I know several people who have stayed at various hotels in this area for meetings or access to the a

BBall--I'm a local so can't comment on that La Quinta but I don't recommend the airport area except for an overnight stay between flights. If you're going to be in Atlanta, you might want to check out the Midtown area.
yes, midtown is lovely to stay. if you have a car, it will be about 15-20 min drive from midtown to the airport. If you prefer to stay near the airport, there are all kinds of hotels - marriott, hilton embassy suites (where every room is a suite, american express travel service and used to have free breakfast happy hour every day - check that out). I believe that Quinta (never stayed there, though) is a lower quality hotel maybe like Holiday Inn?
The Sullivan Road area is an island of hotels american express travel service between the airport I-85 and I-285. It has several hotels, a couple of restaurants, access to the highways, and airplane takeoffs/landings. That's about it. Not a neighborhood or the type of place that is enjoyable to walk around.
I know several people who have stayed at various hotels in this area for meetings or access to the airport, but not the LQ. They reported no problems. The area around the airport is not the best part of town, for sure, but I think the Sullivan Road area is "better" than the Old National Highway area of hotels. Not sure about the Virginia Avenue area--haven't been around there for awhile.