2024 Readers’ Choice Awards: The Top Hotels in Charleston
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Unforgettable food. Cutting-edge design. Immersive experiences. These are some of your top criteria for judging what makes a quality hotel—not to mention a worthy resort, cruise, spa, or island. In tallying up the 575,048 votes cast in our 37th annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey, we were struck by both your eagerness to embrace the new and your reverence for tried-and-true classics. Your favorite hotel in the five boroughs is the two-year-old Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad, but you also can’t stop returning to storied French Polynesian resort The Brando. You’ve jetted through the sprawling Istanbul International Airport, booked intrepid sailings to Antarctica, and fallen in love with historic yet innovative cities like Copenhagen. Read on to start planning your next round of travels—these are the top hotels in Charleston, as voted by our readers.
View these Readers' Choice Award winners as a list with scores here.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
Kim Grahamhotel10. The Loutrel
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Hot List 2022 
Readers' Choice Awards 2022, 2024The Loutrel splashed onto Charleston’s hotel scene with palpably new construction and a prime location, just south of City Market. The boutique 50-room property looks and feels stylishly contemporary, and it consistently aims to bring the outside in: Calamondin-orange topiaries flank the lobby, delicate cherry-blossom branches spike the floral arrangements seasonally, and living orchids accent every room. Rooms are crisp, minimal, and spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows and double-paneled privacy sheers. The Loutrel’s “wow” factor is its rooftop terrace, cresting the mature tree line of Charleston’s historic French Quarter. Early risers take morning coffee up here to watch the sun illuminate a sliver of harbor, returning hours later to enjoy an evening cocktail.
Courtesy John Rutledge House Innhotel9. John Rutledge House Inn
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024Luckily, the Great Fire of 1861 swept right past this beauty: a 1763 life-sized dollhouse of pale rose stucco and green wrought iron balconies. The John Rutledge House commands Broad Street, facing south, perfectly situated above Charleston’s walkable historic residential district and below the city’s main shopping thoroughfare. Truly a luxury B&B, with your choice of breakfast in bed, on the patio, or in the ballroom.
Courtesy French Quarter Innhotel8. French Quarter Inn
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Steps (literally) from the market, an ivy-covered archway promises cool shade as you make your way down a brick pathway off Church Street into the French Quarter Inn. Before there were great hotels on seemingly every corner in Charleston, this hotel was welcoming and wooing guests—and not much has changed in that regard. The idea is that upon arrival, you'll know you're in a special place (cue the champagne greeting). The service remains as personal as ever, with an admirable attention to detail—staff remember names and preferences—served with a dose of quiet hospitality.
Courtesy Zero Georgehotel7. Zero George
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Gold List 2018, 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024To the naked eye, the five beautifully restored 1804 residences and carriage homes at the corner of George Street and East Bay constitute just another pretty block in Charleston: warm brick, statuesque façades, breezy column-studded verandas, and flickering lanterns. But veteran hospitality duo Dean Porter Andrews and Lynn Easton knew better when they selected this spot to launch their bespoke brand of Lowcountry luxury in 2013. The hotel’s magic lies in the exclusivity and privacy of its interior: a hidden labyrinth of meticulously manicured gardens, crushed oystershell pathways, and calming fountains connecting five distinct historic dwellings into a retreat guests love to call their home in the Holy City. From $349. —Allston McCrady
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Photo by Andrew Cebulkahotel6. The Dewberry Charleston
$$$ | Gold List 2019, 2022 Hot List 2017 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Since The Dewberry opened its doors in the fall of 2016, the fig ivy at its base has diligently advanced upward, clinging tightly to the ground-floor columns. Now the hotel appears to float on a garden. Which is just as founders John and Jaimie Brown Dewberry intended, bringing an unexpected lightness to the limewashed eight-story midcentury monolith. You'll love its JFK–era cool factor: Across the giant slabs of buffed marble, past the warm cherrywood paneling with unlacquered brass inlay, waits the popular Living Room, where guests can sink into a cozy leather high-back. Locals duck into the hushed spa for Natura Bissé facials and fill the outdoor patio for weekend brunch. But the largest draw will always be the rooftop for sunset cocktails, nibbles, and maritime breezes among the citrus and olive trees, with views of Charleston’s harbor. The vibe is elevated and elegant but also fun and not too fussy. In one of America’s most historic cities, The Dewberry manages to pay homage to the past while feeling refreshingly au courant.
