The Charleston Place hotel puts you in the heart of the Holy City’s historic district with five-star family touches.
The Charleston Place is a relatively young hotel in one of America’s oldest cities. Despite the impression that the Southern-style grandeur of the hotel’s common areas imparts upon visitors, it opened in the 1980s.
The property is well-located to explore one of America’s most beautiful cities. Guests can easily enjoy shopping on King Street, restaurants of the French Quarter, museums and art galleries, and College of Charleston.
Following a twenty-minute drive from Charleston International Airport, we pulled past a discrete, non-street front entry and approached a large bronze fountain as doormen greeted us.
A massive Murano chandelier, weighing nearly two tons, illuminates the open Georgian staircase in the lobby. It’s a spectacular design statement that your children may be eager to race up and down.
This staircase becomes a focal point of the hotel’s holiday presentation and we’ve featured it as one of the 17 Best Hotels for an Over-the-top Christmas.
Because of the quality of the restaurants and lounges in every direction, Charleston Place feels like the center of the action in the heart of Charleston. Even though newer hotels have popped up and adorned all of the right magazine lists, this is a modern grand dame that has already earned its timeless status above trendiness.
Palmetto Cafe
We decided to forgo room service and head directly to The Palmetto Cafe, a family friendly option for breakfast or lunch. Airy and elegant from its glass ceiling and atrium, I saw a Friday lunch crowd of hotel guests and locals enjoying attentive service and upscale Southern-influenced fare.
My children were offered kids’ menus, and the staff provided a fruit cup appetizer at my request to keep them from devouring a particularly artful bread basket and terrine of flavored butters. It didn’t work.
My daughter enjoyed a fresh presentation of a Caesar salad served within a circular crouton and a mini 21 Club burger. My gazpacho and scallops were excellent, too. And yes, my son ate that entire bread basket. Delicious food for all of us.
The Charleston Grill is a fine dining, dinner-only restaurant that looked like a great option without the kids or with enough grownups in the family to keep them engaged for an elegant meal in the wood-paneled room.
The Thoroughbred Club is an elegant lounge with nightly live music. Small bites and desserts accompany the cocktails that flow freely for the adults in the room.
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Suites at the Charleston Place Hotel
The hotel’s rooms and suites are remarkably generous. This Virtuoso property includes all of our VIP amenities when we book your stay: comped breakfast for two daily, resort credit, and more!
“Did you see that cute pic of the kids in our suite?” I texted.
“Oh, I thought that was the hotel lobby,” replied my husband.
The Charleston Place Suites are big and beautiful. Tall windows appointed with layers of silk damasks and gold tassels open to small balconies for a view of Charleston’s harbor.
Wet bar areas offer extra refrigerator storage for snacks and drinks, and a wine refrigerator can hopefully keep more than bottles of milk.
Our suite had two full bathrooms and plenty of space for a family of four or five. There was no walk-in closet, however. There was a wardrobe which would have been challenging for closet space on a longer trip, though it was perfect for our needs.
Club level at Charleston Place
If you are wondering if the Club level is worth it at Charleston Place, it is. The top two floors of the hotel are Club floors, offering easy access.
I found the varying food displays throughout the day extensive. It was far better than cubes of cheese and crackers.
The breakfast buffet was a full hot breakfast, afternoon tea, and the evening appetizers were plentiful. I was impressed by premium ingredients like caviar or lobster in dishes.
Adults could easily make an evening meal of appetizers and cocktails, though children will likely not find a dinner to satisfy them from the choices. That’s not a problem considering how many great restaurants are nearby.
In between their larger displays there were snacks of crackers, fruits, and jars of cookies. My kids loved checking it out every time we left or returned to our room.
The Charleston Place Spa
My experience at the Spa at Charleston Place began in the lounge which played the visual equivalent of luring white noise. A large hi-definition television showed a film of fish who swam to a spa soundtrack. I watched this for two minutes and almost fell asleep in my chair. At 10AM after three cups of French Roast coffee. I am playing it for my kids on our next vacation at bedtime!
Since the spa’s areas were undergoing an expansion while I was there, the relaxation lounge was a makeshift room, so I can’t really comment on the design of the spa.
But I can say that I had world-class spa service and the best facial I have ever had. Seriously, a facial that set me on the path of new products that has transformed my skin. I’d love to tell you I had some type of relationship with Skinceuticals, but I don’t. Just a crazy happy customer. I wish I had started using the products when I first heard about them. (If you are curious, start with the age-defying kit.)
My esthetician prescribed a Skinceuticals facial as part of the Charleston Place classic facial; a house specialty within their restorative wellness services. I had heard rave reviews of the product line and tried a facial using that line before, but nothing prepared me for the quick and real change the facial was able to bring to my tired, dehydrated, flaking skin from excessive travel and motherhood.
The Charleston Place Pool
Charleston Place is the only five-star hotel in Charleston with an indoor pool (featuring a retractable glass roof!), which makes it a favorite for families.
The pool during the day was calm and focused on the spa clientele and exercising guests getting in laps to work off the rich local cuisine. The fitness center is off the pool area, too.
But at night, the crowds of families arrived, allowing each family to relax knowing there was another group of kids louder than their own.
There’s a rooftop bar and small grill next to the pool where we enjoyed two very peaceful evenings, the first watching the sunset over a light dinner, and the second, for a milkshake break from swimming.
The Charleston Place Shops
There’s something so convenient about having an elegant shopping center right in your hotel, particularly in inclement weather.
The Charleston Place shops actually cover a larger area than the hotel and are scattered around neighboring streets.
The variety of stores covers many tastes: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and St. John to Kate Spade and Calypso St. Barth. Kids will love having a Papyrus and Godiva to browse for gifts, and there are two children’s clothing stores next to each other across the street.
Just across from the hotel, there’s Argentina’s leading gelato company, whose only other US location is in Miami. It’s heavenly. Go.
Things to do in Charleston SC with Kids
Charleston for kids is a little different, considering the city focuses so much on adult food and drink and couples. We’ve got you covered, though.
Local mom and PR specialist Annie Byrd Hamnet has outlined all of the best attractions and kid friendly restaurants in Charleston for foodie parents.
Our Favorite Charleston Experience
During our brief visit, we discovered just how great Pedi cabs are for families to visit an iconic landmark or tour historic sites in the downtown area. We asked for a round trip ride to the Battery (the tip of the peninsula and peak of Charleston real estate) from the hotel so that we could more slowly enjoy the area’s spectacular architecture. It ran about $40 with tip and was our favorite activity.
When riding in the back of a Pedi cab, everything is interesting to a 6-year-old boy.
After our initial ride, my kids only wanted to take Pedi cabs. They are readily available in addition to Lyft or Uber services, so we found exploring the area to be easy when the kids tired of walking.
The South Carolina Aquarium
The South Carolina Aquarium is a great attraction at which to spend a few hours. The harbor views alone are beautiful. My kids enjoyed each of the exhibits, the touch tanks, and the hurricane wind simulator, though, admittedly that feels very wrong after our recent hurricane season.
We barely scratched the surface of Charleston. As a native Southerner living in Boston, it was incredible to see such a spectacular fusion of architecture and culture in a walkable city. Time prevented us from visiting the area’s array of local beaches which are well-regarded and which I one day hope to see.
For those on a longer trip through South Carolina, I enthusiastically recommend a visit to Charleston en route to Kiawah or head south to the Montage Palmetto Bluff.
Although we were guests of the Charleston Place, 205 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC, these opinions are entirely my own.
