2022 Readers’ Choice Awards: The Top Hotels In Charleston
Our annual Readers’ Choice Awards are now in their 35th year, and they continue to recognize the travel experiences that our readers enjoy the most. These experiences range from hotels and airlines to cruises and islands. Plus: odes to the properties that keep you coming back, musings on great cities, and more. Plus: odes to the properties that keep you returning back.
The statistics back up what we already suspected: The number of people who are interested in traveling has never been higher, as evidenced by the over one-quarter million responses that were received to this year’s poll. This year’s list is a monument to the enduring strength of perennial favorites, through thick and thin, beginning with the best large city in the United States and ending with the best foreign airline. Think of it as an introduction to the next step, along with instructions on how to get there. The following is a list of the best hotels in Charleston, as chosen by readers of Traveler magazine.
10. The Charleston Place
The Charleston Place is a grand hotel, and as such, it makes large statements, which is just what one would expect. At the winter, they cover Market Street with fake snow; during Easter, they cover it with “grass” and distribute hundreds of colourful eggs for the children. The hotel lends a touch of mystery and enchantment to the neighbourhood as a whole. Its maze of shops and restaurants winds its way to a central lobby made of Italian marble, which features a gravity-defying 12-foot crystal chandelier and Georgian open-arm staircase. This building dominates an entire city block. Since the Beemok Hospitality Collection, which is based in Charleston, purchased the 433-room hotel in October 2021, it is no longer a Belmond property; however, you can still count on the following constants: genuinely cheerful service, classic design touches, fine dining with live jazz, and a 50-foot infinity pool with a retractable glass roof and sun deck.
9. The Wentworth Mansion and Estate
The Wentworth Mansion is impossible to miss because it is perched high above the Harleston Village neighbourhood and is only four blocks west of all the bustle that takes place downtown. It is an unabashedly opulent homage to the Second Empire building style. Hotel guests are the modern-day beneficiaries of original 1886 owner Francis Silas Rodgers’s spare-no-expense taste. Amenities such as 14-foot ceilings, Tiffany windows, hand-carved moulding, huge marble fireplaces, gargantuan pocket doors, crystal chandeliers, and a rooftop cupola with sweeping views out over the city are all present. The Circa 1886 restaurant is located in the carriage house that is a stone’s throw away, across the mansion’s formal grounds. In the morning, the restaurant is only available to guests, but in the evening, it is open to the public. Dinner is an exceptionally artistic rendition of traditional Lowcountry cuisine that is both polished and focused on local ingredients.
8. Spectator Hotel
When it first opened its doors in the summer of 2015, this boutique hotel located directly to the south of Charleston’s historic market was met with immediate acclaim. The lobby is a sight to behold, with features that evoke the grandeur of the 1920s while adding a contemporary touch. These highlights include a hand-painted bird mural, a stuffed white peacock, a waterfall wall that slowly cascades, and amethyst-colored draperies. The bar is the hotel’s strongest feature, both in terms of its appearance and the quality of the service it provides. Although bartender Allen Lancaster takes offence at the label “mixologist,” he is, in fact, rather creative, as seen by the fact that he regularly incorporates ingredients like as chamomile-lemongrass honey, grapefruit bitters, orange blossom, and rosewater scent into his concoctions.
7. The Vendue
Don’t be fooled by the hotel’s old facade; it has modern amenities that will blow your mind. The Vendue is never stagnant since it was conceived as a “art hotel” that is constantly progressing and changing and because it features rotating exhibits and a full-time docent. For example, in the past the theme has been “red and white,” which resulted in a large red gorilla being placed at the end of a sparkling white hallway that was crowded with controversial paintings, arresting sculptures, and wall hangings. We are unable to provide you with any information regarding what you can anticipate upon arrival because the focus of this endeavour is on progression and alteration. The hotel as a whole serves as a topic of discourse. Imagine Louis XIV, Alice in Wonderland, and Andy Warhol all attending the same tea party together.
6. The Loutrel
The Loutrel made a splash when it first appeared on the hotel scene in Charleston because to its obviously recent construction and enviable position just south of City Market. The small, fifty-room hotel exudes a chic and modern vibe throughout its appearance and atmosphere, and it makes an ongoing effort to bring the outside inside: Living orchids are used as accent pieces in every room, and calamondin orange topiaries are used to decorate the lobby. Seasonal floral arrangements feature cherry blossom branches with exquisite blossoms. The rooms are modern, uncluttered, and airy, and they have floor-to-ceiling windows with double-paneled sheers for further privacy. The “wow” factor of The Loutrel is its rooftop terrace, which above the old tree line of Charleston’s historic French Quarter. In the morning, people who get up early enjoy their coffee here while watching the sun illuminate a narrow section of the port. In the evening, they come back to have a cocktail.
