Years in the make, HOTEL BENNETT is open!
This luxury hotel in downtown Charleston, overlooks leafy Marion Square, is a 13-minute walk from sprawling Historic Charleston City Market and a 5-minute walk from The Charleston Museum. I-26 is a mile away.
Developer Michael Bennett’s new luxury hotel is another sign that downtown Charleston is continuing to move upscale. It’s aimed at the upper crust of visitors, with the 179 guest rooms starting at $500 to $600 a night, Bennett said.
Guests will experience an interesting mix of traditional, time-honored materials and the cosmopolitan look of the New South. The bar off the lobby will be pink, including the marble floors, tabletops and bar, chairs and camellias on the walls. The ceiling is covered with etched mirrors, with a large glass chandelier in an oval inset.
“That has a very cosmopolitan feel,” Bennett said. “It has a feminine touch in my mind.”
Bennett said he got the idea after a friend brought him a reproduction Faberge egg from Russia. He had been wondering how he might use the pink marble that was salvaged from the library that used to occupy the hotel site. Suddenly he visualized the pink egg lying on its side, and that was the inspiration for Camellia’s.
A more neutral bar will be in the lobby, and another bar with a contemporary design is planned for the roof. A pool and cabana will also be up top.
The hotel will also have a spa, a French patisserie and a variety of shops and meeting spaces. The more traditional materials include limestone, marble, bronze, copper and cypress.
“You can’t build a 5-star hotel with 3-star materials,” Bennett said last week. “This will be the 5-star luxury hotel in downtown Charleston. I believe it will be finest hotel ever built in our city, certainly ever built in my lifetime.”
Refined rooms feature free Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs and iPod docks, as well as sitting areas and free-standing soaking tubs. Upgraded rooms add access to a club lounge; suites add separate living rooms. Room service is available 24/7.
Breakfast is available for a fee, served at a formal restaurant. There are also 2 opulent bars and a patisserie, plus a rooftop pool, a gym and a spa. (Credit: News & Courier)
For more information on all things, Charleston as well as current real estate offerings, please contact THE BRENNAMAN GROUP: 843.345.6074 – bob@charlestonproperty.net
