12 Atlanta Hotels Within Walking Distance of the BeltLine

The Atlanta BeltLine is a 22-mile loop of disused railway corridor being converted into trail, park and eventually transit, encircling the core of the city and connecting 45 neighbourhoods that the rail line originally served.

It began as a graduate thesis in 1999. The Eastside Trail opened in 2012, and the effect on how Atlanta actually works has been substantial: a city built almost entirely around the car now has a linear park that people walk, run and cycle in numbers, with restaurants, breweries and housing turning to face it rather than the road.

For a visitor the practical consequence is simple. Atlanta is difficult to explore on foot except along the BeltLine, where it becomes one of the more pleasant American cities. Whether your hotel can reach a trail entrance without a car is the most useful thing to establish before booking.

The other thing under the city

Atlanta has among the highest urban tree canopy coverage of any major American city, somewhere near 47 percent. It is why the residential neighbourhoods look the way they do from the ground and why the city looks like a forest from the air.

The districts

Midtown is the cultural centre: the High Museum, the Fox Theatre, Piedmont Park, and the Eastside Trail running along its edge. It is the most walkable part of the city.

Buckhead, north, is the wealthy district and the densest luxury hotel cluster in the South. It is not on the BeltLine and it is car-dependent.

Downtown has the aquarium, the civil rights museums, the stadiums and the convention business.

West Midtown, across the freeway, is converted industrial: warehouses turned into restaurants, galleries and design studios, with the Westside Trail nearby.

The Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park, east, sit directly on the Eastside Trail and hold Ponce City Market, a vast restored Sears building, and the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park.

That last is not a sideline. Sweet Auburn holds King's birth home, Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father preached, and his tomb. The Center for Civil and Human Rights downtown covers the movement alongside contemporary struggles. Both deserve unhurried time.

The twelve below are grouped by district.

Midtown and the Eastside Trail

The walkable half, on or near the BeltLine.

Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta occupies a tower beside the High Museum with a spa, a pool and the most polished service in the city, a short walk from Piedmont Park and the trail.

Loews Atlanta Hotel sits in Midtown with a rooftop pool, a good restaurant and the arts district outside.

Kimpton Shane Hotel occupies a building near Piedmont Park with a design-led interior and the trail within reach on foot.

Hotel Clermont sits in a restored 1924 building in Poncey-Highland with a rooftop bar, a famously unreconstructed lounge downstairs and Ponce City Market and the Eastside Trail minutes away.

Buckhead

The luxury cluster, north, and car-dependent.

The St. Regis Atlanta occupies a tower with a spa, a very good restaurant and the largest rooms in Atlanta.

Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead sits nearby with a residential feel, a pool and a quieter tone than its neighbours.

The Whitley, a Luxury Collection Hotel occupies a building with a spa, a rooftop and the shopping directly below.

Thompson Buckhead sits in Buckhead with a design-led interior, a rooftop pool and a livelier ground floor.

InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta occupies a long-established Buckhead position with reliable rooms and full facilities.

West Midtown and Downtown

Converted industrial, and the convention half.

Epicurean Atlanta occupies a building on the Westside with a cookery school, a demonstration kitchen and a food-led programme.

The Candler Hotel Atlanta sits downtown in a restored 1920s building near the civil rights sites, with a bar in the former banking hall.

Signia by Hilton Atlanta occupies a tower downtown with a large pool deck, several restaurants and the aquarium and the parks within walking distance.

What we have left off

The apartment rentals across Inman Park and the Old Fourth Ward are excluded, and near the BeltLine they are a substantial part of the supply. They are apartments rather than hotels.

What to do

Walk or cycle the Eastside Trail from Piedmont Park to Krog Street Market, which is about five kilometres and passes murals, breweries and Ponce City Market on the way.

Give the King sites a morning. The birth home requires a timed ticket, Ebenezer is still a working congregation, and the reflecting pool holds his tomb.

Go to Ponce City Market for the food hall and the rooftop, which sits inside a two-million-square-foot former Sears distribution building.

See the High Museum, whose Richard Meier building is as good as the collection, and the Center for Civil and Human Rights downtown.

Eat across the city rather than in one district. Atlanta's food is genuinely one of the best in America now, spread from Buford Highway's Asian and Latin American strip to the Westside.

Practical notes

Hartsfield-Jackson is the busiest airport in the world and it is twenty minutes from downtown on MARTA, the rail system, which connects the airport, downtown, Midtown and Buckhead but not the BeltLine.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons. Summer is hot and humid. Winter is mild.

Outside the BeltLine corridor and MARTA line, you will need a car or a ride service.

Questions people actually ask

What is the BeltLine?

A 22-mile loop of former railway being turned into trail and park, connecting 45 neighbourhoods. The Eastside Trail is the busiest completed stretch.

Midtown or Buckhead?

Midtown for walking, the museums and the trail. Buckhead for luxury hotels and shopping, with a car.

Is Atlanta walkable?

Along the BeltLine and in Midtown, yes. Elsewhere, not really.

How many nights?

Three. One for the King sites and downtown, one for the BeltLine and Midtown, one for the Westside and the food.

If you only book one

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