Rivet House — Hotel in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

Just in case you might think I have nothing good to say about this hotel, let me start with the positive. It is a stylish repurpose of an old warehouse with great attention to interior design. Great coffee machine in room with real cups and saucers. Real drinking glasses. Robes, The bathroom in well appointed including a deluxe hairdryer and clothes steamer. Beautiful décor. That being said, function did not follow form. Lets start with the obvious. Over half of the rooms are located 30 feet from an active railroad track. Yes, a “luxury hotel” next to a railroad track! Our double king came with a white noise machine and one pair of earplugs. Actually the noise machine was not necessary because there was an incessant mechanical droning sound coming through the ceiling. I assume it was the mechanicals on the roof. We were on the third/top floor in room 316. The level of constant noise and vibration was about half that as being on a commercial airliner. The beautiful shower was spoiled by several things. The drain was so slow that you ended up standing in 4 inches of water. The water supply too the rainshower head was barely strong enough to rinse shampoo out of your hair. And last but not least, the water would not get hot enough. The bathroom in well appointed including a deluxe hairdryer and clothes steamer. It would be nice if there were actually a wall plug for them. By crawling under the vanity I was eventually able to find one. The toilet has its own privacy closet but no separate exhaust fan, The thermostat said 62 degrees but the room was too hot to sleep under the duvet. No matter what we did to the thermostat, nothing ever seemed to function with the AC system even though it said it was cooling. If you would like a glass of “still water” in the room, it will only set you back $6 dollars. There is a really nice ice bucket in the room. There are no ice machines available on the floors. Go ask the front desk! There appears to be a fair amount of parking by the side and front of the hotel. But it is for $25 a day Valet parking only. There is free parking about 200 yards away on the other side of an office building. You’ll feel that you have been exiled from the property when you use it. I don’t mind handling my own luggage and in fact prefer doing that. Hopefully you’re the same since there is no sign of staff to do this. I have read complaints that the walls are poorly soundproofed. This was only a problem our last day when we could hear the couple in the next room talking. When checking out, the front desk lady asked us how out stay was, I told her "disappointing”, to which she asked and said nothing. In summary, it’s a beautiful concept that is fatally flawed. So much detail to appearance yet highly impractical. If you are going to stay here, I recommend that you ask for a room on the second floor on the parking lot side of the building to avoid the railway line and the noise...

We recently stayed at The Rivet House in Athens for a two-night getaway between Christmas and New Year’s. Drawn by their enticing room promotions, a promising restaurant and spa, and our love for the owner’s other property, Old Edwards Inn in NC, we were excited to explore this new hotel. While there were some high points, unfortunately, the lows outweighed them, leaving us unlikely to return—except perhaps for a meal or a massage.

The Highs The Restaurant: The food was fantastic. Just a heads-up—there’s no priority seating for hotel guests, so make sure to book a reservation. We ended up sitting at the bar, which was fine but less than ideal. The Spa: Exceptional. Nathan delivered one of the best massages I’ve ever had—highly recommend booking an appointment with him. Décor: The design and aesthetics of the hotel are stunning, and you can tell great thought went into the details. Front Desk Staff: Friendly and welcoming, they made check-in and other interactions pleasant.

The Lows Noise Issues: We stayed in Room 222, a King Suite touted as the hotel’s “nicest room,” but it was incredibly loud. The suite is situated over the kitchen and shares a wall with the adjacent brewery, making sleep nearly impossible with noise continuing until 1 a.m. and starting up again at 5:30 a.m. Additionally, a train track runs just feet from the property, and while infrequent, it did wake us during the night. We moved to a third-floor room (330) for the second night, which was much quieter, but the initial experience left a poor impression. Parking: Valet parking is $25 per night, which feels excessive given the ample parking available in the area. If you choose self-parking, it’s located inconveniently far from the hotel, requiring a walk across the property. Location: The hotel is in the middle of nowhere with little to explore nearby. If you’re expecting to enjoy the charm or walkability of downtown Athens, this isn’t the place. Bar Pricing Practices: At the bar, spirits are listed without prices, which can lead to unpleasant surprises. I ordered an Angel’s Envy Rye Old Fashioned and was shocked to discover it cost $36. When I questioned the price, the bar manager was dismissive and condescending, suggesting it was my responsibility to ask the price beforehand. I was also told it was “against company policy” to print prices on the menu—a frustrating and opaque practice.

Conclusion While there were moments of excellence, especially in the restaurant and spa, the overall experience was marred by noise, inconvenient policies, and poor location. If we return, it will be for specific amenities rather than the full hotel experience. For now, we’ll stick to the charm and reliability of Old...

Overall really great experience on 12/30-31 2024 at Rivet House in Athens. Online reservation, valet, and check-in all very easy, we actually checked in early without issues. Rooms were very spacious, clean, and good amenities. The shower was wonderful, hot water and dual showerheads. Bed was comfortable and the digital thermostat was easy to use and instantly adjusted air temps coming into the room.

Dining: We dined at the attached Italian restaurant, Osteria Olio, which we absolutely loved. There are limited fine dining options in Athens, so we happily made a reservation here with our hotel booking. The hostess was gracious when we requested an alternative seat location, since we were celebrating and didn't want to be shoulder-to-shoulder with other customers. All courses were wonderful, with great appetizers, dessert, and cocktails. Our waiter (Zach) took great care of us and he absolutely deserved extra gratuity. The ambiance was great (candlelight), but get there early since it did fill up by 7pm and was very noisy once all tables were seated.

Areas for improvement: I'd say the pillows were too big/puffy, maybe they could include some different sized pillows, as they were uncomfortable and made my neck hurt, but understand that's definitely a personal preference thing. The elevator (three floors) was really slow and the engine room for it was super loud, glad our room wasn't next to the elevator. We would have used the in-room coffee maker if there were to-go cups w/lids available, but only hard ceramic coffee mugs. Same with the refrigerator, if they had been stocked with alcohol options (just waters and a couple local-brand sodas) we would have taken advantage. These are really minor things overall though.

We will be staying at Rivet/dining at Osteria again in future visits to Athens, and look forward to future improvements and...