I stayed here with my family for spring break (April 13th-15th), and it was below average. We have vacationed at this resort many times before, and it has been on a steady decline for a while now. This is probably the last time we will come here. We had several issues with this stay, from the air conditioner, cleanliness, elevators, dining, and the quality of the renovations they went through. We ended up having to move rooms. The only silver linings were the staff, who were very helpful and friendly, the gorgeous exterior and surroundings, some of the amenities, and the cost value. For us, we won't be back, but it may still be a solid option for someone else.
The Hotel:
The resort is set in Stone Mountain Park, along a lake surrounded by nature and beautiful greenery. You do have to pay $20 for a parking pass at the gate, but the resort gives you a pass good for your entire stay after you check in. There's plenty of walking trails around, and you have discounts at the park's other attractions when staying here.
The lobby is pretty big and on the 4th floor, the same floor you enter on. There's a fireplace, the front desk, along with a small shop that was never stocked with anything. There was only ever one receptionist at the desk, and she was constantly swamped with a long line of guests, some very rude to her. She was nice to us though, and even gave us a complimentary upgrade to a lakeview room when we asked if any were available. Check-in is at 4 PM. The lobby also lacked seating, and the floor was constantly sticky even though they were regularly mopping. The sounds of sticky shoes were really annoying. The lobby renovation is also hideous compared to what it was like before. Left from the lobby is the conference center, and the Waterside Restaurant. More on that later. There's also a small cafe behind the fireplace which serves Starbucks, but it closes at 3 PM which I find odd. To the right are the guest rooms and what might be the worst elevators in the country. There are only three elevators to serve five floors, and they can take 10–20 minutes to arrive. The call buttons were broken on almost every floor, causing the elevators to stop on every level even when no one was there. We eventually gave up and used the stairs, though the stairwells were quite dirty. The Tavern, a bar with pool tables, the outdoor and indoor pools and hot tubs, and the fitness center are all on the 1st floor. I didn't go to the Tavern but it looked alright. Pools were great, and so were the hot tubs. There's a kiddie pool which is also nice. The fitness center was adequate with some okay machines and weights.
The Room:
We originally booked a 2 Queen Standard Room for $149 a night ($435 total for two), but then were upgraded into a 2 Queen Lakeview Room, and then had to be moved into a 2 Queen 1 Bedroom Lakeview Suite. For the standard rooms, they're fine. Not super amazing, but not bad. Decent size, big balcony, and ok bathroom with Gilchrist & Soames London Collection brand toiletries. Shower tub combo. Ok water pressure, but it got very hot, which I like. Towels were fine. Beds were also alright, with thin linens but comfy. For some reason, our room didn't have a coffee maker or cups, pods, creamer, or sugar. Not sure if no room has one or if we were the odd one out. They did give us one when asked though. The mini-fridge was good size, but had someone else's half used water bottles. The room does come with two complimentary water bottles, and housekeeping every other day. The real annoying thing was our air conditioner, which was broken and stuck at 80. They sent a mechanic to fix it, but he took forever to arrive and then couldn't fix it, So they placed us in a suite and gave us a breakfast credit. This was greatly appreciated. Our new room was pretty nice. Had two balconies, bedroom and living room, and a nicer bathroom with a much better shower-head and an additional shower wand. The sink wasn't in the bathroom though, which was weird. It was in the bedroom area. And this time we had a coffee maker, but no coffee pods. We had two big fridges too. It was nice, and that staff more than made up for the problems in the other room.
The Dining:
Waterside Restaurant is where my brother and I ate for breakfast one day, and it wasn't amazing, very average. He ordered the Caramel Apple French Toast, and it was alright. I ordered the Smoked Salmon Plate, and was very underwhelmed. The bagel was super cold and they only gave me one compared to the mountain of every other thing on the plate. The service was also very slow, which was odd since we were the only occupied table in the entire dining room. This restaurant was omitted for some reason during the renovation. It's pretty dated, but it is clean, so that's good. They used to have a really good breakfast buffet everyday a couple years ago, but now they only do it when the hotel is full. A shame, but I'm sure it isn't near the quality it was before anyway. Dinner had poor reviews, so we didn't bother.
Final Thoughts:
It's okay, but such a far departure from what it used to be. They used to have doormen, a house car, good food, concierges, and the interiors were classy with dark wood and plush furniture. The renovation is so gray and soulless, and very clearly done on the cheap. I mean, they didn't even bother with renovating the restaurants, the convention center, or the fitness center. The only thing that remained always good are the pools, staff, and surroundings. We've had too many good experiences here in the past to compare it to today. so we won't be back. However, I do think if they fix the elevators, kitchen staff, and have better maintenance, the cost value is hard to beat. $150 is cheap nowadays, and you are getting a lot for that rate. Good location, staff, and amenities. I wish this resort the best, and hope it improves.
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