Holiday Inn Athens-University Area

My husband and I stayed here just this past weekend, and we really enjoyed it. The hotel looks like it was just remodeled in the past couple years, and it’s very nice for the price. We stayed in the Executive Tower with a king size bed. Our room was pretty large, and there was a couch with coffee table, as well as a desk. The bed was very comfy, and the air didn’t get sticky or stuffy like it does in many hotel rooms.
For the size room we had, I kind of expected a larger tub or a jet tub, even though the bathroom itself was a decent size. But it was good for the weekend. There is a small pool at the hotel, but no hot tub or spa, which kind of disappointed us.
You can’t beat the location of this hotel. It is literally right next to the UGA campus, and is convenient for walking around downtown (which is a great area). We hardly drove our cars at all during the trip because everything was so close.
We stayed here during June on just a regular weekend and got a good rate for the room. I’d imagine during football season or when festivals or special events are going on it will be more pricey – especially because of the great location. We would stay here again!

Once ate a breakfast here. Would never, ever, EVER do so again. It was horrible. The rooms aren’t too bad though.

I stay at HIE places 80% of the time when I travel. I would rate this one as «average». The room is spacious, but not entirely clean. The bathroom is pretty though. You can tell the spot is older and they’ve tried to keep it updated. The price is fair, considering the convenient location if you want to have a good time in downtown Athens without driving. I would stay again, but only for the location.

When you’re reading this review, make sure you have the right Holiday Inn; this is the one that is at 197 East Broad (there’s another a couple blocks away that is farther from the downtown area, but still on Broad Street).
Let me just say, for location, you can NOT beat this amazing location. The Univ of Georgia is right next to this hotel, and the downtown historic area is across the street (you will NOT need a car to get anywhere in the downtown area — it is all so close).
I came here for a concert at the Georgia Theatre, and it took me about 2 minutes to walk there — perfect location for that. Whatever few shortcomings this hotel may have, they make up for it considerably in location! Trust me; I doubt there’s a better location at this budget rate.
My room was nice. It was small and functional, and had a nice closet area. The bathroom is small, but it has nice a nice storage area under the sink. And, I always love it that HI’s use CLOTH shower curtains instead of nasty plastic. The bathroom was very clean and had lots of towels. The air conditioning was a little loud, but, hey, it WORKED and in the Georgia heat, you want A/​C that works!
The beds were clean and comfortable, just a tad squishy and soft for my taste; but, that’s just me. The pillows were fine. The furniture is kind of out-​dated, but I didn’t come here to look at furniture. There was no frig or microwave, but there was a little coffee pot with supplies. Unlike many HI’s I have been in, this hotel does NOT have complimentary breakfast. It didn’t matter to me because there are a million little coffee shops and restaurants within a couple minutes to walk to in the morning for breakfast. There are also tons of bars and restaurants within walking distance — Again, location!
There’s a nice outdoor pool, but it was still closed for the season (April 1^st). So, if you have a pool in mind, be sure to check when it opens.
Surprisingly, for this great downtown-​area, parking was FREE. There’s a big lot that’s completely fenced-​in, and there are also some coveted spots in a covered area right by the entry-​way to the north part of the hotel. Wi-​fi was also free, and really speedy for my needs.
Athens is an historic town, and this hotel is definitely an older property. But, they make a very big effort to keep it nice, and I found everything clean and pleasant. I will most definitely stay here every time I visit the charming town of Athens!
I am going to bestow my highest rating on this hotel, a 5. I could say it’s not the Ritz, and whine about the small room, or no frig, or no free breakfast, or the kinda-​soft bed, but it is one of the best downtown locations in any city I have found and it was clean and perfect for my needs. And, there was something I especially loved: They have recycle bins by the elevators! Yay! All hotels should be required to recycle!
p. s. If you are in this area, try and see a concert at the Georgia Theatre. It is an amazing music venue with great acoustics! It was really nice inside!

