Kimpton Sylvan Hotel

The Kimpton Sylvan Hotel opened in February 2021 in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, turning a 1950s apartment building — later senior housing, then condominiums — into a 217-room mid-century boutique property. Three in-house dining venues, including rooftop bar St. Julep, anchor the food and beverage program.

The place

The hotel sits at 374 East Paces Ferry Road NE, in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, the city's upscale shopping and dining district known for its tree canopy. The address places guests within walking distance of Buckhead Village's boutiques and restaurants while keeping the low-rise, residential-scaled setting that distinguishes the property from Atlanta's downtown high-rise hotels.

The concept

The Kimpton Sylvan occupies a building with an unusually layered past: constructed in the early 1950s as a post-war efficiency-apartment complex, it was later run as senior housing before being converted into condominiums in 2000. For its third act, Portman Holdings and Kimpton reconfigured the same footprint into 217 guest rooms, keeping the original corridors and circulation cores rather than rebuilding from scratch — a renovation that earned an Award of Excellence in Adaptive Use from the Atlanta Urban Design Commission in 2021. Designers leaned into the building's mid-century bones instead of erasing them: oversized windows were preserved to frame the surrounding tree canopy, paired with a curved stone-and-tile fireplace and locally sourced art in the interiors.

Dining & wellness

Food and beverage is split across three venues. The Betty is the hotel's main restaurant, a continental dining room styled as an old-Hollywood supper club, with an outdoor patio extending service outside. Willow Bar is an outdoor garden bar built around a stained-glass wall, and St. Julep is the rooftop bar and restaurant, with panoramic views over Buckhead. A pool, a fitness center, and cruiser bikes for guests round out the amenities.