The Whitley, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Atlanta Buckhead — Hotel in Atlanta

I would give it a zero star for service if possible. I recently stayed at your 5 star luxury collection, The Whitley, in Atlanta and it was the worst experience I've had at a Marriott location. We stayed at the Whitley on a road trip home for our wedding mini-moon. Upon checking in, the front desk person was not very friendly. When she asked what brought us to the hotel, and my wife said our wedding mini moon, she barely acknowledged it. It was a strange encounter, especially when we showed up very excited to check in! When we got to our room, I called guest services to order two cocktails that were on the menu and the woman on the phone had no idea which drink I was talking about. I had to explain to her that it was the tequila drink on their menu. I then asked her if we could bring our dog to the restaurant, and she said she didn't know and asked someone. I then asked if we could bring our dog to the bar, she didn't know and had to ask again. She also didn't know if we could order food at the bar. For a dog friendly hotel, these seemed like pretty simple questions for the staff to know the answers to. We then went to the bar and my wife asked if a specialty cocktail, Spill the tea, and asked if it could be made with tequila instead of vodka, we were told that is not possible because the drinks are pre-made. I have never been told at a 5 star hotel the bartender would not take the time to make a drink OR could not offer a different solution. He did not suggest a different drink on the menu or share how he could make something similar. I then asked for the new fashion off you menu and was told the bar was out of Mezcal. I don't know how a 5 star hotel in Atlanta doesn't have any mezcal or again couldn't find a solution. We proceeded to order different drinks and order two appetizers. The waiter came by the table after we finished the appetizers and asked if we needed anything. I said "we would like to order the croquettes, please" and was told I never ordered the croquettes in a very rude manner. I know I didn't order the croquettes and that's why I was asking to order them. The waiter made us feel uncomfortable about ordering more food and seemed like he was taking out some frustrations he had with another table on us. When we finished our meal and tried to close out, it took about 30 minutes. The next morning around 9 am, I went to the bathroom to shower and the water was turned off. I called the front desk and the lady who answered was extremely rude to me about it. She said in a very rude voice that she was already aware. When I tried to ask her if there were multiple rooms impacted or if she knew when it would be back on (because we needed to hit the road), she was very rude and barely answered my questions. When you are staying at a luxury hotel, and you are so inconvenienced that you cannot shower or wash your hands, you expect people to be a bit nicer to you about it. The lack of water delayed us from taking showers and hitting the road for our 12 hour drive back home. I never write concerns, but everyone I spoke to except the valet, bell hop, and the breakfast hostess were extremely rude to me and could never help us. It seemed like none of the staff wanted to be there or knew what was going on. It was clear to us that the morale at The Whitley was very low, which impacted our experience. We felt uncomfortable almost every time we interacted with a staff member or more confused than before. I think we deserve at the very least to get our points reimbursed. I expect more from Marriott, in general, especially from their 5-star Luxury...