If you’re just looking for a place to crash in Athens and don’t care for the fancy stuff, this place is for you. And… if you honestly don’t want to drive your car around while you’re exploring Athens.
This Holiday Inn’s location (right across Magnolia’s) is VERY convenient. So close to DT Athens and Campus. Can’t complain about that. I’m going to be really real — Athens is known for it’s cheap drinks & beautiful campus. Holiday Inn is good enough place if your main activity is to be outside and not trapped in the hotel.
I graduated from UGA in 2012, but I still come back once or twice a year to visit/​go to shows/​etc and I almost always book at this Holiday Inn. Just b/​c after my main event, my friends and I always hit the town: D So after a fun night, it’s nice to just walk like 4 mins to get back to my stuff.
Parking — It kind of gets full-​ish. There are several spots, but Holiday Inn is constantly busy so it may take a minute or 2 to find parking.
Staff — really nice folks. Each time I’ve checked in and checked out, I’ve had no problem.
How to find your rooms — I’ve been to several hotels… This Holiday Inn is complicated. So many ways to get in and so many ways to get lost. There are NO signs of where anything is. Even the main lobby. They do have small maps on the walls (not helpful), but sheesh, we had to really walk around and find everything. Whoever was the architect… did not do a good job. I kind of hope they rebuild this Holiday Inn… Might as well since a lot of other places have been renovated.
Rooms — just your typical bathroom and beds. No fridge. AC/​Heat work. The beds are really comfy. I sleep like a baby on them. I manage to get rooms that are next to nothing = quiet time.
I’ll probably be back here again if I need to stay the night in Athens…

Clean, clean, clean!!!
Within walking distance of everything. Lots of bars, cafes, shops, and restaurants around.

The hotel is adjacent to UGA. The Executive Tower rooms are a decent size and clean. The front desk staff was friendly and accommodating.
Of note is the address for the hotel is across and a block down the street.
It has one restaurant and bar on site.
We would stay here again.

Thank you Hilton Garden Inn for screwing up my reservation! Otherwise, I would not have discovered the Athens Holiday Inn. Great price for the room, I reserved with a live person who encouraged me to join their free loyalty rewards program which helped me later. They must have just completed some renos because my room (in the North Tower) was fresh and clean and updated and the fitness center seemed brand-​spanking new… Complete with TVs on the wall and on the equipment. (treadmills and x-​trainers) They have free weights and a few other machines, towels and water. Decently appointed and not expected! And the fitness Ctr is open 24hours! There’s a restaurant that looks recently renovated and was quite pleasant. We had the $ 8/​per person breakfast buffet which was plentiful, had lots of variety and kicks the ass off of the Country Inn and Suites free bfast any day. Everyone was awesome, from the gal who was sweeping the walk, to the front desk clerk to the restaurant staff… Everyone seemed happy to he there and truly helpful. It’s a perfect location to walk around downtown Athens … Parking is only for guests… I was impressed with the recycling bin in the lobby of the North Tower. I feel like I can’t say enough good things about it. I didn’t give 5 stars because there was a light out on the desk and the fridge wasn’t working, maybe it was unplugged, I don’t know… And I wish there was an indoor pool (there’s an outdoor one) Anyway… I will definitely be back. Oh yeah, down the street a few blocks going AWAY from town is a Holiday Inn Express, I would probably not be happy there. This is the place you want to be! Oh and remember the loyalty program? I asked for a late check-​out and they said since I am a loyalty member, it was no problem… Sweet!

Pretty bad – and I have stayed in some bad hotels/​motels before. The staff were very nice, but our room stank of old sweat, the ceiling lights didn’t work, and our faucet had either ice cold water or boiling water, there was no in between. The room was clean though.
The only reason I am not giving this place 1 star is location. But I don’t think it’s worth the money. Next time I will stay in a better and cheaper place a bit further out, that’s for sure.

We went to their Christmas lunch buffet this year. It was good!
The macaroni and cheese, shrimp and stuffed mushrooms were standouts! I also enjoyed several of the desserts. I wouldn’t expect an overwhelming spread of food and everything was good but not necessarily outstanding.

