City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (404) 521-0000, (800) 228-9290

Address: 265 Peachtree Center Ave. NE

Description: This is the hotel we take our houseguests to see. Just park the car in the circular entry (ask permission of the staff before you leave the vehicle; tell them you want to go and gawk), take the escalator up one level, and just look up and gasp. Suspended from the ceiling is a Japanese kite–style work of art that swoops downward and seems to float for miles inside the 500-foot-high open atrium. Throughout the hotel are 25,000 plants, which lend a softening touch to this otherwise high-tech environment. The John Portman–designed, 47-story Marquis offers 32 elevators, two of which travel at 1,000 feet per minute, and a few of them are glass enclosed for those of us who enjoy what feels like a near death experience to some. Instead of being aligned, the floors are offset, producing an effect rather like a fan unfolding. Each floor has windows in the corridors offering great views of the city. The 1,663-room Marquis is Atlanta’s largest hotel and has received AAA’s Four-Diamond Award. It has 150,000 square feet of function space, five restaurants, and 10 bars. There is also a health club (complimentary for guests) with an indoor/outdoor heated swimming pool. The hotel is connected directly to MARTA via Peachtree Center.