The Charleston Place — Hotel in Charleston

EDIT: I’m a frequent guest at The Charleston Place- no longer Belmond. It transitioned to new owners, a local Charleston corp.) Unfortunately, customer service, check-in and guest experience has suffered. I booked through my Amex Business Platinum travel desk 3 wks ago anticipating dropping my son off at college. I walked into a desolate Lobby (l could have taken the furniture, flowers, and anything from the exposed Bar) no Valet or Front Desk staff. I went back outside to tell my son to get a cart and load our bags himself. I came back inside when l finally saw a young lady at the desk and asked if l could check in. She (Anna) left for the back and brought out a young man (Charlie) and asked him which terminal he was using, then HE greeted me. I gave him a printed copy of my reservation, my ID and a CC card, at which time Anna began looking at his terminal for my reservation. I explained that we called earlier in the day to confirm a late arrival and requested no feathers- we arrived at 1:30am. After back and forth banter we had no room upgrade except for a higher floor (which didn’t matter) and the usual amenities as an Amex platinum member. There was unnecessary drama when l asked for a room upgrade or Club level. Anna said there was an additional $250 per night. I asked if there was any rooms available to upgrade and she said “yes, there are a few.” I repeated this twice and my exact words were “Are you making ‘The Decision’ not to upgrade a REGULAR customer to a bigger room OR to the club level when you have rooms available?” Her words were “Yes, that’s correct, l am.” When l got to my room and saw no walk in shower (important for us- just had ankle surgery) so had to climb in and out of a deep tub, limited space 400 sq ft., no closet to store college belongings and luggage for 3 adults, only 1 set of toiletries, they were clearly not accommodating 3 adults- my usual expectations were definitely NOT met!! I called my Amex platinum travel desk at 3 am to document the situation. They asked if there was a manager on site to assist and l told them “l asked that question” and Anna said “Becky, will be here tomorrow” to which l asked her last name to follow up. She didn’t know it and asked both co-workers. BOTTOM LINE: Never stay here, just come to eat and shop- great restaurants, spa and boutique shops! (Kudos to Sabrina from 2 wks ago. You’re missed!)

It’s the PERFECT LOCATION and my favorite Charleston Hotel! I have such great memories of Charleston Place, l decided to return since l was taking my son on a college tour at The Citadel. My aunt used to bring me here at Christmastime when l was young to see the upper and lower lobby areas filled with Holiday decorations, trees, and a train. It’s been awhile since l’ve stayed here but it is as beautiful and luxurious as ever. AMEX had a package so we stayed for 3 nights in a Jr. Suite with Club Level access. The body products were nice, l never even used my own. We couldn’t both get spa reservations with only one day in advance so l’ll have to come back for that experience but one of us did get in for a massage and loved it. I can’t say enough about this awesome hotel. The famous Charleston market is right off the East Gallery, the West Gallery includes a Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Tommy Bahama stores with several other Art and boutique shops. There are 3 gourmet coffee locations in and near this hotel, that are convenient. You'll find many restaurants in and around this hotel and many scattered around the historic district. The front desk or concierge will be very helpful with reservations. You definitely should have reservations in Charleston, it’s a city full of great chefs and excellent choices for the most distinct "Foodie." We checked in after midnight and it was a remarkable experience with excellent suggestions and solutions that night and during our stay. The housekeepers had wonderful attention to detail and were respectful of our belongings. Robes and slippers were provided also which is always nice. I’m looking forward...

