Three New W Hotels

Three new W Hotels are scheduled to open in Atlanta this year. These Atlanta hotels will open in Buckhead, Downtown and Midtown. The Buckhead location will open this fall with 291 rooms and 7,000-square-feet of meeting space.

This December, a 237-room W hotel with 75 condominiums will open in the Ivan Allen Plaza.

The new midtown location for W Hotel is the current Sheraton Colony Square Hotel. This Sheraton will re-open as a sophisticated W Hotel this May

Hotel Indigo

In addition to the W hotel opening this December, a second Hotel Indigo, owned by Intercontinental Hotels Group will also open its doors on Ellis Street. Hotel Indigo uses colors and scents to create ambiance in its hotels.

Luxurious Mansion

Also next month, the Mansion, a luxury hotel with 126 rooms and a 15,000-square-foot spa is scheduled to open.

In 2009 two more Atlanta hotels, the Regis and the Hilton are scheduled for development in Buckhead and a new 450 million tower will be built at 1075 Peachtree Street.

What do you think about the new development in Atlanta?

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler

So, I think that we are looking at higher airline tickets, but I’m just speculating on that one. Pilots (probably Northwest) were complaining that the deal could interfere with their seniority.Delta employees are getting a stake in both shares of the airlines and greater job security, so says corporate. It sounds like they are pretty much such during these, ugh, tough economic times. Good deal.

What this Means to You

The press release states that:

Customers also will benefit from the combined carriers’ complementary route networks, which together will offer people greater choice, competitive fares and a superior travel experience to more cities than any other airline. In addition, combining Delta and Northwest will create a global U.S. flag carrier strongly positioned to compete with foreign airlines that are continuing to increase service to the United States.

It’s clear that the airline will benefit the global market which may translate to more global destinations departing from its Atlanta hub. International offices for the airlines will be located in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Paris.

Routes to Asian Destinations/Caribbean

Northwestern is bringing its strong alliances with Asian markets to the table. Apparently, the press release said, Northwestern has a stronghold on Asian flights, while Delta has more flights to the Caribbean than Northwestern. Fellow travelers, get your passports ready. Hopefully, we can all still afford to travel. People usually eliminate travel and eating out during a recession.

Flying Comforts

According to a press release and commentary by the Cranky Flier, personal entertainment and lie flat seats will be standard on all flights. Thank goodness for that one!

What do you all think about the merge? Do you think that we’ll see more jobs? Higher ticket prices? Lower ticket prices? Better service or poorer services? What do you think that the merge will mean for Atlanta?

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler

How they Discovered the Body

During the clean up, someone saw the man’s hand sticking out, and from there, they uncovered his body, the news report said. There had been searches with dogs that can sniff out cadavers, but this man was found just recently. When I saw pictures of the damages, I thought it was hard to believe that no one at all had been killed in the tornado. I, however, hoped for the best.

His Identity is Unknown

Although there was a report on what he was wearing, he was casually dressed, his identity was not established. So, we don’t know if the man was a tourist who was in town for a conference or if he was an Atlanta native. I feel for anyone who was killed in that way, and I hope that poor man didn’t feel any pain. I wish that we had not had any fatalities as a result of that awful storm, and I feel that any person killed is a tremendous loss to our community.  Authorities had not found any other bodies.

Where were You During the Tornado?

Were you in Atlanta during the tornado? Where did you go to seek shelter? Were you afraid, or did you think that it was a a typical storm? What was your experience? I’d like to hear from you! I’d appreciate your comments.

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler

Speaking of history, a funny, touching play, revolving around five women who are impacted by Coretta Scott King is performing in Little Five Points. In the play, the women are viewing Corett’a body in state and find hope through their encounter. The play, performed at  Seven Stages Theater, will continue through February 24.

 Specific showtimes are:

Monday, January 21 8pm
Thursday, January 24, January 31, February 7, February 14 10am
Saturday, January 26 2pm
Wednesday, January 30, February 6, and February 13 at 6pm

 Tickets are  $25 with a $5 discount for seniors, teachers, and students.

Photo Credit: Photo taken by Claudine Williams of a portrait of Coretta Scott King

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler

 Tourists, commuters, and business travelers who do not live in the city, but use the city’s services will help foot the city’s water bill, keeping the average cost for Atlanta City residents reasonable. The theory is that if the sales tax does not pass, Atlanta residents are likely to see an increase in their water and sewer bills, yet the current sales tax will drop to 7%.  If the tax passes, the sales tax in the City of Atlanta will, for the next four years, remain at 8% for most products that you buy. The sales tax first passed back in 2004 and is up for renewal on Tuesday’s ballot. There are some items, like school lunches, medical items, cars, and WIC products which will not be taxed, according to a Southwest Atlanta (SWATS e-mail). The e-mail continued that the MOST raised about $332 million thus far, which has helped deter officials from having to impose anticipated water and sewer rate increases.

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler

Delta Air Lines, Atlanta’s own airline, finally acquired approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to offer non-stop flights between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Shanghai, China beginning March 30, 2008. The petition was filed in January earlier this year. Previous applications were also filed in 2000 and 2005 but were denied.

Delta’s application was heavily supported by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue who said,:

“Investors, businesses, CEOs and those board members like to be close to where the investment is,” he said.

For the state’s coastal area, strengthening business ties with Chinese companies could lead to more activity at the ports where most of the ships already coming or going to Asia. Sixty percent of the ports’ business already is with Asia, with the overall exports and imports balanced.

“We have more direct shipping services to and from China than any other port on the East Coast,” said Robert Morris, director of external affairs for the Georgia Ports Authority. “However, there still is not a direct flight to and from China. This would help complete the picture.”

This is definitely good news for the city but mostly for Delta which had to battle years of financial distress (they just came out of bankruptcy in April) and an attempted hostile buyout from US Airways. It is expected that the new route could bring in $250 Million per year for Delta.

Delta plans to use their Boeing 777 for the new route. Boeing 777s came out in the mid 90s — 1995 to be exact. I remember the first time I ever rode a 777. It was shortly after they came out.  I was aboard an EgyptAir flight (Asia-Middle East route). My jaw literally dropped and all I could say about this magnificent, massive aircraft was: WOW! However, I couldn’t stop praying the entire flight — please don’t let this aircraft have any malfunctions… please don’t let us get shot down!!!

Post from: The Atlanta Traveler