.

I have a 2-hour time change and late hour of arrival.  I land around 11pm at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the new E terminal, which is really nice, actually.  That airport is usually a nightmare, but the E terminal is newly renovated, clean, and airy, so it seems like a good start. 

My husband calls the Mandarin to verify that the rollaway bed we requested for our son is in our room. The Mandarin employee sounds annoyed and is curt, at best.  Since she cuts my polite husband off and does not answer all of his questions, I call back and speak with the same woman. Again, there is no kindness, no 'please', no 'thank you', no 'let me check that for you', or anything of that nature.  I hang up feeling put-off and unwelcome.

Huh.  This is the Atlanta "hospitality" I remember and was hoping to evade at the Mandarin.

The Mandarin, Atlanta is located in Buckhead behind Del Frisco's Grille, which is a great location.  The approach is pretty, set off of Peachtree Street, with a brick circular driveway.  My first impression is that the hotel is really tall. (Turns out, it's the 12th tallest building in Atlanta.)

Exterior of the Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta

Upon entering, the hotel smells nice. You walk through a short hallway lined with lovely, Asian-inspired flower arrangements (anything with orchids, these days).  The hall dead-ends at an interesting, color-saturated painting.  

To the right is a rectangular room set perpendicular to the hallway, where you'll find reception, the concierge, and a side table for coffee and tea.
To the left is a sitting room with a coffee table and four chairs.
To the left of the sitting room is the restaurant, which is a skinny rectangle set perpendicularly to the rooms I just described.

Dead-end art work and table

Sitting Area with table and chairs for four, looking through to the restaurant

Hallway artwork and table with flowers

Hotel Reception

Small, choppy spaces with high ceilings.  My husband suggests the internal shape is an H and the design may be reminiscent of a stately southern home. Hmmm.  We'll go with that.

Our arrival and check-in go smoothly enough. The woman we spoke with on the phone is stationed at the reception desk (her facial expressions confirm it's her) but we have the good fortune to be helped by someone else.  Maybe because of the late hour, there is no offer to familiarize us with the hotel or its amenities even though we've never stayed in here before.

We are directed behind the lively painting (where the entry hall dead-ends) to the elevators. Another small, choppy space.

Our hotel room is decorated tastefully in muted tones. 

The TV is set to a Mandarin Oriental ad with music, playing too loudly.  

The bed looks serene and is embellished with a live orchid bloom. That's a nice touch.

 

Cookies, minus 2 eaten by my son before I could snap a photo.

There is a plate of cookies and a note to welcome us to the hotel.  My son gobbles up the cookies, so I am not able to comment on them other than to say their offering is making me feel a little warmer toward this place.

Even though this is a base room, it feels more like a suite, I think because of the layout more than the size.  

Entry, looking at the door to the exterior hall.

There is a long(ish) hallway containing two closets, drawers, countertop space, and the mini bar. Ample storage, which I do appreciate.

Minibar in the hallway, more below.

The bathroom is large, with a soaking tub, big shower, and separate commode.  My son would like me to point out that it also has a television (although I don't think he knows that TV stands for 'television').

Soaking tub; the black bag to the left of the TV is the hairdryer so, at my height, you have to climb into the tub to retrieve it.  Thankfully (sarcasm) the maids return it to its spot every time they clean the room.

Vanity without storage beneath

Beautiful, large shower

Bathroom vanity

The layout of the room is strange to me. Once you enter the main room, there is a lounging space with a smallish chair and ottoman, for one person only.

Lounging area with seating for one

There's a desk directly across from the bed (in a king-size bed room, anyway) which I found a bit tight to pass by comfortably. (As an aside, there are multiple plugs on the desk, which we immediately filled. There are plugs on only one side of the bed, however, which means I can keep my phone next to me at night but my husband, who usually plugs his iPhone in by his side, as well, could not, obviously ;)  On the other side of the desk was an ugly air register and an empty space.

Desk across from king sized bed. To the left is the ugly air register and dead space, where the first roll-away was placed.

After settling in and upon closer inspection, the room feels a little icky. There are many obvious stains on the carpet (which I neglected to photograph), fingerprints on handles,  and who-knows-what splatters in the bathroom by the sink and on the wall across from the commode.

I wish I brought my antibacterial wipes.  Not what I expect at a hotel of this caliber.

Splatters on the wall by the bathroom sink

Splatters (?) on the wall by the commode

Fingerprints on the commode door handle and beaten up door

Honestly, I thought I may have judged this room and hotel harshly since my first impression(s) had been less than stellar, but the splatters and stains push me over the edge.  Regardless how the the rest of this trip goes, I do not want to stay here again.

Time for bed, and my son is on the roll-away. This has not been a problem at the Four Seasons (name one and it was fine) or at the Residences at the Little Nell in Aspen which had THE MOST comfortable roll-away in the world ever; it's only a problem at places I would expect a cot instead of a bed. But here at the Mandarin in Atlanta, it's a rollaway, which is a single bed, not a cot, so we're good. . . Or not.  Almost verbatim, these are my eleven year old son's cries after lying down: "I can't sleep here! I feel trapped! The bed is noisy (squeaks), and it's tilted! Ugh! It's so hard! My shoulder hurts! (He was lying on his side.) This is like sleeping on a bed of rocks with a sheet over them!"

I call down for a different rollaway. The man I speak with tells me the next bed will likely be the same but he would send another up, anyway, if I wanted.
His prediction is correct.

Roll-away bed.
You can see it has lumps and crevices.

