This past weekend of July 28, 2023, I visited the uniquely cozy and welcoming Live/Stay property located in the Sandy Springs area of Georgia. Right outside of Atlanta. I seriously enjoyed my stay. It's in close proximity to the Perimeter Mall. Multiple metro rail stations. And cool eateries in strolling or Lyft distance. I love the courtyard. And the staff. They are resourceful and genuine. HARD WORKING TOO!! Front Desk Nazeema is warm. Very welcoming! So is Andre. He's funny! 😁 Maintenance guy was on his phone, but he was working I guess. Never made eye contact. Housekeeping ladies were great. Each one noticed me. I thought that was cool. AND THEN, there was Michael. The Houseman. He really made my day and the rest of the week that I'm having right now. When the morning came, I was down a bit about some personal stuff and outside, smoking cigarettes like stressing away. And here comes Michael, three trash bags, head on a swivel greeting a guest down the way from where I was sitting. Smiling like he was carrying cake. 😂😂 As he approached to walk past me, he stared right at me and said Great morning. I replied Good Morning. He then said, no, Great Morning. Because good is the enemy of great! We can all be good, let's be great! That hit me right in the chest. I've needed to hear that for years. I've paid high ranking people to teach me, but that some spoke volumes. He then continued to work, while still talking me, as I continued back to my room. As the next two days went by. I really appreciated what he said and how he said it to me. He was so soft spoken and innocent in his speech. It was like a humble giant, although he's an average height fellow. 😁 Really kind and inclusive. He reallly loves his coworkers. It's like it's not even work to him. It's like he's helping his sisters get things done. He'll run and jump for those ladies and he doesn't mind showing it. I wanted to tip him, just because he goes above and beyond, but he instead asked that I give it to a housekeeping member with a push cart instead. That in itself blew my mind. He said to me, rewards aren't for him, they're for the people who pay attention to the noise. He's just here to make people like me happy and comfortable while we visit one of Water Walks hidden gems in the home people like him have grown in, love, and cherish. I say that to say, it really broke my heart to see him talked to, yelled at, and stalked by some other coworker whom was clearly bigger and rude towards Michael. Michael was clearly defeated by this creep who wouldn't stop charging towards Michael. Had some lady whom was standing between them had not been there, that guy may have hurt Michael. And Michael was just telling the dude he was wrong. But the big guy had to be heard and he had to be loud. I wanted to step in and help Michael, but the guy was big. At least 5”11-6'1 , 220+ lbs. Michael's maybe, 5'7, 150+ lbs. Really broke my heart to see Michael attacked like that. Jabar, Jabbar, maybe Jamal is w
I have stayed here several times and this is probably my best pick for NE Atlanta area with a large mini-fridge. I don't think they have efficiencies(kitchenette). Rooms are well maintained. Upgrades have nicer artistic furniture. Pool closed over winter months.
We were supposed to stay for a week, but checked out after the first night. Upon arrival at 5p (check in starts at 4p), we found a lobby full of waiting guests and were told that rooms were not ready yet. 2 hours later, we were finally checked in - at 7pm! The lobby still had at least 4 more families still waiting. The staff offered a measly ”sorry for the wait” but that was about it. No one was offered water or anything to drink, nothing to eat, etc while we waited for hours. In fact, one of the staff began complaining to her co-worker that she was going to quit the evening shift because she's tired of the guests being impatient and not understanding. Like WE were the problem. Hilton members who had used the app to check in were no exception. Still had to wait like everyone else. And nothing offered as compensation. When we finally did get to our room, it was pretty bad. The hotel is old and outdated, with stained carpet throughout the hallways, chipped furniture, dirty A/C units and gross bathrooms. Our room had a very strong, pungent smell of pinesol, lysol, and mold/mildew. It was so strong that both of us in the room got headaches after about an hour. Mine turned into a migraine. By morning, I was also stuffy and congested, mist likely from the mold they are obviously trying to mask with this disinfectant smell. Because we got into our room so late and many hotels in the area were unavailable, we stayed this first night but I had already booked another hotel for the rest of the week and we left by 7am. I went to the front desk to check out but no one was there & we had somewhere to be in the morning so I couldn't wait around. I decided I'd check out on the app and we left. The app wouldn't allow the check out since we were leaving 6 days early, so I tried calling the front desk. It went to voicemail so I left a message with my name, room number and the reasons we were checking out. I called 2 additional times that morning, both went to voicemail. After not hearing from anyone, I began dealing with Hilton customer service. It took Hilton 2 additional DAYS to reach someone and after leaving on Sunday, I finally received a receipt on Tuesday evening showing I had checked out 2 days prior. Still never heard from a live person from the hotel. This was an awful experience. We were there for 12 hours and were miserable every second of it. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place at all costs.