We're Ready to Book a Stay at Atlanta's New Wylie Hotel Based Off the Instagram Alone

With a moniker of “The Friendly Hotel,” Atlanta’s newest hotel—Wylie Hotel—is poised to deliver Southern hospitality. It opened on May 17.

Tucked into the Old Fourth Ward, the hotel’s general manager James Green is excited to welcome travelers to one of the city’s most historic (and now haute) neighborhoods. “All are welcome, but we’re expecting the property will serve as a homelike stay to business travelers, adventurers, and locals looking for a home away from home,” he said. “Old Fourth Ward is one of the most historic neighborhoods in Atlanta. At the moment, Atlantans and visitors are really interested and invested in the city’s history—especially finding ways to revitalize historic buildings in the neighborhood, similar to the work done on Wylie Hotel.”

This is not the first time this building has welcomed overnight guests. Built in 1929, it operated as Garner-Wallace until 1933, then Ponce de Leon Hotel for several years before, most recently, providing housing to students at Georgia State University, Emory University, and Georgia Tech University. In 2014, plans began to convert it back to a hotel.

Atlanta’s Mrs. P’s Tea Room (a drag-queen venue and Atlanta’s first openly LGBTQ bar), which was one of the first tenants of the original building, will be revived next month within Wylie Hotel as Mrs. P’s Bar & Kitchen, serving all-day Southern cuisine and hosting a bar, sunroom, and terrace. This is about coming full circle: Mrs. P’s originally opened at Ponce de Leon Hotel from 1965 to 1997.

Nearby, Ponce City Market hosts a collection of food businesses and retail boutiques in a former Sears, Roebuck & Co. warehouse-distribution center, and Atlanta BeltLine (a 22-mile elevated parkway connecting 45 neighborhoods) is accessible from the hotel, too.

The hotel aims to offer technology-focused amenities to guests, including touch-free check-in and smart rooms. The hotel also partnered with local interior-design firm Pixel Design Collaborative and architects Stevens & Wilkinson. “An important aspect of this project was maintaining the integrity of the building, and we wanted to find partners who were aligned with that mission," said Green. Aside from their talent, we chose to work with both partners due to their understanding of the neighborhood, its importance, and how to tie in small nods to the past throughout the hotel.”

To that end, none of the rooms (crossing five different categories) in the 111-room hotel are alike, each featuring various unique (and colorful) touches, such as a blush-pink plush sofa, red-orange throw pillows, grass-green drapes, and cane-accented nightstands. Some rooms have balconies. There are also two suites: simply named Suite P and Q Suite.

Rates start at $89 (late May and early June only) before jumping to $199 to $299 and are bookable through wyliehotel.com.