Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/frederic_jg/ Member of the ATL Insider Flickr Group Atlanta, Georgia, Hotel Hyatt Regency, Architect John Portman, opened in 1967. as the world's first atrium hotel. When it first opened, visitor lined up to see the hotel, described by one critic as "a concrete monster". On the top of the hotel had landed the jetson's flying saucer 265 Peachtree Street Northeast, John C. Portman, Jr. (born December 4, 1924) is an American architect and real estate developer known for creation of the multi-storied atrium hotel. A native of Walhalla, South Carolina, he graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1950. Portman also serves as the inspiration for the fictional character Charlie Croker, in Tom Wolfe's novel, A Man in Full. Portman scored an immediate popular success with his innovative atrium hotel