How I Ended Up Ordering an Olhausen Sheraton Pool Table in Atlanta

Some projects make you an expert in something you never planned to learn. For me, in 2024, that something was pool tables.

I manage purchasing for a 200-person company. Most of my work is boring in the best way: chairs, monitors, coffee service, maintenance contracts. So when the Atlanta office renovation landed on my desk with a dedicated game room in the plans, I figured it would be a nice break from the usual procurement grind.

I was wrong. It was a different kind of grind.

The Assignment

Our leadership approved a new employee lounge and wellness space at the Atlanta location. The original request list sounded simple enough: a pool table, a table tennis table, a small collection of board games, plus some upgraded gym equipment.

If you've ever managed a project like this, you know the trick is not the products themselves. It's delivery, installation, room dimensions, and the quiet disagreements between stakeholders who all want something different.

When I took over purchasing in 2020, I made plenty of mistakes. One that stuck with me: I once split an order to save $60 online, and then paid $35 in return shipping plus two hours of my time fixing the mess. The vendor who couldn't handle a simple replacement cost us more than the original savings. That lesson shaped how I handled this project.

Why I Kept Coming Back to Olhausen

I started the pool table research the way most people do: I asked around and searched online. After about an hour of reading, I narrowed my focus to Olhausen. The name kept coming up in conversations with local dealers and facility managers who had bought durable tables before.

The problem was I didn't just want any Olhausen. I wanted one that would fit the space, survive heavy use, and actually look like it belonged in a professional office. So I typed a search that felt very specific: "Olhausen Sheraton pool table Atlanta."

That search led me to a dealer in the metro area. I say this as someone who has purchased from vendors in 10 different categories: a local dealer made all the difference.

Looking back, I could have ordered from an online retailer and saved a few hundred dollars. But the Sheraton is not the kind of table you want delivered by a freight company and assembled by whoever shows up first. It needed to be measured, leveled, and installed by people who knew what they were doing.

The Sheraton vs. The Classic

When I visited the showroom, I had a decision I didn't expect.

On one side was an Olhausen Classic pool table. Dark oak, simple lines, no-nonsense. It looked like the table you'd find in a serious billiards hall. On the other side was the Olhausen Sheraton pool table. The Sheraton had more refined cabinet details and felt warmer in the room.

I’m not a cabinetmaker, so I can’t speak to the joinery or woodworking. What I can tell you from a buyer’s perspective is how the dealer talked about them.

“The Classic is a workhorse,” he said. “The Sheraton is the one people treat a little differently. In an office, that matters.”

That stayed with me. I knew how our old office break room looked after five years. The cheap table we had before was covered in dings, and no one respected it. The Classic was tempting because it was practical. But the Sheraton gave the room a different energy.

I should add that I did almost order the Olhausen Classic pool table. It was easier to justify in a spreadsheet. But the Sheraton was the one I kept walking back to.

We ordered the Olhausen Sheraton pool table and scheduled delivery for the same week as the rest of the game room furniture. I thought the hard part was over.

It wasn't.

What Almost Went Sideways

My first mistake happened after the table deposit. I got a quote from the dealer for accessories: balls, cues, a cover, and a rack. The total was reasonable, but I found the same package online for less. Naturally, I ordered it separately.

Let me tell you how that ended. The online shipment arrived with a damaged cue tip. The box looked like someone had stacked a forklift on top of it. I spent a day coordinating the return and replacement. When I added up the time and shipping, I didn't save a single dollar. I actually lost money.

The dealer’s quote would have included the accessories in the same delivery. No extra freight. No second box. No phone calls to a support line where the agent kept repeating, “I understand your frustration.”

Trust me on this one: bundle what you can when you're buying a large item. It's not always the cheapest quote on paper, but it can be the cheapest one in real life.

The Other Rabbit Holes

Once the Sheraton was secured, I moved on to the rest of the room. That's where the project got weird.

For the board game shelf, a coworker suggested buying everything online. But I wanted a curated set, not whatever algorithm recommended first. A quick search for "board game store near me" connected me with a local shop that actually stocked games people were asking for. The owner helped me pick a balanced mix of strategy games, party games, and two-player options. It cost roughly the same as buying from a big retailer, and the games were in stock the same week.

Then came the table tennis debate. Someone on the project team asked, “is table tennis an olympic sport?” I thought I knew the answer, but I wanted to be sure before I put it in a proposal. According to the official Olympic website (olympics.com), table tennis has been an Olympic medal sport since the 1988 Seoul Games. Yes, it's an Olympic sport. That fact helped justify spending more on a table that would actually feel good to play on.

The gym request was another world entirely. Our facilities lead asked for a commercial-grade leg press. When he said "leg press machine gym," I assumed that phrase would give him what he needed. It didn't. The search results were a mix of light home equipment and serious plate-loaded machines, and the differences in weight capacity were massive.

I don’t have hard data on how many leg presses our employees will do each week. What I can say from experience is that commercial gym equipment needs to be rated for repeated use by many people. A cheap unit might last six months in a busy office gym. A proper one lasts years.

That was the theme of the whole project. The cheapest option looked fine until it was in the room. The better option was the one that handled real use.

What I’d Tell Another Buyer

Looking back at the project, there are three things I’d tell anyone who’s about to buy an Olhausen table, or any big piece of office recreation equipment.

First, buy from a dealer who will measure, install, and level the table. I don't have exact nationwide pricing data, but I can tell you this: the quote from our Atlanta dealer included things that online prices didn't. Freight, delivery, setup, and the person who knows how to handle a slate table properly. You don't want to hand that job to a general moving crew.

Second, compare the models in person if you can. The Sheraton and the Classic are both Olhausen. Both felt solid. But the right table for your space depends on the vibe you're trying to create. The Classic felt more traditional. The Sheraton felt like it belonged in a hotel lounge or a serious executive retreat.

Third, think about the rest of the room before you order extras. If you're also buying a table tennis table, board games, or gym equipment, make a list and look for one vendor that can handle as much as possible. It doesn't always work out, but when it does, it saves you from exactly the kind of headache I made for myself.

The Olhausen Sheraton pool table has been in our Atlanta office for a few months now. People are careful with it, not because they're afraid of it, but because it feels like a real piece of furniture. The table tennis table gets used every day. The board game shelf is actually being used during lunch breaks.

And the leg press machine gym equipment? It's still working. No rattles. No regrets.

The fundamentals of procurement haven’t changed: price matters, but so does the full cost of a bad decision. What was true in 2020 is still true in 2025. Sometimes the product that creates the least friction is worth the extra money.

I just wish someone had told me that before I bought the cue set online.