Cameron Wilderhotel5. The Charleston Place
$$$ | Gold List 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Since opening in 1986, The Charleston Place has garnered praise for its architectural sleight of hand. Hidden behind a row of diminutive and colorful 19th-century storefronts lurks the Holy City’s largest hotel: a behemoth at 434 rooms, with upper floors deliberately set back to render them invisible from street view, preserving the intimate scale of the city. At ground level, good-natured jacketed greeters swing open double glass doors to usher you into gleaming marble hallways lined with high-end boutiques and galleries, culminating in a grand central lobby. Locals know it well: They lounge here after church on weekends, listening to live music before heading in to the Palmetto Café for its stupendous brunch spread; or they gussy up for special occasion dinners at the hotel’s award-winning Charleston Grill. Over the decades, the hotel has cemented an excellent reputation, first as an Orient Express property and then part of the Belmond collection, but it now boasts the distinction of being locally owned. Charleston resident Ben Navarro, the billionaire and visionary behind Beemok Hospitality Collection, made headlines in late 2021 when he purchased the property and launched a no-expenses-spared restoration and rejuvenation of what was already a beloved Charleston icon. Uppermost rooms reach enviable heights by Charleston standards, affording views to the glimmering harbor beyond, just one reason this hotel towers above its peers.
Courtesy Wentworth Mansionhotel4. Wentworth Mansion
$$$ | Gold List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024Towering above the Harleston Village neighborhood just four blocks west of all the downtown action, Wentworth Mansion can't be ignored: It's an unapologetically grand tribute to Second Empire architecture. Hotel guests are the modern-day beneficiaries of original 1886 owner Francis Silas Rodgers's spare-no-expense taste: 14-foot ceilings, Tiffany windows, hand-carved moulding, huge marble fireplaces, gargantuan pocket doors, crystal chandeliers, and a rooftop cupola with sweeping views out over the city. Exclusive to guests by morning and open to the public by night, Circa 1886 restaurant occupies the carriage house a stone's throw away, across the mansion's formal gardens. Dinner is refined and hyperlocal, an incredibly artful take on classic Lowcountry cuisine.
Courtesy The Restoration/Andrew Cebulkahotel3. The Restoration
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024A large-scale photograph of an Icelandic horse at check-in is the first clue that this hotel thinks outside the box; the second is the floor-to-ceiling Angel Oak photos that make the elevator feel like a treehouse. A hotel favorite especially with New Yorkers, The Restoration's urban aesthetic, spacious rooms, and cutting-edge photography installations make it a trendy treat. Be sure to check out rooftop restaurant The Watch, where the small bites menu includes crab cakes and raw oysters. This place is all about the little details: the butter-soft gray bathrobes, the designer bicycles with built-in baskets, the intriguing coffee table books that line the library bookshelf next to a mounted alligator skull. Join the Insider's program to enjoy freebies like continental breakfast, delivered with a soft knock on the door and tucked into a leather-clasped wicker picnic basket. They're so attractive that the staff has occasionally had to remind guests not to make off with them!
Courtesy Grand Bohemian Hotel/Arrow Studio LLChotel2. Grand Bohemian Hotel Charleston, Autograph Collection
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2024Located in the heart of historic Charleston (and just off the trolley), the Grand Bohemian brings a funky vibe to this refined Southern city. The 50-room boutique hotel embraces eclectic design, with artwork covering the walls and hotel gallery; crushed velvet headboards; and a synthetic turf-covered rooftop bar that overlooks downtown. If you want beige, look elsewhere.
Courtesy Hotel Bennetthotel1. Hotel Bennett
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024Charleston keeps its buildings low and its historic church steeples high, which meant that owner Michael Bennett had to fight all the way to the State Supreme Court for permission to build his lofty, nine-story hotel. But the view from its rooftop bar and pool is unmatched: On the horizon line, the sky meets a ribbon of shimmering harbor encircling the lower peninsula. Smart guests park themselves up here, settling into cushioned wicker with a craft cocktail to watch snowy egrets migrate in the setting sun. The lower levels of this grand hotel are worth leisurely exploration, from the sprawling second-floor ballroom lounge to Camellias, the stylish, pink Champagne bar tucked off the breezy marble lobby. The sunny corner bakery La Pâtisserie has a pressed-tin ceiling along with fresh pastries, strong coffee, and stacks of newspapers that attract Charlestonians and out-of-towners alike. The hotel spills directly onto Marion Square, a public park known for its weekend farmers market—just one more perk of staying here.
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