Omni Hotel at CNN Center: Atlanta's Only Downtown Four-Diamond Convention Hotel

The Omni Hotel, a AAA Four-Diamond award winner for six years in a row, is located in downtown Atlanta within the CNN Center complex. It is within walking distance of the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola and Centennial Olympic Park. The hotel is also adjacent to the Georgia World Congress Center. MARTA, Atlanta's public transit system, serves the hotel with a train station and several bus lines. It is accessible from both Interstate 20 and the Interstate 75/85 Downtown Connector. The hotel is only 15 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The Omni has 1,070 rooms and suites in two towers, one 15 stories, the other 28 stories. The Atlanta Business Chronicle (ABC) remembers when the Omni opened in 1975 with 470 rooms. In 2003, the second tower was completed, adding 600 rooms and over 70,000 square feet of meeting space and bringing the hotel up to par with the city's other major convention hotels. The ABC said that management's aim was "attracting more group business and promoting the hotel's new meeting space capacity and additional rooms.'' At the same time, rooms in the older tower were completely renovated. All rooms and suites come with bathrobes, marble baths, high-speed wired and wireless Internet access and workstations. Most rooms have a refreshment center, and most suites feature a wet bar and refrigerator. Suites range in size from 650 to over 2,000 square feet. All rooms overlook either Centennial Olympic Park, downtown Atlanta or the CNN Center Atrium.

Other features of the hotel include:

Prime Meridian, the hotel's signature restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant serves Southern-influenced, upscale American cuisine, with an emphasis on steaks and seafood.

Latitudes Bistro and Lounge, a casual bar serving cocktails and light fare.

Morsel's, a coffee shop, open all day with quick foods and snacks.

The Natural Body Spa, which provides facials, massages and body treatments.

A fully-equipped fitness center, outdoor heated pool and running and walking trails in the adjacent Centennial Olympic Park.

A business center, open from 7 AM to 7 PM.

The Omni offers over 120,000 square feet of meeting, event and convention space, with 45 separate rooms. The Grand Ballroom, at nearly 20,000 square feet, can accommodate up to 1,665 banquet-style or 2,218 reception-style. The 15,000-square-foot exhibition hall can hold up to 115 8 'x 10' booths. A wide variety of meeting spaces, including several executive boardrooms, are available. The most dramatic space is the 12,000-square-foot Atrium Terrace, set in the hotel's 15-story atrium. The atrium can be subdivided into several different sizes.

Reviews of the Omni Hotel on well-known travel websites generally give average to good marks to the hotel. On one site, 62 percent of guests rated the hotel an "Excellent'' or "Very Good,'' but nearly one-quarter gave it a "Poor'' or "Terrible.'' While visitors like the proximity to downtown tourist attractions and convention facilities, the deserted nature of downtown Atlanta at night is not popular. Also, one woman warns that "the Omni nickels and dimes you for the `extras' including high parking fees ... bottled water ... spray starch ... and internet and printing in the business center.'' Others, however, "have found the staff to be helpful and quality of the rooms to be above average'' and say that "the conference facilities at the hotel were excellent.'' All in all, for a large convention hotel, the Omni seems to hold its own with its competitors in downtown Atlanta.