One of the saddest Holiday Inns I’ve ever been to. Had a hospital type: smell, the ceilings were low, and the only source of light at night we’re sad fluorescent bulbs. It was clean, but it seemed very old, beat up, and out dated.
The hotel was largely under staffed with the only employee I saw all night being the very slow, unfriendly, and generally ambivalent Rhonda at the front desk.
Cheap? Yes.
Holiday Inn worthy (yes I know how ridiculous that sounds)? No.

The room was clean but noisy (from both street and other rooms).
The staff was friendly but overwhelmed.
The cost wasn’t bad but still overpriced.
The room was recently redecorated buy not remodeled (old window aircondiitioning unit, stained light switch plates).
The nearby restaurants are fantastic but the hotel restaurant is disgusting.
All in all, it was a truly unremarkable stay. For a hundred bucks a night, you can find better downtown.

Newly remodeled within the last year or two, and boy did it need it! Perfect location for Game Day and since it’s right on Broad St, quick walk to all of the downtown restaurants, shops, and bars,

It is centrally located to downtown and they even paid for our taxi back to the airport.

This is a nice, no nonsense hotel in the heart of downtown. We stay here every year for AthFest. Nice clean rooms and a reasonable weekend rate. Easy to walk home after a few beers too. The staff are really nice and helpful. Recommended!

Stay away from that place! I travel a lot for business, and therefore I have to stay in hotels more than I would ever want to…
This was the meeting point for a group of us, so I did not personally chose this place, and my experience went from bad to worse…
Took over 15mn to be checked in, then the room (old) smelled like mold, there was a huge stain on the carpet, and toilet was clogged…
Mind you they came fairly quickly to «solve» the problem, but still… Really???
Thermostat was impossible to manage and went from freezing to hot, with no happy medium to be found… Not impressed… Not impressed at all!

Probably one of the nicest hotels in the area. Our bartender was so cool. I could have chatted with him for hours. Really good salmon entrée for dinner. Nice and clean rooms and friendly staff. Nice free parking too!

The first star was because it had a bed (although not the type I requested) and the other star is for the location and the price. I found a discount that knocked the price per night from $ 80 to $ 50 and it was still barely worth it.
The good news is that they do have pet friendly rooms available. The bad news is that pet friendly rooms are only smoking rooms. This means the only pet friendly rooms are in the nasty, non-​renovated area (the courtyard) of the hotel and wreak of smoke.
The room consisted of two double beds with a very thin comforter, an very out of date bathroom (didn’t even have the curved shower curtain bar), and a TV that was circa 1995 if I had to guess. There was a microwave and a mini-​fridge, which was nice.
The room smelled nasty and stunk of stale smoke even after they did a «smoke screen» which consists of spraying some air freshner around the room. Also, the free wifi didn’t work for the 2.5 days I was there.
The people working were very nice, but that’s about the only thing the hotel had going for it on this particular stay. I will say that I did stay at this location last year in a very nice, renovated room. You should be OK as long as you don’t smoke, don’t have a pet, and don’t stay in the courtyard area of this hotel. All in all I am still pretty disappointed in the accommodations this time around.

Well, I didn’t have ants in my bedroom. That’s worth at least a star.
FWIW, they are in the middle of some sort of renovation (judging from the look of the place, they need it — it looks so 70s), so whatever issues that the previous review had may probably be addressed.
As for myself, I had no problems — in fact, the staff went out of their way to accommodate me when I checked in early (check in was 3, I came in just after 1). I always appreciate that type of service.

Ants in my pants!
We Pricelined this hotel on our travel from Augusta, GA to San Diego, CA. We stopped in Athens to meet up with some old friends. This hotel was close to where we were eating and we never had a problem with a Holiday Inn before. We ignored the 2 star rating on Priceline. Shame on us!
The bed was comfortable. I passed out immediately upon hitting the sheets. The shower had good water pressure and the TV was nice in the morning. The lady at the check-​in counter had an ok suggestion for breakfast in the morning. However, there were ants. Everywhere. Little bitty ants. They were all over the workstation, at least, and as I’m writing this review, I’ve killed ten creepy crawlies while my husband took our bags down.
And what did he see? Beetles, roaches, and flies in the stairwell and the elevator alcove!
Gross!