Southern hospitality

The lobby at the W Atlanta-Buckhead is a tasteful take on the meshing of two cultures: the elegant southern lifestyle of one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods and the modern vision of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s W brand. Buck antlers take the form of a quirky chandelier, and classic Georgian-style columns get an update with backlighting and fluting. The fusion extends throughout the hotel, from the fishing- and hunting-themed walls juxtaposed with W’s signature electronica music in the elevator, to the guestroom’s Chippendale chairs at the orange technology-centric workspace.

The customized product was the work of Thom Filicia and his design team. Filicia, who gained fame as a designer on Bravo TV’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and hosts “Dress My Nest” on Style Network, specializes in bringing out the personalities of his clients. “The interior should tell the story of the people or the person [who’s] there,” he says as he walks through one of the hotel’s 291 rooms. “In this project, my two clients were Buckhead as a lifestyle and W as a very modern hotel brand.”
Filicia describes the resulting style as “country club chic,” with traditional elements like four-poster beds and wing chairs done in a “modern, crisp, clean way.”

The final product seems to be an effortless blend of ideas, but its process hardly seems easy. Originally built as a Holiday Inn, the property was converted into a Crowne Plaza and then purchased to become the third W in Atlanta (the fourth W opened soon after). The original structure remains, with space added for the rooftop bar, Whiskey Blue, and the restaurant, Market.

“The hallways, all of the rooms—it’s all the original,” Filicia says. “With a new build, we would have had better ceiling heights ... and we would have had more flexibility with our layouts.”

Yet by the grand opening event in March, Filicia seems unfazed by any previous difficulties—he’s ecstatic, even. “It’s a fun project because taking something that was not intended to be what it is, and for it to feel as organic and natural in its environment is amazing.”