2023 Readers’ Choice Awards: The Top Hotels in Charleston
Now in its 36th iteration, our annual Readers’ Choice Awards continues to capture the travel experiences our readers love best, from hotels and airlines to cruises, islands, and luggage. This year, you traveled farther and deeper; seeking out remote properties; sailing on smaller, more intimate ships; and prioritizing destinations you’ve been waiting years to visit. At least that’s what a staggering 526,518 of you told us in our annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Now, you can use the results to decide where you’re going next—these are the best hotels in Charleston, according to our readers.
View these Readers' Choice Award winners as a list with scores here.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
All listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you book something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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Photo by Andrew Cebulkahotel10. The Dewberry Charleston
$$$ |
Gold List 2019, 2022 
Hot List 2017 
Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Since The Dewberry opened its doors in the fall of 2016, the fig ivy at its base has diligently advanced upward, clinging tightly to the ground-floor columns. Now the hotel appears to float on a garden. Which is just as founders John and Jaimie Brown Dewberry intended, bringing an unexpected lightness to the limewashed eight-story midcentury monolith. You'll love its JFK–era cool factor: Across the giant slabs of buffed marble, past the warm cherrywood paneling with unlacquered brass inlay, waits the popular Living Room, where guests can sink into a cozy leather high-back. Locals duck into the hushed spa for Natura Bissé facials and fill the outdoor patio for weekend brunch. But the largest draw will always be the rooftop for sunset cocktails, nibbles, and maritime breezes among the citrus and olive trees, with views of Charleston’s harbor. The vibe is elevated and elegant but also fun and not too fussy. In one of America’s most historic cities, The Dewberry manages to pay homage to the past while feeling refreshingly au courant.
Courtesy Zero Georgehotel9. Zero George
$$ | Gold List 2018, 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023History is so much a part of the Charleston experience that you don’t want to leave it behind when returning to your hotel. At the four early-19th-century in-town “singles” and two carriage houses that form Zero George, you don’t have to. The 16 rooms offer an unfussy palette of cream, gray, and sage, and not a lick of kitsch. Garden suites are sweet with heart pine floors and period millwork, and the kitchen is the heart and soul of this place, as should be the case in the South. Chef Vinson Petrillo isn’t about pretense or elaborate sauces; royal red shrimp are served with generous amounts of heritage pork fat. Zero Restaurant is a destination in its own right. This is classic Charleston, down to the deeply satisfying underfoot crunch of oyster shells in your shaded courtyard nook.
Franzi Annika/The Venduehotel8. The Vendue
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Don’t let the historic façade fool you: This hotel will blow your mind. Conceived as an ever-evolving, progressive “art hotel” with a full-time docent and rotating exhibits, The Vendue is never static. In the past, for instance, the theme has been “red and white,” which translated to a giant red gorilla at the end of a gleaming white hallway packed with provocative paintings, arresting sculptures, and wall hangings. We can’t tell you what to expect when you arrive, because change and evolution is the point. The entire hotel is a conversation starter. Think of a tea party attended by Andy Warhol, Alice in Wonderland, and Louis XIV.
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Courtesy The Spectatorhotel7. The Spectator Hotel
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Immediately south of Charleston's historic market, this boutique hotel attracted instant raves when it opened in the summer of 2015. The lobby is a stunner, with features that channel 1920s glamour with a contemporary twist: a gently cascading waterfall wall, a hand-painted bird mural, a stuffed white peacock, and amethyst-colored drapes. The bar is the hotel's greatest strength, both in design and service. Bartender Allen Lancaster bristles at the term mixologist, but he's creative indeed, incorporating ingredients like grapefruit bitters, chamomile-lemongrass honey, orange blossom, and rosewater perfume into his daily creations.
