‘We’re unique.’ See inside the first hotel on the Georgia National Fairgrounds

The newest hotel in Perry is not only the first to ever be built on the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter, but it’s also unique to the Marriott brand in that it’s tailored to the fair site.

The dual branded hotel — Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites and TownePlace Suites by Marriott — quietly opened Dec. 19. A grand opening is expected in April.

“If you’re even a regular Marriott guest, you have a preconceived notion of what a Fairfield by Marriott is and what a TownPlace Suites by Marriott is, and they’re fine brands, and they’re fine hotels all across the country and across the world,” said Shawn Kosloff, the hotel’s general manager.

“But you come up to this building … We’re unique in design … This is a one of a kind lobby … We’re a different level of service. We have a restaurant and bar. We have a large gathering area out back. We have 65,000-square-feet of meeting convention space attached to us right here. And you don’t see those at a typical Fairfield or TownPlace,” Kosloff said.

The hotel is part of Retreat Hotels & Resorts, which also has several hotel properties on Jekyll Island. Retreat president JJ Singh, a Democrat, also serves in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Kosloff has been in the hotel industry for about 30 years. He’s run hotels everywhere from Maine to Wyoming to Louisiana and all points in between.

“I came up through the ranks as a food and beverage controller, and then assistant controller, controller, general manager, worked at corporate office for a few venues as well,” Kosloff said. “Left the industry for about 12 years and had my own marketing firm for search engine marketing and search engine optimization, and did that. And when the tides turned on that, I got back into hotels, and I’ve been doing that since.”

Kosloff took The Telegraph on a tour of the new 129-room hotel, which has 63 Fairfield rooms geared for your standard overnight stay and 66 TownePlace Suites rooms designed with a kitchen and other amenities for extended stays of three to seven nights or even longer.

The long-awaited hotel was years in the making, with Retreat working closely with the fairgrounds, the city of Perry, and other stakeholders to make it a reality, he said.

Come take a look inside the new hotel

Step inside the hotel into a large lobby and seating area, with the reception desk on the left and a breakfast nook for hotel guests on the right. The hot breakfast is a hotel amenity.

Inspired by the region’s agrarian heritage and equine culture, the hotel offers a casual, farmhouse style vibe. Photos of farmers at work hang on the walls, along with wall art of row crops. Horseshoes are scattered in the breakfast nook, an old milk jug doubles as a vase and a vintage aluminum coffee pot rests on a table in the large seating area.

The seating area extends into the hotel’s 1824 Kitchen and Bar and dining area that’s open not only to hotel guests but also to the public. The restaurant’s name is a nod to the city of Perry, which was founded in 1824.

For now, the restaurant offers a limited menu for dinner, with a new menu expected to drop when dining opens for lunch and dinner — likely at the end of February or early March.

The casual menu offers American fare with hamburgers, wraps, wings, nachos, salads and such. A sneak peek at the coming menu adds more appetizers such as pulled pork and other signature sliders, onion rings and soft pretzels.

The coming menu also is expected to include entrees such as grilled pork chops, lemon pepper chicken, a pasta bowl, and fish and chips. Additional burger choices include a garden veggie burger. There’s also a fried chicken sandwich and a flatbread pizza in the mix.

Next year, the hotel may change the menu to tie more into the agricenter by offering more beef, pork and chicken dishes.

“That’s a possibility,” Kosloff said. “We don’t want to get stagnant.”

Here are more amenities at the new hotel

Behind the restaurant and bar area, doors open to a spacious fenced-in seating area around and near the large hotel pool, which features a whirlpool.

The outdoor seating includes swings, rocking chairs, covered tables and chairs, covered picnic tables, a fire pit and three Weber grills. More tables and lounge chairs are around the pool.

Head back into the lobby to find an air-conditioned corridor to the Miller-Murphy-Howard Building where all sorts of events take place during the year from the Peach Blossom Cluster Dog Show to Vintage Market Days to the Mistletoe Market.

During the Georgia National Fair, the building is home to arts, crafts and culinary competitions.

The building offers 65,000-square-feet of meeting and convention space, a win-win for the hotel and the fairgrounds .

“We have the opportunity to help bring business to the ag. center, and they can help bring business to us,” Kosloff said.

A hall of fame will showcase the fairgrounds

The corridor is open, with plans for it to soon showcase the history of the Georgia National Fairgrounds.

“We call it the Hall of Fame right now,” Kosloff said. “It’s been a partner project for three years with the fairgrounds staff to pore through tens of thousands of photos of the history of the fairgrounds and the fair ...

“We’ll have display boxes with photos and history of the entire Georgia National Fairgrounds that will go from our property over into Miller-Murphy-Howard (Building).”

Other amenities include an 1,100-square-foot fitness center with Peloton equipment, free weights and yoga mats; guest laundry facilities; and six electric vehicle charging stations with the capability to add more as needed over the years.

The hotel is also pet friendly.

“We’re pet friendly to cats and dogs only and not livestock, so please don’t bring your cow into the guest room,” Kosloff joked.

What to expect when the 2026 GNF opens in October

When the 2026 Georgia National Fair gets closer, guests are expected to be able to purchase one or two day fair passes as part of a booking package, or they can buy passes directly from the fair, Kosloff said.

Hotel booking hasn’t yet opened for the fair , though.

“We’re going to work with the fairgrounds on some of their needs for hotel rooms first, and then we’ll open it up to the public to book,” Kosloff said.

Fairground VIPs are expected to get a discount on hotel rates during the fair, he said.

Additionally, with the purchase of an armband from the hotel, the 1824 Kitchen and Bar and the hotel pool will be accessible to the public in addition to hotel guests during the fair, Kosloff said.

First guests & occupancy rates

The hotel’s first guests were traveling to Florida for Christmas, having found out about the hotel on the Marriott Bonvoy app, according to Kosloff.

Meanwhile, the first guests at the 1824 Kitchen and Bar were Perry residents, he said.

Kosloff said he was surprised by occupancy rates for hotels in the market during the 11-day fair last year, at only 49% during the week and 72% during the weekends.

But he expects the hotel to sell out for the upcoming fair Oct. 8-18.

“We’re hoping that, with us being on the fairgrounds, people want to stay and play and not have to go through the parking lot traffic here, and will stay with us,” he said.

“But the fair draws a lot of local people in for the day. It doesn’t draw as many people staying overnight as you would think.”

The 36th annual Georgia National Fair in 2025 welcomed a record-breaking 612,706 visitors, according to the Georgia Farm Bureau.

Being part of the community

The hotel expects to work with the Perry-based HALO Group to employ adults with disabilities, as well as possibly with another group to employ veterans, Kosloff said.

“One thing that’s important to us is we’re not just a business that pops up but are a part of the community,” he said.

Hotel reservations & contact info

To make reservations, the hotel isn’t hard to find under its more official names on the Marriott website: Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Perry Georgia National Fairgrounds and the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Perry Georgia National Fairgrounds.

The local numbers for the hotel are 478-732-1149 for Fairfield and 478-732-1148 for TownePlace. Though it sits on the fair site, the hotel has its own address of 100 General Courtney Hodges Blvd. It easily can be seen by motorists traveling along Interstate 75.

This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 5:00 AM.