My husband travels a lot for work. Often it’s to a far-flung location, but every now and then he goes somewhere that’s within driving distance. And as homeschoolers, my kids don’t have to skip school in order to go on a little mid-February vacation. Their school hops into the car and goes right along with them. So when Rockford found out he’d be spending a few days at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, there wasn’t much discussion about whether or not we’d be going along, because the Omni is right on Centennial Park, which is where a good bit of the Awesome Family-Friendly Stuff in the city is located.

Being within walking distance of our planned outings was a wonderful thing. I don’t much enjoy driving, and I especially don’t like it in high-traffic conditions. From what I can tell, there is no such thing as light traffic in Atlanta. Not having to drive to the majority of our destinations made it a much more relaxing trip for me, which I’m sure in turn made it more enjoyable for the children.

The full name of the hotel we stayed at is “Omni Hotel at CNN Center.” And CNN Center? That’s where CNN is located. There are actually two Omni buildings, and we were in the one that doesn’t actually house the CNN studios. A walkway joins the two, though, which made it very easy to walk over there and enjoy the food court. I didn’t spot any television personalities, but I’m pretty sure Anderson Cooper is the only one I’d recognize anyway.

But back to the hotel.

The service at the Omni is excellent. They have little backpacks and toys for kids at check-in, and the front desk guy remembered Poppy and Pete’s names when we walked by a few hours later. Oh, and the nightly turndown service? That was a lovely surprise. Some of the experience, though, was a little too indulgent for my comfort level. I felt really awkward, for example, when the valet insisted on waiting next to my open car door while I buckled in the kids so he could close the door once I got in. Even after I asked him not to wait. I understand that the employees are expected to offer a certain level of service, but it made me feel very weird. (Also, it makes me feel very weird to complain about being pampered. But I will deal with my issues another time.)

This is not to say that I wouldn’t stay there again. I most definitely would, and I’d love to go back to Atlanta sometime when Rockford didn’t have to spend his days working. To that end, I did a little research on the mid-week prices at the hotels on or near Centennial Park. I picked a week in the middle of March and looked at rooms that would comfortably accommodate our family of four.

Omni Hotel at CNN Center.

Two double beds for $179 a night ($152 if you pre-pay in full). Parking is $30 daily.

This is the type of room we stayed in, and it was big enough to put a sleeping bag on the floor for one small person. (I don’t know whether or not the Omni would condone that, but that’s what we did.) The space was sufficient, but we either had to let the kids stay up really late or we had to go to bed super early, since we were all in one room. The Omni doen’t offer any sort of free breakfast, so we packed breakfast foods. We also packed lunches and snacks, because I do not enjoy spending money.

Atlanta Marriott Downtown.

Two double beds for $179 a night ($159 if it’s pre-paid). Parking is $28 daily. I didn’t see any mention of a free breakfast, so my guess would be they don’t offer it.

Embassy Suites Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park.

A two-room suite with two double beds and a pull-out sofa for $199 a night ($169 pre-paid). I couldn’t find parking info.

This would probably be the way we’d go in the future if we were able to go again, because the two rooms would mean Rockford and I could stay up after the kids went to bed. And they also offer a free breakfast, which would mean I wouldn’t have to bring quite as much food.

Holiday Inn Atlanta Downtown

Two double beds for $90-$130 a night (the rate goes up on Wednesday, for some reason). I couldn’t find parking or breakfast information for the Holiday Inn, either, but the site does say that “kids eat free.”

Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta Downtown

Two queen beds for $159 a night ($143 advance purchase). Parking is $18 a day, which seems to be a steal. The parking rates at these places are atrocious.

Twelve Hotel Centennial Park

OK, this is my “Hooray! We won the lottery!” option. They have a 1,200-square-foot suite with a king bed in one bedroom, two doubles in the second bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. And it’s only $359 a night! I don’t think the savings that the in-room kitchen would provide would be quite enough to cover the price difference between this and the Holiday Inn, but a girl can dream. Also, it isn’t actually all that walkable to the park and its surrounding attractions, so it wouldn’t be as awesome anyway. Although if I had won the lottery, I would just hire a driver to cart us about. So maybe it would be awesome. But I don’t actually play the lottery, so I don’t think I need to spend any more time worrying about it.

Tune in tomorrow for more about what we actually did in Atlanta!