A pleasant surprise - the king-sized bed that my husband and I sleep on is plenty comfortable.  The blackout shades close perfectly. The room i quiet and cold. My husband and I both sleep great. And is not that the main goal of staying in a hotel - a good night's sleep?  Finally, the Mandarin is a success!

The only "sleep" issues for me are that the light switches light up and are distracting (I'm light-sensitive), but I am able to face the other way, keeping my eyes averted while I sleeping. Also, there is what I named 'the shelf of death' next to my side of the bed.  I think the staff pulls it out to show the guest that there is more space to use on the nightstand.  For me, it is a hard, sharp-edged object jutting out unexpectedly in the dark when I get up to use the restroom.  Fortunately, it retracts.

'Shelf of Death' jutting out beneath the nightstand (holding a glass) next to the master bed.

Good morning, sunshine. Time to rise and shine and shower!

I am always interested in new bath products. Oh, wait. There's no body wash in the shower. Pain in the rear to get out of the shower all wet, to search, and grab the hand soap because I'm cold and dripping everywhere.

And we're back in this alternate universe that is the Mandarin. (I later locate the body wash on the far side of the bathtub, which I can only retrieve by climbing into the bathtub.  BTW, I've lost interest in the bath products.)

Wet towel hung on the only towel bar in the bathroom.  Now the person showering has to yell to someone to bring him a fresh towel so he doesn't have to wander around nude and wet retrieving it.

After showering, I realize there is nowhere to hang up my wet towel, or my son's or husband's wet towels.  There is exactly one hook in the bathroom (with a bathrobe hanging on it) and one bath towel bar (with a clean towel on it) but plenty of wall space where towel bars or hooks could go.  Another annoyance about this hotel, and I've only showered so far this morning.

Plenty of wall space for another hook or towel bar

Also annoying is that I am the perfect height for the magnifying mirror - a nice addition to the bathroom - to stick out into my face while I am getting ready.  If the arm could contract and sit flush against the wall, it would be perfect.  But it cannot.

Magnifying mirror that sticks out in your face

Lastly, the vanity is nice but there is only a skinny drawer for storage for my makeup bag or other toiletries for the family.  Where there IS free counter space is along the bathtub, beneath the TV.  That means climbing in and out of the tub to get my stuff.  No thank you.

Breakfast is served until eleven and we arrive at 10:30.  (Sorry, I can't tell you when it starts; NOT a morning person!)  People are seated in the restaurant and eating, so we stand at the entrance and expect a hostess to appear...eventually.  Nope.

We manage to get ourselves seated, anyway, and are greeted by a sweet, female server who reveals herself to be clueless, ill-trained or just bad at her job.  She leaves the table at every comment, at every question, at every delivery, without finishing taking an order all the way through. Although she has a subtle accent, she clearly speaks and understands English, so a language barrier is not the problem.

Nevertheless, our breakfast is ordered and delivered.

Breakfast table at the hotel restaurant

Relief.  The eggs-over-medium are cooked to perfection. The offerings of turkey bacon and chicken sausage were nice menu options, and they are delicious. My oatmeal is fluffy and light.  Another Mandarin success. (Hallelujah!)

I'm ready to view this hotel with new eyes in the light of day and a full stomach. I schedule my husband a haircut. I mean, I try to schedule a haircut. No barber in the salon. Oh, well.

A word about the spa: Since no hotel employee offers a tour of amenities or mentions the spa, I discover on my own that it must be up the stairs that are set off from the seating area outside the restaurant. It looks like there's a separate elevator set off to the other side of that area to reach the spa, as well.  This is a good setup if the goal is to keep access to the salon private; not a good setup if you want the salon to be enticing to visitors.

Alas, I am never enticed to climb those stairs or sneak onto that elevator.  None of us will be visiting the spa this trip. Nor will I ever see the workout facilities, pool, spa, courtyard or anything else there may be to make our stay more pleasant.

At this time, I'll add that I've been told the Mandarin in Atlanta is a hotspot for locals to do a stay-cation. Maybe the spa and other amenities really are ALL that, but I'll never be able to tell you.  I'll also add that there are residences at this hotel. During vacations, I often think how wonderful it would be to live in a luxury hotel; this place leaves me wondering why anyone would live here (given the cost).

I'll be brief about the rest of my stay because I think you are getting the picture well enough.

The wifi is spotty, at best.  The service at the restaurant the next morning makes the prior morning's seem like perfection.  Also, there are splatters of food on the walls of the restaurant both days, so this is obviously the standard everywhere in this hotel.

What I can say that is good about the Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta, is that the valets are the friendliest, most courteous people I've encountered in Atlanta.  And I lived there for 35 years, so that's saying a lot.  The valets are a delight to interact with every time and the best part about staying  at this hotel.

The little bar at the end of the restaurant is a nice place to sit.  The service is friendly and impeccable; the drinks are good (about $14 for a cocktail, which seems reasonable for a place like this).  There is an outdoor area with bar service that is probably nice to relax in, as well.

Hotel bar

And the hotel management is generous.  They comped our 2nd breakfast voluntarily because the service was so awful, as well as some of our bar tab to make up for other interactions that were not up to Mandarin Oriental standards.

Even though the stay turned out well at the end and hotel management tried to make things right, overall experience at the Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta, was too disappointing and frustrating for me to give it another try.  I will, however, try another Mandarin location.

I am really curious to know if you have stayed at this Mandarin Oriental and what your experience was like. I really would love to hear about it.  (I hope it was better than mine!)

As always, I appreciate you reading my blog!

~ The Pampered Wife