Jill Thomas is a rambler, traveler, and storyteller with a big laugh who lives part-time in Pensacola, USA and the rest of the time in Salt Spring Island, Canada.
A little way off The Beltline, near the Ponce City Market, you'll find one of Atlanta Georgia's (USA) most iconic amusements - The Clermont Hotel.
The building is over a century old and was constructed as an apartment complex in 1924. In the late 1930s, it became the Clermont Motor Lodge, a somewhat disreputable place to spend a night. Rumors have it that Al Capone used it as a hideout, as did many traveling bands during their concert stops. The motor lodge closed on New Year's Eve in 2009.
The Clermont Hotel is easy to spot. The six-story, century-old brick building is topped with a sixty-five-foot radio tower bearing the hotel's name in giant red block letters. This original relic was resurrected at the hotel's splashy reopening in 2018.
We entered the hotel through the groovy, 70s-inspired lobby decorated with low-slung velvet couches and leafy houseplants. Keep an eye out for quotes by Atlanta's rap duo Outkast etched into nooks and crannies. Apparently, you get a free PBR beer if you check in, but we didn't come to sleep.
We started with a witching hour cocktail on the rooftop bar. Expect an astroturfed Caribbean vibe with white oversized outdoor wicker furniture and twinkling string lights against a backdrop of skyline views. The crowd is urban, stylish, and super fun to watch. If you're a sunset seeker or an Instagram posting addict, you'll like this place. I got 2% more hip by having a few drinks there.
We then waited for our dinner table in a cozy velvet-soaked lobby bar serving hipster craft cocktails in heavy-cut crystal glasses (I love that). After that, we enjoyed a leisurely wine-soaked dinner in the hotel's basement restaurant - a French American brasserie named after Tiny Lou, a famed exotic dancer from the hotel's yesteryears.
I rarely use words like outstanding to describe a restaurant meal (especially a hotel restaurant), but this place earns this moniker. The devilled eggs and steak frites were so freaking good, and I felt like I was sitting in a stylized dining room from an era long before I was old enough to eat out.
After dinner, we visited Atlanta's most infamous strip club - the Clermont Lounge in the hotel's basement. It felt a little like a rebellious decision, but how could we not - it's famously known throughout the city and as one of the best dive bars in the USA.
The Clermont Lounge has been featured on various TV shows like Travel Channel's "The Layover," Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Comedy Central, to name a few. It is also known to be frequented by many top celebrities, including Bill Murray, Robert De Niro, P!nk, Carey Hart, Kid Rock, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, and others. Anthony Bourdain was a famous regular.
We paid $20 for each cover charge, got hand stamps from the bearded biker outlaw bouncer, and went in. Forty-eight hours later, I still could not get the images out of my head.
The Clermont Lounge attracts all types of people, with a mainstream crowd mixing in with a beautiful array of oddballs. There are as many women as men and lots of couples on dates.
Embracing inclusivity and empowerment, the strippers are women of all sizes, colors, abilities, and, famously, ages (some have worked there for over 25 years), and the audiences are there for the fun of the show. It felt more like a burlesque show than anything more untoward.
I found it unorthodox, blush-worthy, and yet strangely endearing. On the way out, I bought me a T-shirt that said, "I saw your mother dancing at the Clermont Hotel."
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