Description: The hotel has a very unusual design. Originally the home of the 19th-century Citadel Military College, it resembles a large salmon-coloured castle, and is located on Meeting Street, one of the Charleston's main streets.
There is a large lobby with a reception, concierge, lovely wooden floors, and huge potted plants. As you walk from the reception to the lifts, you will find the dining area where you get your complimentary breakfast buffet each morning; it was very convenient and we rarely had to queue. Evening meals are also available but we chose to eat elsewhere. There is also a bar area where they hold a managers' reception every evening with free drinks and nibbles. Along the corridor you will also see a cage with two cockatiels inside--unusual but true!
At the end of the corridor you come to the two lifts, beyond which is a huge five-storey atrium with a large, ornate fountain in the centre and lots of sofas around to sit in for a chat. All the suite doors open out onto the atrium, which is quite a nice place to sit and relax, though we found our serenity was sometimes ruined by screaming kids running up and down.
We had a king suite which consisted of a living area with sofa, chair, coffee table, and TV. This led through to a kitchenette with microwave, coffee maker, fridge and sink. This then led to a separate bedroom with king size bed, wardrobe and another smaller TV. It also had a large bathroom with bath, shower, toilet, and vanity area. The rooms are decorated in “Colonial Plantation decor”--our bedroom had an exposed-brick wall and a boarded-over hole which apparently used to be a gun turret! The room was decorated in browns and, because of the very small window, it was a little dark; it would have been better decorated in bright, light colours, but it was comfortable and did the job.
The hotel has an outdoor pool and garden courtyard -- if you're brave enough to venture out in the heat. There was apparently a workout room too, but we were too lazy to confirm this.
We only had one complaint about the hotel and that was that when we arrived having driven from Atlanta, we discovered the shower had no curtain. As we were anxious to have a shower, we phoned down to housekeeping and were told that they would send one straight up only to find that it still hadn't arrived an hour later. In the end it took three hours and several calls and visits to reception to get the curtain sorted. Even then, we were only given the plastic inside curtain and the fabric outer curtain was promised for the morning. We stayed five nights and never did get it.
The hotel was comfortable & convenient but I am sure there are better hotels about.
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