Charleston 411 : Where to Stay

Where to stay in Charleston always stumps our clients, so we’ve laid it all out for you below! NB: this is all geared toward folks staying downtown whose biggest goal is for their guests to be walking distance to shops, eats, and more on peninsular Charleston.

SAVE-THE-DATES

You may want to post your hotel suggestions on your save-the-date. This is the whole lead-a-horse-to-water-but-you-can’t-force-him-to-drink concept . . . meaning, someone may select another option (beach house or B&B for example), but you can’t worry your head over those guests who choose to do their own thing. You have shown them courtesy and hospitality by making blocks where possible (see more on blocks below).

We suggest not listing price points because they are constantly in flux and can be updated by online coupons, club cards, and more by the time your guests actually make a booking. Pluuuus, it’s kinda tacky.

Trade secret: The best line we use in our clients’ paper suites is: “Making reservations early is highly recommended as Charleston is a popular travel destination year-round”. Always list the website and the phone number; address is optional.

Aim for one high (fauncy!), one medium (reasonable but polished) and one low (wallet-friendly) to accommodate a wide array of guests.

Throw in a beach house rental listing and feel confident that you’ve showed them hospitality by doing your due diligence. Anything more than this is overkill and sure to overwhelm. Your guests do have Google, you know.

BLOCKS

We recommend that you set up blocks at three hotels, as mentioned above. Remember that wedding clients are not our local hotels’ bread-and-butter (transient and corporate clients are!), so be patient with the possible dearth of deals, steals, and “great” rates. Charleston is the third top wedding destination in the country and is routinely selected as a top travel destination world-wide. It simply isn’t cheap to stay and play in Charleston.

As you begin to collect information about rates and availability, you will likely find that there isn’t a great deal of difference in the cost per night at most hotels. Within a certain date range, rates fluctuate a great deal depending on the time of year and/or what huge events are also taking place in the city. That is to say: the hotel that acts as your economical option in one month, may be your “middle-of-the-road” option the next month (in case you’re between wedding dates or comparing to friends’ blocks).

You’ll want to consider walking proximity to your wedding weekend events, and supplement transportation where needed.

WHOM TO CALL AND WHAT TO ASK

Try to speak with a group sales manager- they know best. Here’s what you need to garner from them:

• Rate(s) for your date range (include Thursday night in case guests come in early!)

• Your cutoff date (the date after which they can’t offer your special rate to your guests)

• Whether/not they require a contract signature (some do, some don’t)

• Whether/not they require a credit card up front (some do, some don’t)

• Attrition ($$ they charge you for rooms your guests don’t “pick up” or book within your block)

• Amount of rooms they’ll give you as a starter block and their workflow on how/when/where/why you add rooms to those blocks

Then it’s on auto-pilot until your save-the-dates go out, when you can start to check periodically (perhaps every 6 weeks) to see how your blocks are doing. Once your invitations go out, you’ll see quite a bit of traffic and you may be able to gauge your probable guest count from the number of rooms that have been booked in your blocks. Remember that guests who didn’t reference your last names when booking may be staying at a given hotel but not be on the hotel’s rooming list for your block (how would the hotel folks know?) This just means you may have a few more wedding guests at a particular hotel than you even can know. Or, you may find you only have a small handful of guests who have chosen to follow your recommendations- that’s okay, too. That just means you can’t gauge your guest count from your hotel blocks, after all!

HOTELS WE RECOMMEND

Higher Level

Charleston Place
205 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 722-4900
www.charlestonplace.com

*Best round-the-clock service, food + bev, and “club level” concierge floor. Has a pool and spa, unlike most.

Market Pavilion
225 East Bay Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 723-0500
www.marketpavilion.com

Wentworth Mansion
149 Wentworth Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(888) 466-1886
www.wentworthmansion.com
*Boutique size, great for the honeymoon night

Medium Level

The Mills House
115 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 577-2400
www.millshouse.com

The Francis Marion
387 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 722-0600
www.francismarionhotel.com

The Renaissance Charleston Historic District
68 Wentworth Street
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 534-0300
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chsbr-renaissance-charleston-historic-district-hotel/

Lower Level (but still lovely!)

The Hampton Inn Charleston Historic District
345 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 723-4000
http://www.hamptoninn.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=CHSHDHX

The Embassy Suites
337 Meeting Street
Charleston, SC 29403
(843) 723-6900
http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/CHSESES-Embassy-Suites-Charleston-Historic-Charleston-South-Carolina/index.do

Courtyard Marriott Waterfront
35 Lockwood Drive
Charleston, SC 29401
(843) 722-7229
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-deals.mi?offerInfo=375074&marshaCode=CHSCY

*not walking distance

Beach Rentals

The two best options are VRBO (vacation rental by owner) and Island Realty. While it does involve someone renting a car, it’s a fun and often reasonable option for several couples and/or families to utilize in lieu of a hotel. One can rent downtown homes through VRBO as well, but I’m not sure how spacious or accommodating each one is, of course. Most of our clients rent a beach house for the week leading up to the wedding and then retreat to downtown for the festivities.

Hope this helps y’all on your journey to wrapping up wedding details!

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