The Athens Holiday Inn was my home-away-from-home for a 3-night business trip. It is conveniently located to downtown Athens and the University of Georgia campus begins across the street. A car would not be required to access the downtown area.

This property has 306 rooms, 253 of them nonsmoking. Standard accommodations are in the Courtyard/Central Tower and deluxe accommodations are in the North/Executive Towers. I had a Courtyard room, which consisted of all rooms having exterior doors on two stories. The rooms faced a small garden area, which had chairs, tables, and a small fountain. The landscaping was nice, with flowering trees in full bloom and a variety of brightly colored flowers.

My room had a queen-size bed, and when I walked in, it looked comfortable and homey. The bedspread was slightly turned down, with four pillows standing up against the headboard in a diagonal line as if to say, "Come, kick off your shoes and rest a spell." It also had a desk and chair, another "easy" chair, and a three-drawer armoire, which contained a swivel pullout tray for the TV. This was especially nice since you could position the television for easy viewing from the bed. There were two phones, one on the desk and one on the nightstand, with no charges for local calls. Wake-up calls could be programmed in through the desk phone, high-speed Internet service was available in all rooms, and a USA Today newspaper was at your door every morning.

The bathroom had a tub/shower combo with plenty of towels/washcloths, and there were complimentary containers of shampoo/lotion in case I had forgotten them. Fresh-smelling, soft, clean towels were left every day, another just-like-home amenity. An iron, ironing board, hairdryer, and small coffeemaker were also in the room.

An indoor pool, whirlpool, sundeck, and exercise room is also available at this location. Several people were taking advantage of the pool and whirlpool, even though it was in the mid-90’s outside. The air-conditioned exercise room faced the pool, and while it appeared small, it had treadmills, weights, a water cooler, and TV.

An on-site restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with room service available from 6:30am to 11pm. I never ate at the restaurant, so I cannot vouch for the food quality or prices. Continental breakfasts are available to those who have rooms in the North and Executive Towers.

The Athens Holiday Inn accepts pets under 25 pounds in the Courtyard rooms only. There is plenty of parking, and if you are in the Courtyard rooms, parking is directly in front of your room. An additional parking lot is across the street.

This hotel was about customer service! Being recipients of the Excellence award, their in-room comment card said it all: if you can answer NO to any of these questions, we want to hear from you now… while we have an opportunity to meet your needs. Now that’s what I call customer service.