Jet Life: Belmond Charleston Place
November 12, 2014
By Katrice
The Historic Charleston City Market
The aspiration of Belmond Charleston Place is specific — luxury. You sense it when you step through its doors: an air of modern gentility. You note it from the entranceway grand arches and regal statue of horses to Italian marble floored lobby with its signature Georgian Open Arm staircase and 12-foot crystal chandelier. You experience it with each precise offering of what to do and see from its concierge team. Its consistent ranking as one of the best hotels in the world by leisure travelers begins to reason that all of this is both well-considered and well achieved.
Belmond Charleston Place is an experience dedicated to indulgence: a mélange of 435 guest rooms (including 48 suites) featuring rich hues of period fabrics, the artwork of prominent local artists, dark-grained woods and opulent baths with marble. If you need to work, there’s a place for that. Unwind? The space is especially devoted to that. Recently redesigned, the hotel’s Premier Rooms, which run between $349 and $620 per night, draw inspiration from Charleston’s traditional past and vibrant present. Sophisticated and modern, they retain formal elements found in some of the city’s grandest residences.
And speaking of grand residences, Belmond Charleston Place is flanked by classic Georgia, Federal, Adamesque, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Victoria homes in the city’s historic district. Step into the neighborhood from the Market Street entrance of the hotel and you’ll find yourself directly adjacent to the Historic Charleston City Market — perhaps the first stop for anyone seeking a quintessential taste of the city’s charm. On any of one of several intersections surrounding the market, tickets are being sold for the Palmetto Carriage Works tours. From its Red Barn, each one-hour tour is fully narrated through the streets in the heart of downtown with a guide sharing more than 300 years of tidbits about the city’s distinctive history. If the local sights and sounds of traveling intrigue you, a Charleston Heritage Passport is available and grants you entry into the city’s “must see” notable and cultural sites.
Though highly unlikely, quite a convincing case could also be made for doing everything within the walls of the hotel which is home to The Shops at Belmond. Just feet from your room: Gucci, Kate Spade, Lacoste, Tommy Bahama, Calypso St. Barth, Brookstone, Louis Vuitton … Should I go on?
Three distinctive sit-down dining options; the most prominent — Charleston Grill — helmed by Chef Michelle Weaver takes local delicacies to innovative heights with a unique collage of dishes divided into four categories — Pure, Lush, Southern and Cosmopolitan. A suggestion — Weaver’s six-course Tasting Menu because the discerning palate will water at virtually everything on the menu. On the way back to your room, take a glance at the Palmetto Café. You’ll be ready for brunch well before the serving time.
Next, The Spa at Belmond Charleston Place. Let that rest on your tongue for just a moment. Yes, the experience is that phenomenal. Frequented by hotel guests and locals, the sanctuary of indulgent treatments run by Annette Sanford-Lopez specializes in head-to-toe rejuvenating treatments and enrichment. The Spa at Belmond Charleston Place, in collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina, has introduced the “I Will Reflect” Melanoma Prevention Initiative to increase awareness of — and help prevent — skin cancer through education about the importance of safe sun habits and the dangers of melanoma, especially prevalent in the Lowcountry.
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