Aniversary trip- HH or Charleston Place

[Synonymous]

Okay, looking for opinions on a trip for our 10th anniversary. Which would you do, HH or the Charleston Place, through Concierge Collection? We're going in mid-November. We can get a 1BR at HH for the same points as a hotel room at Charleston Place. I like the idea of seeing the history in Charleston, though.

Any thoughts?

Tom

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Why don't you do both? Go to Charleston Place on the weekend and Hilton Head afterward... The two aren't that far apart and you get both an urban and a beach vacation.

 

[Synonymous]

That's a great idea, but we've only got 3 nights, so I think we'd like to stay put. Although, maybe a daytrip to Charleston From HH would be possible.

Thanks for the thought. . .

Tom

 

[GrammieMame]

I'd go for Charleston for a special occasion, and the weather in November will be ideal. Take the carriage ride, walk on the battery, go to a couple of plantations, just wander the streets. One night, go to Old Towne Restaurant, which has absolutely no atmosphere but great Greek food. There's a platter for two that's fantastic.

 

[we3luvdisney]

My suggestion is to stay at HH. I would spend a day in Charleston and a day in Savannah. Both cities are beautiful.

 

[downontheBW]

We just did a long weekend in April at both -- it was great! We had 4 nights, one at Charleston Place then 3 at HH. The real justification for staying at Charleston Place is that the points needed to stay a Saturday night are about the same for either there or HH. The point cost is too expensive at CP to stay for 3 nights. I'd go for a B&B instead.

We arrived in Charleston on Saturday morning and took a shuttle to CP. We did a walking tour in the morning, a carriage tour in the afternoon then a nice dinner. On Sunday we went to a historic Church right near CP then rented a car to drive to HH. We spent a couple of hours at Middleton Place plantation on the way. One day in Charleston was enough to see what we wanted to see then a couple of days to relax at HH.

I agree that only 3 nights is difficult to split up; I'd still go for it though. I don't recommend driving around Charleston itself; it's better to walk and CP is close to many restaurants and shops. It's a bit of a walk to the battery but not too bad. You need to drive to any of the plantations, though.

Have fun!

 

[DownNeckBoy]

Since you are only going to be there for three days, and it is your tenth anniversary, I would suggest Charleston Place. It is one of the best hotels in the US and you will not be disappointed. Charleston is one of my very favorite cities and I am sure that you will find more than enough to do there. Although you can day hop to HH, it is not an easy ride. If day hopping is your preference, then I would suggest staying at HH and going to Savannah.

 

[downontheBW]

...I agree with DownNeckBoy and meant to mention it before. It's not a very interesting drive from Charleston to HH. There wasn't much traffic but most of the trip is not expressway and not too much to see. It was a long 2 1/2 hours.

 

[Synonymous]

Thank you, very much, everyone, for your suggestions. Given that we only have 3 days, I don't think we want to spend 2 1/2 hours driving, so I guess we're going to stick with Charleston Place (we have a weakness for really nice hotels after spending a night at the Plaza in NYC). We'll do HH on another trip when we're bringing DD.

Anyone have restaurant recommendations in addition to The Towne?

Thanks again!

Tom

 

[MaryJ]

We were in Charleston in February. Ate lunch at a place called TBonz (I think I spell that correctly.) Anyway, the stew there is marvelous. I would go back for that alone.

Also, go to your library and find the book by Charles Kuralt titled "America" and read the section on Charleston. It might give you some other ideas about what to see.

 

[downontheBW]

Since we had just a day in Charleston, we dropped off our luggage at CP and started walking directly down toward the battery. We were starved by then and assumed (silly us) that there would be food vendors down there. There was no eatery to be found anywhere around the battery - which is really a good thing so that the area keeps it's historical look. We had to walk quite a ways back north from the battery before we found a place. It is a microbrewery/restaurant on the east side of the peninsula that was good, I'd recommend it for a lunch. I'm guessing it was on Concord Street or maybe State Street.

We were too tired from sightseeing all day to have a formal dinner at the Charleston Grill on Saturday night and for some reason the Palmetto Cafe was closed that night but was open on Sunday morning and it looked like they had a fantastic Sunday brunch - we would have eaten there but had just stopped at a little cafe (in a store front) that had very good breakfasts. The cafe must be popular because there was about a 10-15 minute wait; it's a bit south of CP on King Street (where all the antique stores are) - I didn't know there were so many ways to prepare poached eggs, all with a southern flair. Their french toast was great, too.

Sorry I can't remember the names of these places. Make sure you take a carriage tour; it was fantastic! I didn't know this but the tours go to various parts of historic Charleston and they're not labeled so you don't know which one you'll be on. If you have any particular sight you want to see, ask the carriage driver before hand. Or you could go on a couple different ones; if we had more time, I would have done that.

You can look online at Frommers.com and Fodors for restaurant recommendations and check out Charleston.com and their convention and visitors bureau, etc. I'd post some links but I deleted my bookmarks once we came home.

Congratulations on your 10th anniversary and have a great trip!

 

[Synonymous]

Thank you for the great suggestions. I'm going to get to those websites and start some research.

Tom

 

[downontheBW]

I must still be on this Charleston email alert list: http://www.chsf.com/

I just received an email of summer bargains and they included some links:

http://www.charlestonreservations.com
http://www.accesscharleston.com
http://www.accesssc.com
http://www.accessworldreservations.com
http://www.sccoupons.net

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I go to Charleston a couple times a year because I have family there. Even though I couldn't tell you the name of a single restaurant I've never had a bad meal there....including the microbrewery (and no I don't know which street its on either...but I'm sure the hotel could tell you)...also Indian and if you don't mind driving there is a Gullah restaurant in Mt Pleasant on 17....which is quite authentic, quite good and really bad for your arteries.

You also might contact the hotel and see if they can mail you any of the nightlife brochures hotels usually have...there is usually something going on down there.

 

[Figment22]

For Charleston restaurants, I would highly recommend
82 Queen and Magnolias. Both feature delicious SC
LowCountry cuisine and considering it's your tenth
anniversary, I would consider both on the romantic
side to boot! Charleston is one of my favorite cities.
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[Synonymous]

Once again, thank you all for your great ideas. MS has confirmed our reservation at Charleston Place, and I can see it's going to be a great trip. I'll be sure to post after we get back.

Tom