8 New Venues in Atlanta for Fall 2021 Meetings and Events

Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio Interior Design cooked up the chic, elevated interiors at this new Midtown Atlanta property. Epicurean Hotel Atlanta has 178 guest rooms with 22 suites and centers its ethos around cuisine, indulgence and the good life. Its unique Epicurean Theatre (pictured) seats 80; among other things, it can be used as a live culinary classroom and is formatted into a permanent tiered classroom setting on the ninth floor. The ninth floor is also home to The Sky Terrace. It’s an ideal spot for indoor or outdoor events with tons of meeting and conference space allowing guests to flow out double doors to an outdoor saline pool, three fireplaces, a covered restaurant and an uncovered event lawn (240 seated, 350 standing) with incredible views of the city skyline. Epicurean Hotel Atlanta has three restaurants on property and over 11,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. The 1,000-square-foot Grand Cru ballroom is the largest (180 seated, 300 standing), but there are six other meeting rooms with built-in LED commercial monitors. The Presidential and Vice Presidential suites each have a boardroom table for 10 guests and are perfect for corporate meetings and VIPs. But it’s the floor-to-ceiling windows standard in all meeting spaces that will charm attendees who love natural light.

The shine is still on The Eastern, a state-of-the-art event facility and concert venue that opened in November in the historic Atlanta Dairies complex. The swanky, tiered event space is 37,000 square feet and can host events from 50 to 2,200 people. While rock stars are already roaming its halls for concerts, it’s the covered rooftop that steals the show. It has its own separate stage and holds 200 guests. The owners—who also run The Georgia Theatre in Athens, Terminal West in the King Plow complex and Variety Playhouse in Little Five Points—learned from previous venues that a partially covered rooftop is imperative with Atlanta’s often unpredictable weather. Private event bookings can use The Eastern’s in-house catering. The ample on-site parking and large load-in entrance (full-size vehicles can pull onto the main stage) are what logistic-loving planners adore. Event designers will also dig specialty elements like a Glam Cam 360 photo booth, circular LED swing chairs, immersive LED wall experience, LED cube seating and other festive bells and whistles.

A new event concept arrived in Chamblee in November 2021. It’s part distillery, part gallery, with a 2,800-square-foot private event space, covered patio and cocktail lounge thrown in. The Distillery of Modern Art (DoMA) is the brainchild of Seth Watson, who came from the world of events and built the space with planners and designers in mind. The 15,000-square-foot venue is a modern art gallery with walls chockablock with local Atlanta artists’ installations. Several of the artists (Xie Caomin, Juliana Lupacchino and Josh Jalbert) have already contributed to DoMA’s bottle art—a perfect corporate gift or giveaway. Bartenders are known to pull drink garnishes right off the lounge’s “living wall” of freshly grown herbs. It’s these unexpected moments that will help create one-of-a-kind events in this new Atlanta venue.

Opening in December, Hyatt Centric Buckhead Atlanta promises to be an upscale boutique property for high-end events and parties. Close to Phipps Plaza and Lenox Square, this 16-floor new hotel adds 218 guestrooms, 3,700 square feet of meeting space and an outdoor heated plunge pool to Buckhead’s event offerings. Expect two F&B experiences from Top Chef judge and James Beard Award-winning chef Hugh Acheson, who owns several other restaurant concepts in Atlanta and around Georgia. The indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge on the 15th floor serves craft cocktails and shareable bites, and it has views that will wow even the most discerning of hard-to-impress partygoers.

Among West Midtown Atlanta’s newest crop of boutique hotels, Bellyard Hotel stands out with its luxurious aesthetic and attention to incorporating local elements throughout the design. It opened in May in this uber-trendy area of the city with 7,000 square feet of meeting and event space. At 280 square feet, The Boardroom seats eight guests, while two additional meeting rooms, ranging from 713 to 966 square feet, host 60 guests combined. Planners will love the prefunction space, which accommodates up to 40 guests. Drawbar is Bellyard’s bar and lounge and seats 98 guests inside with 62 outdoor seats on its terrace. Snag this space if you want guests to fill up their social media feeds with primo views of Atlanta’s skyline. Fill the Garden Courtyard with 100 guests when the weather is nice this spring, summer or fall. There’s no list of preferred vendors at Bellyard, but the hotel can accommodate F&B, audiovisual, tables and banquet chair requests.

The three gentlemen behind Buckhead’s award-winning restaurant Mission + Market introduced a new Italian concept to Sandy Springs in September. Tre Vele means “three sails,” and the trio is definitely setting a course for success in Atlanta. With a 3,500-square-foot dining room, 1,500-square-foot wraparound rooftop terrace, and a 600-square-foot market and café, this space is ideal for private corporate events, rehearsal dinners, VIP and holiday parties, team-building cooking classes and conference off-site dinners. Beloved Atlanta chef Ian Winslade is behind the traditional Italian dishes and seasonal offerings on the menu. Book the upstairs lounge with its separate bar, heaters and fire pits for a festive event under twinkle lights.

A recent renovation of all 500 guest rooms puts the Westin Atlanta Airport in a perfect place to host conferences and events whose planners need well-appointed room product while still being close to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport or the Georgia International Convention Center. The new interiors, outfitted with a greige, neutral color palette paired with geometric shapes and vibrant pops of color, complement the signature Westin Heavenly Bed and tranquil Heavenly Shower that come standard in each guest room. Amid the 10-story hotel is 22,290 square feet of event space across 26 meeting rooms. The largest breakout room stands at 800 square feet, and a Grand Ballroom has space for 800 guests. The hotel’s 24-hour airport shuttle service and food service will be a dream for any early-to-rise or late-flight-out attendees.

For wedding and event planners looking to spread out and take up some space, look no further than the 8,000 acres surrounding HorseMansion at Bouckaert Farm in Chattahoochee Hills. Owned by an Olympic equestrian who hosts international eventing competitions, HorseMansion is newly open to more corporate and social events. With rolling pastures, bucolic lakes and enchanting woodlands along 10 miles of riverfront, this unique event venue is only 30 minutes south of Atlanta and 20 minutes from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It boasts 9,000 square feet of space incorporating heartwood pine floors, exposed beams and high ceilings dripping in chandeliers. The owners ask that only serious spenders with $50,000 budgets and beyond inquire about dates. The property also has a list of preferred vendor relationships. Its largest hall can comfortably accommodate 350 guests at a seated banquet or be divided into smaller spaces for more intimate gatherings.