Mandarin Oriental Atlanta To Be Rebranded As Waldorf Astoria

Published: November 1, 2018

Here’s some great new for Hilton Honors fans. It’s being reported that the Mandarin Oriental Atlanta will become the Waldorf Astoria Atlanta as of December 7, 2018. Waldorf Astoria is Hilton’s luxury brand, meaning that guests will be able to earn and redeem Honors points for stays here.

Mandarin Oriental issued the following statement regarding this to Fox5 Atlanta:

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has received notice of termination of its management agreement for Mandarin Oriental, Atlanta and will cease managing the hotel from 7 December 2018. The termination is consequent to the sale of the hotel by iStar Financial Inc.

Mandarin Oriental has successfully positioned this award-winning hotel as a market leader in the city and is proud of the value the brand has added to the asset since 2012.

While Hilton hasn’t yet commented, the hotel is expected to undergo a significant refresh, so it’s possible there may be some work being done over the coming months.

While both Hilton and Mandarin Oriental have loyalty programs, the Hilton Honors program is certainly more robust, so I’d consider this to be a big win.

This is the second US Mandarin Oriental property to be rebranded as a Waldorf Astoria in a short period. The Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas was also recently rebranded as a Waldorf Astoria.

The way I view it, one of the major downsides of the Hilton Honors loyalty program has been Hilton’s lack of true luxury hotels. However, I feel like this is an area in which they’ve been improving lately, both by building new properties, and also taking over existing properties.

This doesn’t seem to be the first time that Waldorf Astoria has tried to get a property in Atlanta. In 2016 it was expected that the (at the time planned) 70-story No2 Opus Place in Midtown Atlanta would be branded as a Waldorf Astoria hotel and residences, though that development ended up opting to go entirely residential, and Waldorf Astoria didn’t end up being involved.

Has anyone stayed at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas? What do you make of the transition?

(Tip of the hat to @2GaysAndAPuppy)

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Justin Guest

November 5, 2018, 10:18 am

I stayed in the MO Las Begas before and after the transition, and it was pretty much the same hotel. I used AmEx FHR benefits is most cases, so you may see a difference if you have Hilton status: - The champagne machine was still there - The bar and restaurant were still excellent both in service offering and in appearance - The rooms still had most of the same amenities with the exception of a little box of bath salts by the tub that was now gone - I do miss the MO pens, but if, like me, you really liked that style of pen, Four Seasons still uses them - Hilton gave me far fewer billing issues. Overall, both were nice but I’d still pick the Four Seasons for that level of hotel.

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Credit Guest

November 2, 2018, 2:31 pm

Mandarin Oriental is a great chain. Hilton is about as interesting as your average Chevy.

Lex Guest

November 2, 2018, 12:33 pm

@ethan G: MO Boston is actually owned by MOHG. They beat the Hilton to secure the Boston property. Here's an article from 2016 about the purchase: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2016/01/mandarin_oriental_sells_for_140m_in_record_deal As for the hotels in SF, Vegas and Atlanta these are MO managed properties and does not hold any stake in the hotel. MO Boca Raton I think is already under construction.

William Guest

November 2, 2018, 9:01 am

Mandarin Oriental DC is nice but in such a weird location

VX_Flier Guest

November 2, 2018, 3:46 am

The Mandarin Oriental LV was one of my favorite hotels - I proposed to my fiancé in the lobby in front of those tall floor-to-ceiling windows. The service was the best in Vegas, bar none. I’m sad that the management has changed, but I’ll always remember how beautiful and modern it was. It literally was the 21-century version of the Nakatomi building from Die Hard (Minus Bruce Willis and European thieves, of course).

Mandarin Oriental Atlanta To Be Rebranded As Waldorf Astoria

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