Charleston is everywhere these days, especially at the top of magazines’ top travel destination lists. But this is one of those mysterious things where a place gets “hot” all of a sudden, and it’s hard to figure out why.  Our hotel, Planter’s Inn, was voted Best Small City Hotel by Travel and Leisure magazine in 2014 – we spent 3 nights there and we’re still not sure what is so great about it. (See Hotel section below).  In fact, we feel the same way about Charleston in general. It’s nice, sure, but why all the buzz?

In the same vein, Savannah, which we cover separately here, is also attracting a lot of attention, and there’s only a little more than 100 miles separating these two coastal towns. You might think there would be some kind of cool way to get from one to the other via the water, but you would be wrong. Although it’s not really a scenic drive, best way is to rent a car for the trip if you want to see both cities, although you don’t really need a car in either city.

The first thing to understand is that, in large part due to above mentioned buzz, Charleston is inundated with tourists all year round. So it’s more like going to Walt Disney World than New York City. Sure, there are a lot of tourists in NY, but they can blend in the locals in most parts of town, so you can have the experience of being in a real working city. That’s not true in Charleston, where the main business is tourism. You won’t find a lot of southern charm but you will find the same hordes of slobby tourists, both American and international, that plague every tourist destination. The men are virtually interchangeable; shorts, tee shirt, baseball cap, tennis shoes, pot belly.

Charleston is logistically pretty easy, as most of the restaurants and shops are in a central area, between East Bay and Meeting Streets, and most attractions are a fairly easy walk. Downtown is not far from the airport, and many of the hotels are very centrally located.  The central area is small and very walkable. Only hindrance to walking is that summers are hot and humid.

The food in Charleston is one big draw, with supposedly great seafood. None of what we ate was exceptional, but since we don’t make an effort to really visit the restaurants of the moment, or those that have won awards, we’re going to pass on judging the local restaurant scene. We can tell you that Charleston is supposed to be a foodie town, and Lord knows there are plenty of restaurants in the tourist hub. But are they as overrated as the rest of this town? You tell us.

The art scene is not notable. We like the Principle Gallery on Meeting Street, but that may in large be because of the looks and charm of the owner.  There’s a museum mile, but you won’t find the sort of large art museum that you have in major cities like New York, Chicago, Berlin, or Washington.

There’s a pleasant enough park along the water that’s just a block off the tourist hub, nice for a stroll, but not particularly noteworthy. If you go to both Charleston and Savannah, as many tourists do, it’s interesting to compare the very different ways in which they have handled waterfront development. In Charleston, most of the development has occurred away from the water, and the areas around the water are mostly parks for walking or sitting. In Savannah, the Riverwalk area is intensely developed, in a sort of touristy, not very creative way. Neither Savannah nor Charleston’s waterfront areas are developed nearly as nicely as Old Town Alexandria or Georgetown in DC.  You might see a huge cruise ship pulled up in the Charleston harbor, but that’s about it in terms of interest.

So beyond eating a lot, why exactly is it that tourists come to Charleston? What accounts for all the buzz?   You get some college feel with the College of Charleston, which is very close to town. Some interesting residential architecture off the main drags. A lot of restaurants; some art galleries. The scale of everything is pretty small, so the town feels cozy, certainly not overwhelming or intimidating in any way. But that’s it.  What are we missing?

Hotels

Planter’s Inn.  Recently rated by Travel and Leisure magazine as the number one small hotel in America, but why? A perfectly nice place, but like so many others. Just off the cuff we can name 3 hotels in Virginia that all that same traditional luxury vibe, and are at least as nice, probably nicer; Keswick Inn near Charlottesville, Salamander Inn in Middleburg, and Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg. We were met at arrival by some young bellmen, perhaps students at the nearby College of Charleston. They weren’t particularly cheery, nor was the front desk staff. There is no dedicated concierge. A really good hotel is about attention to small details, but the towels were not particularly fluffy or thick, the coffee in the common area wasn’t hot, the shower head wasn’t adjustable, and when we called the front desk from our room there wasn’t any answer. None of these things are, by themselves, capital crimes, but, together, they are the mark of a place that has maybe already started resting on its recently won laurels.  On the positive side, the location is great, in the heart of the tourist hub. Our room was nice, but nothing special. There is a nice, smallish type “living room” that serves, I guess, as the lobby and has coffee and snacks.

But you’re probably better off just skipping Planters Inn and trying The Vendue, which is also in a very central area but is much more stylish. When I was there they had a lot of interesting art in the lobby, a rooftop bar, and a good reputation for friendly service.