Savannah, Georgia
Spanish Moss at Bonaventure Cemetery
We wanted a long-weekend destination easy to get to from NYC. After ruling out Charleston because the hotel rates were crazy expensive for Labor Day weekend (well, to be fair, for the rates for the hotels where we wanted to stay), we landed on Savannah. It perfectly fit the bill for a two or three night stay. And while Savannah has plenty to offer, it didn’t hurt that there was a brand new Luxury Collection hotel, Perry Lane, which had just opened — and was offering friendly introductory rates.
Historic Savannah is made up of a series of lovely squares, shaded by beautiful old oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss, and surrounded by pretty old houses. We much preferred that part of town to the more touristy waterfront area, aka City Market. City Market has its moments (we had a hoot at the small Prohibition Museum for example, and there’s Savannah’s Candy Kitchen and other tourist paraphernalia if that’s your thing). One rainy day we visited The Jepson Center for the Arts. But generally we spent the weekend going on historic house tours in the old part of town, exploring the famous Bonaventure Cemetery, and doing lots of yummy eating and drinking around town. And…..aside from a paper fan handed out to us on our Hop-on/Hop-off Trolley Tour with her picture on it (alongside an ad for her restaurants), we managed to avoid Paula Deen!
The Gimlet Traveler Rundown:
All ratings are based on our experience and are on a 5-star rating system (see Site Info for more details). For mapped locations and links to the places listed here (and more) visit Google Map at bottom of page.
Gimlets: *****
Finding good cocktails is not a problem in Savannah. From the Wayward Bar at our hotel, to the cool Artillery Cocktail Bar a few blocks away, at a rooftop bar called The Perch and at the well-known and popular southern-cuisine restaurant The Husk — we had good gimlets all around.Restaurants: *****
We loved the yummy Southern-American food at our casual outdoor dinner at The Wyld. The setting is stunning. It’s surrounded by beautiful water and marshland (see photos below). It’s an Uber ride out of downtown, but worth it. At the opposite end of the spectrum, our high-end dinners at The Husk (more southern cuisine — good food and nice decor in spite of some strange service issues towards the end of the night when we lost our waiter) and Local Ten Eleven were both lovely (The Perch rooftop bar is atop the latter). And when we were dissatisfied with our hotel restaurant (see review at bottom) we ended up at the vast, very-old school The Olde Pink House restaurant in a dark dining room eating delicious fried chicken. Can’t complain.Sights: ****
Go to the Bonaventure Cemetery (which is a little bit of a ride) and do take a Hop-on/Hop-off Trolley Tour of the old town. There are a couple of worthwhile museums (The Jepson Center for the Arts, Telfair Academy, among others). Be sure to visit the “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” house (The Mercer-Williams House) and various other historic houses (Andrew Low House, etc.). We resisted The Prohibition Museum initially, as it was in the waterfront tourist district (City Market), but ended up having fun there for an hour or so. Where else would I get a photo op with a protest sign that says “Liquor is Poison” (see photo in Sights Gallery above). Overall, it’s a pretty city, with an interesting history, plenty of green spaces and attractive squares, and it’s pleasant to just walk around.GT Tip: If you’re interested in seeing the “Bird Girl” statue from the cover of the bestselling book “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” you should know she’s no longer in the Bonaventure Cemetery due to high-traffic concerns. She now resides in the Telfair Museums. Check their website for which location, as she seems to travel between the Jepson Center (where we saw her) and the Telfair Academy.
Shopping: ***
Visit the shop at the Savannah College of Art & Design (ShopSCAD Savannah); they have a summer branch of the school in Lacoste, France, where we ended up purchasing a painting from their gallery and having it shipped home the year before, so…this would have been easier! There are some cute shops (my husband loved The Salt Table and brought home local spice mixes), many antique shops and some tourist-oriented stores down by the waterfront including a huge candy store (Savannah’s Candy Kitchen) at City Market, again — if that is your thing!
Review of Perry Lane Hotel, A Luxury Collection Hotel Rating: ****
The Perry Lane had been open for about 3 months when we stayed there on Labor Day weekend 2018. The property is a new build, low rise (5 floors I believe) and separated into two separate buildings to keep the scale small, which is nice. We were on the top floor in their basic room type which was nice but did not have any type of chair or desk in the room. That said, it was nicely designed, the bed was comfortable, the room was quiet, and the modern bathroom spacious with a walk-in shower and double vanity. The entire property is handsomely designed and there is a large and lively rooftop bar with nice views of Savannah, and a large rooftop pool for guests (and members?). The second building also has a cute cocktail bar off of its lobby. We had one negative experience at the hotel's attractive Emporium restaurant, where we had booked dinner weeks in advance for one night during our stay — involving an ask for a different table for 2 in the (vast) half-empty dining room rather than the one they gave us right in the doorway/entrance — and which the three hosts couldn't seem to accommodate. However, the front desk staff (who doubled as reception and concierge) were very helpful and in fact got us into another great restaurant that night after which we came home to a bottle of champagne that evening — a nice surprise. Housekeeping was late two of the three days we were there (i.e. we had been out all day sightseeing and came home in mid/late afternoon without the room having been cleaned), but I'm certain they will figure that out with time. It's in a very central location, between the historic district and the riverfront/tourist area, so it's convenient to get around (and Uber is inexpensive here in any case). All in all, a lovely luxury boutique hotel for a long weekend stay — and likely the nicest spot in town to stay.
Date of stay: September 2018
Other Hotel Choice:
•Andaz Savannah, but the design and amenities at Perry Lane are nicer and newer.
Below is a map of hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping and sights found during our research. We didn’t have time to visit all of them during our trip, but all were of interest. Click on the icon at top left of the map to view the legend. Or you can click on the full-screen icon at top right to expand, which will also bring up the legend.
