The Georgian Terrace Hotel

To be great, a city must have a great hotel, a grand hotel. When Atlanta was coming into its own in the early 20th century that hotel was The Georgian Terrace Hotel. With its floor-to-ceiling windows, crystal chandeliers and white marble columns, The Georgian Terrace had an elegance Atlanta hadn't known before. When the hotel opened its doors in glamorous Midtown nearly a century ago, it opened them to some very notable guests, including President Calvin Coolidge, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Tallulah Bankhead. In 1939, The Georgian Terrace hosted the premiere gala of Gone with The Wind. Every decade brought more notoriety to the hotel. In the 1970s, concert promoter Alex Cooley turned the Grand Ballroom into the famed Electric Ballroom, hosting concerts by musicians such as Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac, and Patti Smith.

As Atlanta modernized its skyline many of its older buildings disappeared, but not The Georgian Terrace Hotel. As did the nearby Fox Theatre, this beautiful historic hotel had dedicated fans, and in 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.