Very DETAILED review. I wish others were more detailed so I could really understand what my experience was going to be like. First of all if you don’t care about a pool or spa, stay somewhere else for a more luxurious and esthetically pleasing experience. The staff is excellent, the place is very nice but seriously lacks any sort of pizazz for lack of a better word. The rooms are nice and well kept but dull and outdated and so is the building to be honest. I love the architecture from this era but there’s a way to decorate within it that makes people say wow and they have not mastered that here sadly because I wanted to love this place. It baffles me that this is a five star hotel (on some sites and not others) yet there aren’t any on coffee makers in the rooms. There is a bar in our room (King with Balcony) a fridge, a wine cooler, but yet no coffee, (there is water btw) Coffee makes the world go round and actually makes people get out of bed in the morning yet I’m in bed right now thinking about how I’m going to have to get up, get dressed, leave our apartment sized room (Yes nice and big thank god) to go across the street and back just to enjoy a coffee on my balcony. The balcony was the whole point of picking this room but it’s August and so humid that by the end of the day you do not want to breath in the swampy air, it smells unfortunately. The mornings seem nice and smell ok. Then at night since it overlooks King street, which they sell as a positive, your lucky to sleep well do to the people still up till 2am drinking and socializing outside your window. The beds are incredibly comfortable thank god and come with feather pillows which I love. You have a dresser and armoire which is nice! The POOL is incredible! You get to enjoy the sun and shade. The pool is lightly shaded on some parts due to being indoor yet outdoor and the roof looks like it might be able to close if the there was bad weather. There’s also a gorgeous hot tub. There is a LARGE terrace space on the outside of the pool that you can sunbath on with umbrellas if you like and a bar with incredible poolside service. We were very pleased with the food. The shrimp cocktail was $19 and we were very pleased to find the portion size was large. There were 8 Jumbo shrimp and they were excellent. The cocktails were delightful and service was excellent. We might go back today. We have spa services booked for this afternoon at 2 and we are very excited so I hope all goes well there. I have a feeling it will. I would like to say my fiancé just pointed out that I can order coffee from downstairs but I would still like to personally do it myself and have it ready now. They ARE quite accommodating here. We called down for tampons and crazy enough they had some and brought them right up! The location is excellent and within walking distance to excellent shopping and eating. There IS a Starbucks across the street by the way. All in all its a nice place but we were debating between this place and the Bennett for our vacation and we found ourselves quickly wishing we had booked our stay there. We haven’t been to the Bennett so I can’t personally speak to we there it is better, but after my research on the hotel, I have a strong feeling that even though the food might not be better, the atmosphere would be more luxurious and there’s probably going to be coffee...

After looking for some places to stay, I had to post this google review (I already posted on their website) because reading reviews for other properties, I wish I could just go back here! Can't wait to go back, I think we'll make it one of our annual vacation spots.

We just returned from our stay. My wife was so excited for us to go as a family (this was her third time staying). I have to say, she really talked up the club level, so much so, that at first, we were a little disappointed (we got in at midday)....but I'll get back to that. Check is was simple and while our room was not ready, we were given access to the club level to grab some refreshments and snacks. FYI, the water bottles are refillable and if you out some ice in them, they stay cold! There wasn't much for us, so we went out around the town....it was HOT...Charleston hot. We received a message (as promised) that our room was ready and our keys would be waiting for us. When we got to the hotel, check in was simple. The room itself was spacious with high ceilings. The tub is DEEP (make sure you can step into it). The shower had a rain head as well as a hand held. Pressure was moderate, certainly sufficient. Top of the line soap, shampoo, etc., (my favorite brand...L'Occitane, it smells so good and lathers so well). I should note that we have stayed at many top brand hotels and there is always an expectation of service at this level, and The Charleston place did not disappoint. More on that....So the next morning we go to the club level to se what they have. Well, we ate well. Delicious frittatas, sausage, pancakes, etc....and the fruit...the fruit was SO sweet! Better than what we got from room service. The only thing about club service is guard your stuff, because the second I got up to get some more fruit, my table was cleared and my newspaper was gone....literally 2 minutes. LOL. All good, though. We were always greeted on our way in and out. Someone always opened the door and we never had to wait long for the elevator. The AC stopped working in our room, I called down and by the time we came back from our day it was fixed. So, as far as level of service goes. I've always found that house keeping never really went the extra mile, regardless of wear we stay....until now, that is. When we came back to the room the everything was straightened out. All new soaps, etc., everything was lined up, and clothes that we put in the corner that were dirty were in a plastic bag! Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, et al, please take note. Turn down service was offered. Okay, now, we get back to the club food. The second day, we made it back in time and WOW! Jumbo shrimp cocktail with very fresh shrimp, lobster "tart" and more. Delicious. Pillows and mattress provide a very nice sleep and the room was very quiet (except for a dog barking next door, but that was during the day. (I didn't know they allowed pets). The only real disappointment was having to leave. Kudos to...