5. The Ryder Hotel [Ryder Hotel]
This Charleston hotel is all about mixing things up a bit and savouring the voyage, and it got its inspiration from a character that Jack Kerouac created that was only partially fictional. (There is a photograph of a scantily clad woman strumming a guitar that is located in the stairway in case you forget that there is an underlying current when you first arrive.) At check-in, you are greeted with a welcome artisan cocktail that is blended to order specifically for you. The sounds of cocktail shakers and Motown beats keep toes tapping at the indoor/outdoor poolside location known as Little Palm. This is the case regardless of whether one is wearing flip-flops, acrylic heels, or nothing on their feet at all. And when it’s time to unwind, the La Bottega robes, walk-in showers, and open aesthetics in the rooms will ensure that you have all you need.
4. French Quarter Inn
As you make your way down a brick pathway off Church Street and into the French Quarter Inn, you will notice an ivy-covered archway that offers nice shade. This archway is only a few steps away from the market. This hotel was already welcoming and courting people even before there were wonderful hotels on what seemed like every corner in Charleston, and not much has changed in that aspect since then. The intention is that you will recognise that you have arrived at a unique location as soon as you do so (cue the Champagne greeting). The service is as personable as it has always been, with an admirable attention to detail (the staff remembers names and preferences), and a dose of modest politeness provided with each interaction.
3. The Dewberry Charleston
Since The Dewberry first opened its doors in the fall of 2016, the fig ivy that started at the building’s foundation has steadily worked its way upward, holding fast to the columns that support the ground level. The hotel now gives the impression that it is floating above a garden. Which is exactly what owners John and Jaimie Brown Dewberry had in mind, providing an unexpected lightness to the limewashed eight-story midcentury monolith they had created. You’ll adore its JFK–era cool factor: The well-liked Living Room is just beyond the enormous slabs of buffed marble and the pleasant cherrywood panelling with unlacquered brass inlay. Here, visitors can wait in a leather high-back chair that is upholstered in warm and inviting leather. The outdoor patio at the restaurant is always packed on the weekends for brunch, and locals frequent the tranquil spa for facials by Natura Bissé. The rooftop bar, with its citrus and olive trees and views of Charleston Harbor, will however continue to be the most popular attraction. Here, guests may enjoy sunset drinks, light bites, and sea breezes while taking in the scenery. The atmosphere is sophisticated and refined, yet at the same time, it is entertaining and not overly fussy. The Dewberry, located in one of the most historic cities in the United States, manages to both honour the past and seem energizingly contemporary at the same time.
2. Hotel Bennett
Because Charleston maintains its buildings low and its ancient church steeples high, hotel owner Michael Bennett had to fight all the way to the State Supreme Court for permission to build his lofty, nine-story hotel. Eventually, he was granted permission to do so. However, the view that can be enjoyed from the rooftop pool and bar is unparalleled: The sky and the ribbon of sparkling bay that encircles the lower peninsula converge at the line that denotes the horizon. Intelligent tourists will park themselves up here, relaxing into cushioned wicker furniture with a craft cocktail in hand to watch snowy egrets migrate in the fading sun. The lower levels of this large hotel are well worth exploring at your own leisure, from the expansive ballroom lounge located on the second floor to Camellias, the fashionable pink Champagne bar that is tucked off the breezy marble lobby. The pressed-tin ceiling of the bright corner bakery La Pâtisserie, combined with the fresh pastries, robust coffee, and stacks of newspapers, attracts customers from both inside and outside of Charleston. One further advantage of staying at this hotel is that it is directly connected to Marion Square, a public park that is famous for hosting a farmers market every Saturday. .
1. The Reestablishment of Order
The first indication that this hotel thinks beyond the box is a giant portrait of an Icelandic horse located at the check-in desk; the second indication is the photographs of Angel Oaks that stretch from floor to ceiling in the elevator, creating the atmosphere of a treehouse. The Restoration is a hotel that is particularly well-liked by New Yorkers due to its urban aesthetic, big rooms, and cutting-edge photography exhibitions. This hotel is a delight for stylish travellers. Be sure to get a reservation at the rooftop restaurant The Watch, where you can have crab cakes and raw oysters as part of the small nibbles menu. This establishment is all about the finer things in life, such as the grey bathrobes that feel like butter, the designer bicycles that have built-in baskets, and the intriguing coffee table books that line the bookshelf in the library next to a stuffed alligator skull. When you sign up for the Insider’s programme, you’ll be eligible for perks like a complimentary continental breakfast, which will be brought to your room with a gentle knock on the door and placed within a wicker picnic basket with a leather clasp. Because of how appealing they are, the employees have on occasion been required to warn the customers not to sneak off with them.
