The hotel itself is adequate. The carpet in my guest room and in the common areas were stained in places. The bath linens had an unpleasant odor. The worst aspect of our stay was that our debit card was charged without our authorization. We called the hotel directly and made our reservation with a debit card, presented the debit card at check in but told the front desk clerk we would pay cash when we checked out. The clerk never said we have to run your debit card and there were no signs posted saying they pre-charge. The next morning we decided to not use cash but use a credit card. We were told that we could use the credit card, but the amount for our room, tax and parking had already been run on the debit card. The amount they ran on our debit card would now be tied up, and we would not have access to it for 3 to 5 days. I have never had this happen to me at a hotel. I normally stay at the Holiday Inn on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta, and they have never charged my debit or credit card without my authorization. I asked to speak to the General Manager about the situation, and the clerk told me there was a not manager for me to speak to. I work in the sales department for a Holiday Inn in another state, and I told him that the property I work for does not pre-charge debit cards or credit cards without authorization. He argued with me and told me "my property does precharge.... all hotels do this." I then told the clerk to call the hotel I work for. The clerk tried to color the story and misrepresented the situation to the hotel I work for, but the clerk at my hotel told him he was wrong. He then got of the phone and started talking to other guests that were trying to check out about my situation. He had the nerve to try and make me look bad in front of other hotel guest. With my continued persistence the clerk finally decided there was a manager on duty and he called him down. The manager told me they have had this issue before, and he has tried to instruct his clerks to warn guests their debit or credit card will be charged at check in. Unfortunately I was checked in by a clerk who did not warn me so I was out of luck. The GM was pleasant and admitted that his night clerk was wrong to not warn me, but the clerk that insulted me and lied to me (several times) at check out refused to apologize. I gave up and left with the charge on my debit card. I had no other choice.
Just be careful and realize your card with most likely be charged without your authorization when you check in.

I stayed here on business because it is right across the street from coca cola which is very convinient.

Now to give some context to my review I am a boutique hotel kinda guy so for me giving a positive review to a Holiday Inn means they did something very right.

I stayed in a King room. The room was very spacious, very clean and all and all pleasant to stay in. I was here for a week.

The area isn't hopping or anything like that but its a 15 minute walk to midtown and downtown where there is a bit more action.

The staff was just awesome. I've never met more genuinely friendly people.

Of course it's not a full service hotel with door man and pool but man I really enjoyed my stay. I would recommend the King room any day.

The hotel is located 1/2 mile west of the North Avenue MARTA stop and 1/2 mile (or so) north of the Georgia Aquarium/Convention Center/CNN Plaza. As far as location is concerned, all are a doable walk for fit people from the hotel through relatively safe areas with frequent police and campus security patrols. If you're walking from the MARTA, walk on the same side of North Avenue as the hotel as the panhandlers seem to favor the other side of the street.

And you most likely will be walking. They advertise a shuttle service, but it is terribly inconvenient. It runs from 8-10am and from 3-6pm on weekdays, and not at all on weekends. This makes it almost useless for business travelers who stay here for conventions. This was a major disappointment as the shuttle service was a major reason I stayed here. The taxi is about $5 bucks if you can force the driver to drive straight to the center on the metered rate. In four tries, I managed to do that once. Otherwise, they charge a $8 flat rate or run the meter to around $10 via a circuitous route.

The hotel itself does have on-site parking, for an additional fee. It has no workout facilities, though they have an arrangement with the YMCA next door to allow you to use their facilities for no charge.

The hotel itself is in need of a top to bottom cleaning. Carpets are stained everywhere -- lobby, elevator, rooms. Pads have been removed under several places making, the surface uneven. Beds, showers, and furnishings in my room were on the high end of acceptable, however, both in cleanliness and comfort. The maid even neatly organized all my stuff on the bathroom counter every morning!

I had a 6am meeting and arose at 4:50am to find there was no hot water in the shower. I mentioned this to the front desk whose response was "check it and let us know" instead of "let me credit your bill" as is this chain's policy. It appeared to be an isolated incident, but I had only that one very early morning.

The morning breakfast is adequate and free. Pastry/bagel, juice, cereal, fruit, yogurt, and the ability to make your own fresh waffle from batter. Everything I tasted was good.

I stay in this chain and price class of hotel often and this was the last pleasant example of the bunch, primarily due to the carpet stains, the cold shower, and the inconvenient shuttle.

No parking at this hotel, had to park in GA TECh lot. the desk clerk told us to be out by 7:30 am or we would be towed.. He said this is a daily occurence. Rooms are dirty , large stains in the hallways etc.This is no where near the caliber of a Embassy or Marriot courtyard.