Bellyard, West Midtown Atlanta, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

Bellyard, West Midtown Atlanta, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, opened May 18, 2021 with 161 rooms inside The Interlock, a new mixed-use development in Atlanta's West Midtown district. Built new rather than converted, it pairs an industrial-heritage design concept with Drawbar, a lobby-level restaurant and bar, and a rooftop pool aimed equally at hotel guests and neighborhood locals.

The place

Bellyard sits at 1 Interlock Ave NW, on the corner of 14th Street and Howell Mill Road, inside The Interlock — a mixed-use development built on former industrial land in West Midtown, one of Atlanta's fastest-changing districts. The neighborhood was historically home to stockyards, foundries and rail spurs rather than hospitality, which makes a purpose-built hotel here a newer proposition than in Downtown or Buckhead. West Midtown puts guests closer to Atlanta's gallery and design-studio corridor along Howell Mill Road than to the convention-center circuit, a deliberate trade-off for a hotel pitched at both visitors and locals.

The concept

Bellyard is a ground-up construction, not a conversion, built as the hospitality anchor of The Interlock development alongside offices, retail and residences. Interior designer Mallori Hamilton, who began the project under Wakefield Beasley and completed it at Uncommon Studios, built the interiors around what the hotel calls a "resi-mercial" brief: public spaces meant to double as work and gathering space for neighborhood residents, not just overnight guests. The design leans on washed white oak, concrete and steel to reference the site's stockyard and railroad history, with a lobby cow sculpture, a metal sculpture made from recycled agricultural equipment, and commissioned work from local artists Lauren Williams, Josh Hardesty and Lacey Longino. As a Tribute Portfolio property, it operates as an independent-feeling boutique hotel under Marriott's soft brand, managed day-to-day by Pivot, the lifestyle division of Davidson Hospitality Group, with Marriott Bonvoy loyalty benefits attached.

Dining & wellness

Drawbar, the hotel's cocktail-driven American tavern, opens directly into the lobby under executive chef Christina Wai, serving Southern-inflected small plates alongside a cocktail list built around local spirits. A rooftop pool and bar, with an herb garden supplying bar ingredients, and roughly 7,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space round out the amenity program; the rooftop pool and bar were still being finished out under operator Slater Hospitality in the months after the May opening. A 24-hour fitness center is on site; the property does not have a spa.