Me and my best friend came down to Atlanta for a weekend getaway from the stress and left more stressed out than when we came. I checked in Wednesday night my friend checked in Thursday morning for the Usher concert. Everything was going ok until Saturday came. We tried to order room service Saturday morning at 11:30. The hotel said that room service was available until 12. When we called we were told the kitchen was closed until 5. Ok no problem. We make Reservations to go to dinner and when we come down from our room there is secret service everywhere, sniffing dogs, police, and a metal detector and body scanner at the entrance. We ask what’s going on because all they have posted is “private event”. The staff at the front desk were completely rude and dismissive. One clerk told the other, who claimed she was the asst manager not to talk to us and tossed a hotel card at us “if we had complaints”. We tried several times to get and Uber/Lyft, which kept canceling because they were not able to get through to the hotel d/t the roads all being blocked off unless you had clearance because the hotel needed to be “sterile”. We had to cancel our reservations at our hotel and we also lost our reservation fee due to the late cancellation because we were unable to get a Uber or a Lyft to come and pick us up. We were told that we could walk a mile around that included going over a bridge and under a tunnel so that we could get to a area where Uber or Lyft could pick us up other than that they didn’t know what could be done. We were finally able to get some assistance from the general manager and the bar food manager I believe who both were very nice and were very helpful. We tried to continue with our night and get it on track. Make the best of the situation. We were finally able to get something to eat because the kitchen finally open and we said you know what we’re checking out the next day. everything should be good. Well guess what it wasn’t because we went through the exact same thing again Secret Service was steal all over the lobby. There was still a metal detector up sniffing dogs were all around. All of the rules were barricaded again with dump trucks and police vehicles and guess what guess what unable to get a Uber unable to get a lift nobody at the front desk no answer. Nobody in valet had an answer. Everybody had different answers. They actually told us to walk our luggage, the mile to area that nobody knew where the area was so that Uber or Lyft could pick us up. Luckily by the grace of God, there was a Uber driver that was dropping off a political official or somebody affiliated with the political party that was telling them they are not letting Uber or Lyft drivers through. He agreed to take us to the airport I still wind up missing my flight but here I am so I said all that to say if you are OK with being treated like the dollar that you spend at the hotel are not important because you’re not a ““VIP if you are OK with your plans being completely inconvenienced and you be in disregarded as a guest because you are not “VIP by all means please book and stay at the Whitley. The front desk staff at the Whitley last night and this morning were completely un empathetic. They completely disregarded their guest as far as their plans. They did not care about how their guests were inconvenience. Honestly, they did not care about their guest at all their attitudes were very rude and disrespectful, and I would not recommend staying at the Whitley or any affiliates of the...

This property is to be avoided at all costs. Before booking, I noticed the low rating, which should have been my signal to steer clear. Still, I figured I’d give the place a chance as I’ve seldom had a bad experience with the Luxury Collection.

Arrival and check-in was fairly seamless, and the valet collected my car and sent the luggage upstairs. I was given a complimentary suite upgrade thanks to my Marriott status, which was appreciated. It was all downhill from there.

I had just arrived in from a 10-hour flight from Europe and, exhausted, was hoping to enough a relaxed drink and dinner at the bar downstairs. Much to my surprise, I entered to find the place overflowing with hundreds (literally) of very loud and obnoxious people who I later learned were at the hotel for a conference.

OK, fine, hotels host conferences. But this was the rowdiest group I’ve ever witnessed at any property, let alone a five-star Luxury Collection hotel. The noise was off the charts and I could barely move as it was so crowded. After one drink, I gave up on any hopes of dining downstairs and ordered takeout.

The next day around 4pm or so this group once again took over the entire bar area and most of the lobby. Many of these people smelled of marijuana. I left for my evening dinner reservation around 6:30 and it took half an hour for my car to be brought around. The place was an absolute zoo full of ill-mannered people.

Later that evening around 11, I returned to find my room not made up. Before departing for the night, I confirmed with a receptionist that turndown service would be provided. She assured me it would be. So how can it be that when I called downstairs later to report that it hadn’t been done, the manager on duty informed me that the hotel doesn’t offer turndown service. What? Evidently, I was lied to. After a few sighs and rolls of the eye, they finally agreed to send housekeeping up to tidy the room.

It’s now the morning of departure, and I can’t wait to get out of here. I just went downstairs for a quick bite to eat and once again the elevators and hallways all reek of marijuana. How can this be allowed?

Perhaps the saddest part of it all is that this was once the storied Ritz-Carlton Buckhead—a hotel whose glamour and sophistication was well known far beyond Atlanta. Marriott has since stripped the place bare, re-“decorated” it with cheap and tacky furniture, and rebranded the property a Luxury Collection hotel.

Those of us who know can’t be fooled. This hotel is an embarrassment to the Luxury Collection portfolio and should be closed. I look forward to hearing from a manager as requested in an e-mail I...