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Tootsie’s Bottom Line
- Marriott Avalon: prices vary widely-rooms: standard with 2 queens or 1 king; some larger rooms available. Very elegant hotel for a reasonable price. Parking: self-park $10/day; valet: $15/day
- Branch and Barrel: $15+, open for lunch and dinner. Cozy interior; it has potential but our meals were average, at best
- Goldbergs: serves breakfast, lunch and dinner; we had a delicious breakfast. Great bagels!
Avalon in Alpharetta is one of my favorite places to shop, eat and just be. We decided to make a night of it and eat, shop, and stay! I booked a room at the Hotel at Avalon; it’s one of the Autograph Collection in the Marriott chain.
Walking into the lobby felt like walking into a hotel in Beverly Hills. The entrance is stunning! The concierge desk is tucked into the back so you are greeted by a beautiful sitting area that adjoins the in-house restaurant, South City Kitchen. There’s a large fireplace in the lobby and lots of comfortable seating. The lobby is filled with the smell of whatever is cooking at South City Kitchen and it smells delicious!! We need to eat here soon!
I made the reservation last minute and was able to get a larger than standard room with two queen beds for the same cost as the standard room! We were given rooms on the 12th floor that overlooked the parking deck and highway outside. Not ideal, but from the 12th floor it was still a pretty view. The room itself was beautiful. The bathroom is spacious with good counter space for storing things and getting ready. Really nice hotel in a great location!
It was a rainy night-not the best time to be at an outdoor venue but we were going to make the most of it. We chose to eat at Branch and Barrel. Even in bad weather, Avalon’s restaurants are jamming. Strangely, at 6:00 on a Saturday night, the restaurant was only half full. This was strange to me since the restaurant is charming inside and the food smelled great.
We ordered a variety of food for dinner. We had the Crispy Salt and Vinegar Brussel Sprouts to start. They sounded delicious, but after a few, the saltiness was overwhelming, and they were left unfinished. My son ordered the Braised Beef Brisket entree with mac and cheese and green beans. According to him, this was basically pot roast with gravy. My husband had the Braised Brisket Sandwich which fell flat and also tasted like pot roast. My daughter ordered mac and cheese off the kids menu that (even after she salted it three times) tasted like a creamy, bland pasta sauce. I ordered a house salad with ranch. The salad was simple but tasty. Unfortunately, after eating it, I noticed two hairs on the plate. We told the waiter who, of course, comped the salad. That ruined the best thing on the table! Plain and simple, this was a bust for us!
We tried Goldbergs for breakfast. They have a wide variety of food from breakfast to salad to sandwiches and burgers. My son ordered a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich from a specials list that was a sandwich made with french toast. He devoured it! My daughter and husband had breakfast plates with eggs and a choice of meat. Both were very happy with the food. I loved my made to order omelet and bagel. Good, solid food. We’ll be back!
Marriott Credit Card: Benefits I enjoy: Because I’ve accumulated a good number of points, I get a complimentary room upgrade, when available. With this reservation, the nicest room was priced at the same rate as the smaller room so there wasn’t an upgrade available. When this happens, you either receive additional points or a food voucher. The food voucher at Avalon is for South City Kitchen. We weren’t able to use the food voucher, so I took the points!
Marriott Credit Card Information: I don’t use any credit cards that don’t give me something in return. The Marriott Visa that I carry gives me a free night stay in a hotel every year worth 25,000 points. That pretty much offsets the annual fee. In addition, you get 6 points for every $1.00 that you spend in a Marriott. We don’t travel a lot but try to stick to the Marriott brand when we can.