Additions to downtown Atlanta’s lodging scene prior to 2026 FIFA World Cup activities won’t come exclusively in new buildings. 

Company reps send details and the first images this week for what’s now branded JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown, a glassy high-rise at 45 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard that operated for more than 15 years as W Atlanta – Downtown, about a block east of Centennial Olympic Park. 

Now operated by Denver-based owner Stonebridge Companies, the property is undergoing a “complete transformation” that’s set to finish sometime this spring—at least several weeks prior to Atlanta’s first 2026 FIFA World Cup matches in mid-June. 

Plans for a renovated lobby and reception area at the downtown Atlanta hotel, originally opened in 2009. Courtesy of JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown

The 45 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard hotel property in December. Google Maps

JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown’s debut will follow the opening of a ground-up new hotel project, Moxy Atlanta Downtown, on the opposite side of downtown’s signature park, and the grand opening of Centennial Yard’s 18-story Hotel Phoenix late last year. 

Project officials say the W’s conversion will “redefine luxury in the heart of the city” and reimagine every space across the hotel portion of the 25-story tower, which is topped with some of Atlanta’s most lavishly modern condos. It will offer 237 guest rooms. 

Texas-based Looney & Associates architects led renovations inspired by Atlanta’s verdant tree canopy, diversity, and railway heritage, according to an announcement Tuesday.  

Key features will include a 360-degree lobby bar, an opened-up and Italian-inspired lobby restaurant and expanded market, and what’s described as one of Atlanta’s largest executive lounges for guests. On the hotel’s rooftop, an all-weather pool with skyline views remains. 

Courtesy of JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown

The hotel will also include 24 wellness-focused rooms that mark the U.S. debut of JW Marriott’s Mindful Floor, with designs that lean into “calming neutral palettes and softly layered lighting to foster rest, rejuvenation, and presence,” per project reps.  

Stonebridge purchased the downtown hotel property in 2023 as it teetered on the brink of foreclosure. It had originally opened in 2009 and marked the last of four hotels in metro Atlanta that once operated under the swanky W flag.  

Courtesy of JW Marriott Atlanta Downtown

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