Exhibit 5.1

                [Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft Letterhead]

                                                January 19, 1999

Lodgian, Inc.
3445 Peachtree Road, N.E., Suite 700
Atlanta, Georgia 30326

Re:   Lodgian, Inc. Registration Statement on Form S-8

Ladies and Gentlemen:

            We have acted as counsel to Lodgian,  Inc.,  a Delaware  corporation
(the  "Company"),  in  connection  with  the  preparation  and  filing  with the
Securities  and  Exchange   Commission  (the   "Commission")  of  the  Company's
Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the "Registration Statement"),  relating to,
among other things, the offer and sale of up to an aggregate of 4,005,000 shares
(the "Shares") of its Common Stock, par value $.01 per share,  issuable pursuant
to the Lodgian 1998  Short-Term  Incentive  Compensation  Plan (the  "Short-Term
Plan),  the Lodgian 1998 Stock Incentive Plan (the "Stock Plan") and the Lodgian
Non-Employee  Directors' Stock Plan (the "Non-Employee  Plan," and together with
the Short-Term Plan and the Stock Plan, the "Plans").  The Plans have been filed
as exhibits to the Registration Statement.

            In  rendering  the  opinions  set  forth  below,  we  have  examined
originals,  or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction,  of
such  documents,  corporate  records  and other  instruments  as we have  deemed
necessary or appropriate.  Based upon the foregoing and upon such examination of
law as we have deemed necessary,  we are of the opinion that (1) the Shares have
been duly authorized under the Company's  Certificate of  Incorporation  and (2)
when issued and paid for as described in the Registration Statement,  the Shares
will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

            The opinions expressed herein are limited to the General Corporation
Law of the State of Delaware.

            We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Registration  Statement.  In giving this consent, we do not thereby concede that
we are within  the  category  of persons  whose  consent is  required  under the
Securities  Act of  1933,  as  amended,  or the  Rules  and  Regulations  of the
Commission thereunder.


                                Yours very truly,

                                    /s/ Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft