[UPDATE] Treatment Center Purchases Former Hampton Inn and Rusty Nail: Dive Bar Demolished

The Hampton Inn at 1975 North Druid Hills Road, an area landmark for more than three decades, abruptly closed in late March.  The 111 key hotel was reportedly stripped of its "flag" with signage at the hotel suggesting it was undergoing renovations and would reopen soon.  Information released recently confirms that the hotel had posted signage that was entirely misleading.  

Demolished Rusty Nail in foreground, former Hampton Inn in background

Hampton Inn, known today as Hampton by Hilton, is a limited-service hotel from Hilton Worldwide. AD1, the operator of the Brookhaven property, seems to have continued to accept reservations for their hotel, even as its closure was imminent.  A Google review for the hotel from late March reads:

"Had a room here only to learn it had CLOSED 3 days prior, March 26, 2024. Signs have been removed from structure."  

Skyland Trail, a nonprofit mental health treatment organization based in Atlanta, purchased the property in May.  The organization, with an existing campus on a contiguous parcel, reportedly sought to acquire the roughly 1.8 acre Hampton Inn property to expand its current main campus.  It's unclear what Skyland Trail has planned for the circa 1990 hotel building, but the organization will reportedly use the property to accommodate its growing mental health treatment services.  

“This campus expansion will help us improve efficiency and expand our mental health treatment services,” Beth Finnerty, president and CEO of Skyland Trail, said in a statement. 

Skyland Trail paid $17 million for the hotel property. The seller, Hollywood, Florida-based AD1 Global Hotels, purchased the property, which includes an outdoor pool, for $12.95 million in December 2018, according to DeKalb County property records. 

This past December Skyland Trail, via Unified Clairmont, LLC, also purchased the former Rusty Nail property (2900 Buford Highway).  The Rusty Nail, a landmark dive bar in the area for nearly fifty years, closed this past September. Unified Clairmont paid $750,000 for the .7 acre parcel, according to county records.   

In addition to their property at 1961 North Druid Hills Road, Skyland Trail operates facilities at 1903 North Druid Hills Road and others on Clairmont Road, Skyland Trail, and Dresden Drive.  

Following its closure, Hilton still has several Hampton by Hilton properties in metro Atlanta including two properties on Piedmont Road in Buckhead, one on Clairemont Avenue in Decatur and another on Northlake Parkway in Tucker.