The Hampton Inn in Sandy Springs Georgia

Recently I needed to book a hotel room in the Sandy Springs area of Georgia due to several events I had planned in the vicinity. I typically book my stays through Priceline.com , Hotels.com or Hotwire.com, so I don't always know where I am staying until I receive confirmation after the room is booked. Once I discovered that I would be staying at the Hampton Inn, I was pleased because I was familiar with where this hotel was because it is fairly close to my office.

The Sandy Springs area is a great location, because it's located right inside the Perimeter and very close to great restaurants such as Ruth's Chris and The Brooklyn Café and the Flying Biscuit. You can also drive approximately 1.5 miles and you're right at the Perimeter Mall where there are more dining choices as well as a Movie Theatre.

My first event was located in the Dunwoody area which was about 2 exits from the Hampton Inn in Sandy Springs, Georgia, so I made a mad dash to the hotel in order to have a quick shower and change of clothing to attend my first event. When I entered the hotel parking lot I noticed it was kind of nestled away from the street and gave the guest some privacy to the pool and outside amenities, which was a nice thing.

Once I entered the lobby, there was a feel of a small town hotel with the scaled down dining facility and registration desk. So far, so good! The hotel appeared clean and well maintained. I received my card key and proceeded to the room where I noticed as soon as I walked in that the carpet was extremely worn and looked unclean. As an interior decorator I was mortified to find the carpet in that kind of condition! Needless to say I was not happy, but I had a full schedule so I didn't have time to really dwell on it.

My next stop was to check out the bathroom, which I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a lovely vanity made of dark cherry wood with an open shelf, which supplied nice clean fresh white towels. I took a look at the shower and from first glance thought that the shower surround was dirty. However, upon closer inspection it appears that someone thought it a good idea to do some faux marble painting on the surround, but it just didn't work.

I always check out the fitness facility whenever I am traveling, as I like to get a little workout in to relieve some of the tension and stress while traveling. I was very pleased with the set up of the facility. It was nicely lit, with various motivational prints and warm light mocha wallpaper. Although the facility was small it did have 1 of each piece of the most widely desired equipment, which included a treadmill, a bike, my favorite, the elliptical, and some weight gear. They also had a very lovely flat screen television at the front of the center with a perfect view from every area of the fitness center. However, I was a little surprised to see no fresh towels supplied on the shelf and it didn't appear to be any hand sanitizer or toilettes to wipe the machines down.

One very nice surprise that I have to mention is the fact that the Wireless is a free amenity at all Hampton Inns in Georgia and perhaps in other states as well. I would call ahead to check in your State. Next on the agenda was to check out the dining, however I could not do a full review of the dining facility as it was closed once I returned to the hotel that evening and by the next morning it was overflowing with travelers, so I decided to skip the free continental breakfast and moved on to my next venue.

The hotel was booked through Hotwire.com for $45.00 and was advertised as a 3 star hotel. Although, there were parts of the hotel that I liked, I would have to downgrade that rating to 2.5 stars instead of 3 stars due to the much needed improvements to the rooms as well as the common areas. All in all I would suggest this hotel for a guys weekend, family gatherings and road warriors. For more information about the Hampton Inn in Sandy Springs, Georgia visit them on-line at www.Hamptoninn.com or 769 Hammond Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30328, 404-303-0014.