A Note on Where We Stayed

This may be the first post I've written where I can't recommend the hotel we stayed in.

We traveled to the Virginia Highlands area of Atlanta on Tuesday to tour the Michael C. Carlos Musuem. I had been debating about staying the night, but saw what was described as a boutique hotel nearby offering a reasonable rate.

I waited until Tuesday morning to book the room at The Highland Inn, and my first clue should have been I didn't get an automatic confirmation. It came through my e-mail and when it did, it mentioned there were no elevators in the hotel, just stairs. I didn't recall reading that on the website, but knew it was possible I might have overlooked that part.

Once we pulled onto the street, and I saw the hotel sign, I knew we were in trouble. On Sunday I asked a friend who knows the area well if she'd ever heard of the hotel.

"Does it have a red sign?" she asked with an apprehensive look.

When I pulled it up on my phone to show her what was pictured, the sign was white.

"I don't guess that's what I was thinking of," she said.

Guess what color the sign was when I arrived?

Yep, red.

I found a parking spot around the corner, and as I was unloading, a kind 20-something woman told me she'd be happy to help me up the hill with our stuff. She saw I had children with me and mentioned there were some "sketchy people" hanging around the corner.

Then we go to check in and the signs at the front desk were not encouraging. There was a note stating if a GPS was visible in your car, you were asking to have it broken into. Even worse, when I asked the clerk if I could leave my bags at the counter while I ran and got the GPS, he said yes, but not to leave them in sight of the front door.

Another sign instructed anyone entering after a certain time to present their key to proceed past the front desk.

Of course our room ended up being on the second floor, and the front desk clerk made no attempt to help me up the stairs with my luggage. Even though I packed light because we were staying only one night - thank goodness - it was still difficult to manage everything plus helping Mattie maneuver the stairs.

I assume that not having an elevator is what makes the owners feel they can market the place as a "European-style boutique hotel."

I should point out that there were plenty of people walking around on the streets. Women walking dogs. Parents strolling young children. However, I could not shaking the feeling of discomfort while at the hotel.

The best thing about the place is that it is about a block away from The Majestic Diner. Diner and breakfast are all you have to say for me to come running, and we had a fabulous breakfast before heading home Wednesday morning.