The Mansion on Peachtree: Atlanta's Newest Four-Star Hotel

The Mansion on Peachtree, a new hotel and condominium in Buckhead, is located on Atlanta's famous Peachtree Street. Buckhead is the city's most upscale shopping, dining and residential district, and the Mansion is one of three Mobil Four Star hotels in the area. Nearby attractions include the Georgia Governor's Mansion; the Atlanta History Center, which includes the Swan House, once the city's grandest private home; and the exclusive shopping at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, which are just next door to the hotel. The Mansion is immediately accessible from Georgia Highway 400. MARTA, Atlanta's public transit system, has a train station adjacent to the hotel.

The Mansion opened in May 2008. It is part of the exclusive Rosewood group of hotels and resorts. The Mansion's dycor is based on the Carlyle, the venerable hotel in New York now owned by the company, and its name is taken from Rosewood's famous Mansion on Turtle Creek. The hotel's 117 rooms and ten suites all come with luxurious bed and bath amenities, a television in the bathroom, large closets, bathrobes, DVD and CD players and wired and wireless Internet access. Televisions are located behind retractable works of art. Some rooms and all suites come with private balconies.

Other services at the Mansion include the 29 Spa, a fitness center, an indoor lap pool and beautifully landscaped gardens. The 29 Spa, named a 2009 Hot Spa by Condy Nast Traveler, is the first spa designed by Lydia Mondavi, who uses grape seed, an excellent source of anti-oxidants, from the family winery in her products. The 15,000-square-foot, 14-room spa takes up the entire third floor of the hotel and includes a full line of facials, massages, body and hair treatments, and manicures and pedicures. The fitness center has state-of-the-art, luxury equipment, a separate room for yoga or other floor exercises and fitness classes.

It is only fitting that the Mansion, since it is modeled on the Carlyle, should bring one of Manhattan's finest restaurants to Atlanta. Craft Atlanta, from "Top Chef'' Tom Colicchio, along with its sibling Craftbar, offers the city another incredible dining experience. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that Colicchio is known for "his fanatical dedication to fresh, thoughtfully sourced ingredients and the kind of simple, deft cooking that makes for memorable dishes and meals.'' Craft allows diners to choose among finely prepared meats and pair them with simply prepared vegetables. Craftbar is more casual (and cheaper) but just as delicious. Atlanta magazine raves, "The Craftbar burger - with Tillamook cheddar nearly melted into the meat, a dab of tomato jam, and a couple threads of balsamic-infused onion - is a master class on a bun.'' The in-house restaurant, NEO, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and serves contemporary American fare.

The Mansion, at this writing, is the number-one rated hotel in Atlanta on the popular travel website tripadvisor.com. (These ratings change, but it is always in the top five.) The reviews are almost uniformly superb, saying this hotel is "paradise'' and "the best hotel in Atlanta.'' The service, dycor and facilities are all praised as some of the best that guests have ever encountered. One person, after describing several of the hotel's features, says, "I could go on, but there was nothing lacking.'' The food, especially at Craft, is excellent, although several guests have mentioned that the service at NEO was a bit slow. Fodor's singles out the garden, saying, "It's almost possible to forget you're in the middle of bustling Buckhead ... in the floral oasis, with benches and a shallow reflecting pool.'' Sounds like heaven.