Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead

I am a Hilton Diamond Elite member and have stayed at numerous Waldorf properties around the world and look forward to the new Osaka property in October. Typically, the experience and facilities are stellar, but the Waldorf Buckhead is a disappointing exception. I spent one night as a much-needed staycation on Aug 31. I had not been to the property since it was the Mandarin Oriental. One of the reasons I chose this property over a Bonvoy hotel as. platinum member was my memory of the spa, once the nicest hotel spa in the city. After checking in, I ventured down and snagged the last massage appt but had an hour to enjoy the men’s wet area which used to be amazing. To my regret, the steam room was not working, two of the three showers were not working (one with the shower handle totally missing), all of the soap dispensers in the showers and dressing area were empty, and I did not see an attendant in the area the entire time. I tried to enjoy the whirlpool, but the other guest there was playing videos at full volume. Needless to say, the experience only stressed me out more. Luckily my massage was good, but when I returned to the dressing area, my locker wouldn’t open and was broken. I was able to go outside and wait for a staff member who eventually sent someone to open it. However, they did not confirm my identity or combination. Glad the “spa” was empty. While in the spa, I did try the chat feature with the hotel, but no one ever replied back. Later, I left for dinner but has to wait 30 mins for my car to be brought up. There was a long line of cars to be parked, and I finally flagged down a valet who informed me it was coming but may be a while longer due to being understaffed. One good thing was Megan (I think) from the front desk who saw my frustration and asked what room I was in. When I told her, she replied that she was trying to respond to my chat from the spa but was just too busy. She apologized and offered to send a treat up to my room later, which she did. I appreciated the gesture. My room was nice enough but has not been touched from the previous two hotels. The sink backed up every time I used it, and the water provide was Dasani, not a five star brand! I has breakfast before I departed and ordered the avocado toast, one of my faves. It looked beautiful and tasty, but imagine my surprise to find it served on cranberry and raisin bread! It also has honey or something sweet drizzled over the top, and it was simply inedible. If I had wanted dessert, I would have gone to Krispy Kreme! Overall, this was an extremely disappointing stay, and the facilities are in great need of TLC, especially the spa which needs a complete overhaul. I think the hotel should just become a standard Hilton with these issues, not to mention being removed from AmEx Fine Hoteis. Never again!

My dream was to stay in the Waldorf Astoria just for one night, and I loved it. Bey was in town, and my daughter wanted to go, so I decided to treat to the Waldorf. If you want to be pampered, this is the place. Leave your man at home because Valet will treat you like a Queen. The front desk was excellent, and the room service and food was top tier. Loved it....

Perhaps the location is snake bit since it has been a Rosewood and Mandarin before Hilton converted to its WA brand. Nice physical location (e.g., reasonably modern rooms, interesting design, well-maintained landscaping, pleasant bar and restaurant, full featured gym, etc). The staff are all super enthusiastic and eager to please. The problem is they have not been trained and there is not enough of them. If this was another Hilton brand (Hilton Garden Inn or DoubleTree), all would be fine, but Hilton is positioning this against Ritz and Four Seasons and as such, this is not good enough. Stayed at the Four Seasons in Midtown the following week and the difference in staff training and availability is stark. Yes, the 4S is more expensive than the WA, but what’s the value proposition of the WA: eager, yet mediocre service to save a few hundred bucks while you try not to notice? I understand the summer is the slow season for Atlanta, but if Hilton wants to operate WA as a halo brand, then it needs to adequately staff and train. If not, put a Hilton Garden Inn or DoubleTree sign on it and run it as a nice, middle of the road hotel in a good location. Would not recommend spending your money on it, but if on an expense account, go nuts.

I wanted to take a moment to recognize your amazing staff. Upon checking in (early), Madisson was so kind and graciously upgraded my stay to a junior suite. I wanted to take a moment to recognize her commitment to stellar customer service. And, I would be remiss if I did not also mention how welcoming and extremely helpful the entire valet staff was! They flawlessly manage the very hectic check-in/check-out rush hours without missing a beat, and again, with absolutely stellar service. Thank you for a wonderful stay.

I would be lying if I said my stay went as seamlessly as I had hoped. I reserved a junior suite to spend my wedding night at this past weekend. After making the reservation (through Amex FHR), I called the property to let them know that I would be arriving very late (after midnight) and that I was coming for my wedding night. The staff said they would do something nice for us and put something in the room. This was a great gesture and I greatly appreciated it. However, upon my arrival at the hotel, the check-in process was quite rough. I had initally selected a room in my Hilton app on the 12th floor. When we arrived, the desk staff did not really recognize my diamond or FHR status, until I brought it up. Then, they gave me a room for the 7th floor. I was a little confused, so I inquired if there were any upgrades, at which point they checked something and said that, since they have done something nice for us in the room, they can't offer an upgrade. Totally fair, and I thanked them and went up on our way. Upon arriving in the room, it was just a standard room, with no added decoration or anything. Again, this didn't really bother me, since a gift/decoration would simply be an additional perk, and nothing expected from the hotel. However, since there was nothing unique about the room, and since some of the light fixtures were flickering oddly, I decided to go back downstairs to ask if there would be an upgrade possible anyway. Kindly enough, they did offer me an upgrade on the 8th floor. However, they swapped out my keys, and didn't foresee that my now wife would be stranded on the 7th floor, since I could not get the elevator to get to the 7th floor to pick her up. I had to go back downstairs yet again for them to help me to the 7th floor. Mind you, this is about 2-3 am at this point and we are both exhausted. Nonetheless, we make it to the new, upgraded room, and it's fancy, beautiful and huge. We loved it, except for the random set of slipper that was oddly left in the bedroom (the other pair was in the closet as expected), which was strange, but not a big deal. The room was spacious and comfortable, and we slept for the night. The next morning, we wake up and try to place a breakfast order for room service, only to find that the phone in the room is not working. At this point, I am a little frustrated, since there has been multiple things that have just not quite gone smoothly as I would have hoped for a hotel of this caliber. I try to avoid going downstairs and call the hotel main line on my cell phone, try to reach the restaurant, but nothing. It all either goes unanswered, or to voicemail. I ended up having to go downstairs to order my food and to relay my disconentment, when I met Erin, the guest services manager, who really changed the experience around. Erin was wonderfully kind and understanding, and went above and beyond to make us feel like important guests. She took our breakfast order, asked the restaurant to do a little something special (they sent us balloons and roses along with the food), and took her time to listen to me explain why I had become frustrated. She was patient and gracious, and later sent us a box of wonderful chocolates with a nice note. Overall, the stay could have been marred by the somewhat disappointing check-in process, as well as little things that irked me about the room and its preparedness. Thankfully, though, Erin really took the time to make us feel valued, redeeming the entire experience. Thank you, Erin!