Michael Bennett, a Charleston businessman and hotelier, demonstrated quite a bit of patience over Hotel Bennett’s evolution. His family purchased the prime land bordering the popular Marion Square back in the early 1990s, but the hotel didn’t open until January 2019. When it did, though, it did so in glorious fashion.
Bennett’s team worked diligently to erect a building that honored its Southern roots with stately rotundas and family paintings while also showing an understanding of today’s travelers through massive flat-screen TVs and remote-controlled drapes. The result is a sophisticated address where you’ll find a girl walking her dog in the marble-clad lobby past a 70-something couple planning a birthday dinner at the concierge desk, and no one appears out of place.
Just as the space seems a natural fit in Charleston, it also looks the part. The 179 rooms are a dashing display of how antebellum grace and contemporary comforts can work together. The four dining options sway from fast to formal, yet they all emit a certain flair. And then there’s The Spa at Hotel Bennett, a sanctuary that whisks you to another world even though it’s only one floor above bustling King Street — which, when you think about it, is probably what Mr. Bennett envisioned for this entire downtown getaway when he first dreamed of it years ago.
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Two entryways with limestone steps, curved benches with tufted headboards, gold-leaf sconces and Jill Biskin-drawn murals merely foreshadow the attention to grand detail the property shows at every corner.
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The lobby boasts marble at your feet and dazzles with aged cypress in the ceilings. With a bar on one side, Camellias champagne parlor on another and a grand piano in between, the space echoes with a consistent buzz yet somehow remains calm and contained.
Even more impressive that the hotel’s awe-inspiring design touches may be the astuteness of its staff. Yes, you expect warm valet greetings and anticipatory service at meal time, but concierges whom you’ve never met addressing you by name is always a pleasant touch. But then again, once you realize the hotel is managed in a collaborative effort by the meticulous Salamander Hotels & Resorts, it all makes sense.
- The spa is broken down into two parts: a street-level retail space with boutique brands (Mary’s Nutritionals, Rahua) and a dim, five-room sanctuary with a treatment menu filled with restorative facials and rejuvenating massages.
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Guests who reserve a King’s Club room gain access to the Club Lounge, an exclusive space for a quick bite, a quiet drink and some of the best downtown Charleston views from its wrapped veranda.
- Though Camellias feels like somewhere Carrie Bradshaw and her girlfriends would meet (pink-colored chairs, floral art), the bar is more than welcoming to guys.
- With Marion Square on one side and the bustling King Street on another, the luxury hotel is surrounded by activity, be it a holiday parade, an annual festival or a weekly farmers market.
- Because of this highly trafficked location, Hotel Bennett has street-accessible entrances to its spectacular spa and La Pâtisserie bake shop, giving locals and non-hotel guests a chance to experience some of the property’s benefits without meandering too far into the actual hotel.
- You’ll notice unique light fixtures throughout the Charleston hotel. An extravagant crystal chandelier hangs in the middle of Camellias. In the signature restaurant, Gabrielle, spotlights bounce off a bedazzled art installation reminiscent of a fisherman’s net, catching your attention every time you walk in the establishment.
- Accommodations range from 355-square-foot rooms to 1,000-plus-square-foot suites, and each space features thoughtful details on the bed (fine linens) and on the bookshelves (hand-picked titles from Karl Marx to Portia de Rossi).
- Bathrooms stand out for a number of reasons: chandeliers, pedestal tubs, marble-covered showers, Mistral toiletries and sliding French doors that peek into the bedroom.
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Rooms in The King’s Club not only come with private concierge service but also provide access to the Club Lounge, where you’ll find complimentary champagne and all-day culinary options.
- Gabrielle may have a dressed-up exterior but there’s a friendliness about the staff and easy conversations at neighboring tables that hint at a vibrancy beyond the white-tableclothed façade.
- With one hand in European culinary techniques and another steeped in coastal Carolina traditions, Gabrielle chef Michael Sichel’s team delivers steaks, seafood and shaved red beets to tables every night.
- Camellias turns heads with its Instagram-worthy rosécolor scheme, an egg-shaped bar design and a menu filled with tasty cocktails (the Toki Japanese whiskey-powered Kemuri Sho) and caviar.
- Fiat Lux is the already-popular ninth-floor gathering spot on the roof that offers marvelous vistas to Charleston Harbor, mean drinks and Mediterranean-influenced bites.
- Noted French pastry chef Remy Funfrock struts his stuff at La Pâtisserie, a darling shop where you can grab a morning croissant, a ham and Brie sandwich at lunch, and a pain au chocolate pastry whenever your heart sees fit.
24-hour room service 
Bar
Gym
Meeting rooms
Outdoor pool
Pet friendly
Restaurants
Spa