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Courtesy The Restoration/Andrew Cebulkahotel6. The Restoration
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023A large-scale photograph of an Icelandic horse at check-in is the first clue that this hotel thinks outside the box; the second is the floor-to-ceiling Angel Oak photos that make the elevator feel like a treehouse. A hotel favorite especially with New Yorkers, The Restoration's urban aesthetic, spacious rooms, and cutting-edge photography installations make it a trendy treat. Be sure to check out rooftop restaurant The Watch, where the small bites menu includes crab cakes and raw oysters. This place is all about the little details: the butter-soft gray bathrobes, the designer bicycles with built-in baskets, the intriguing coffee table books that line the library bookshelf next to a mounted alligator skull. Join the Insider's program to enjoy freebies like continental breakfast, delivered with a soft knock on the door and tucked into a leather-clasped wicker picnic basket. They're so attractive that the staff has occasionally had to remind guests not to make off with them!
Courtesy French Quarter Innhotel5. French Quarter Inn
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Steps (literally) from the market, an ivy-covered archway promises cool shade as you make your way down a brick pathway off Church Street into the French Quarter Inn. Before there were great hotels on seemingly every corner in Charleston, this hotel was welcoming and wooing guests—and not much has changed in that regard. The idea is that upon arrival, you'll know you're in a special place (cue the Champagne greeting). The service remains as personal as ever, with an admirable attention to detail—staff remember names and preferences—served with a dose of quiet hospitality.
Courtesy of The Charleston Placehotel4. The Charleston Place
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023A grand hotel makes grand statements, and The Charleston Place does just that. In winter, they make it snow; for Easter, they carpet Market Street with “grass” and scatter thousands of colorful eggs for the kids. The hotel creates a bit of magic for the community at large. Dominating a city block, its maze of shops and restaurants leads to a central Italian marble lobby with a gravity defying 12-foot crystal chandelier and Georgian open-arm staircase. Charleston–based Beemok Hospitality Collection acquired the 433-room hotel in October 2021, so it’s no longer a Belmond, but you can still count on the constants: genuinely cheerful service, classic design touches, fine dining with live jazz, and a 50-foot infinity pool with retractable glass roof and sun deck.
Christian Harderhotel3. The Pinch
$$ | Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023When the iconic Bob Ellis Shoes shuttered its doors after 66 years at the corner of King and George streets, Randall Cook and David Grasso took note. On multiple visits, the co-founder and CEO of the Philadelphia-based hospitality group Method Co. had fallen in love with the Holy City’s rich history, culinary prowess, and creative industry. So the team purchased five adjoining lots and set about preserving, restoring, and transforming the enclave of buildings into a stylish, warmly contemporary boutique hotel, with active storefronts below and two floors above containing 25 chic rooms, suites, and residences, each with a designer kitchen. The transition has been so smooth, many locals didn’t notice the change until realizing the upper windows were no longer boarded up, then spying the Pinch’s understated marquee. Though the launch has been quiet, buzz has been growing about the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, The Quinte, a sexy, glowing, darkly paneled oyster bar fronting George Street. Heads will also turn when restaurant Lowland opens in an adjacent historic dwelling, with a tavern, a second-floor dining room with a hand-painted mural and wood-burning fireplace, and a much-anticipated private extended-stay residence on the top floor.
JB McCabe/The Palmetto Hotelhotel2. The Palmetto Hotel
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2023The Palmetto Hotel, Charleston opened its doors in March of 2023 in the beating heart of the city's storied French Quarter. Named for the tree commonly seen throughout Charleston and along South Carolina's coast, the hotel takes on a seaside sensibility that's entirely suitable to its location—a stroll to the Waterfront Park Pier, for example, will take you all of three minutes from the Palmetto's doorstep. Leafy statement wallpaper, a color palette of foamy greens and gentle blues, and touches of southern charm throughout create an easy, breezy environment thoroughly in embrace of what it is.
Courtesy Hotel Bennetthotel1. Hotel Bennett
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2022, 2023Charleston keeps its buildings low and its historic church steeples high, which meant that owner Michael Bennett had to fight all the way to the State Supreme Court for permission to build his lofty, nine-story hotel. But the view from its rooftop bar and pool is unmatched: On the horizon line, the sky meets a ribbon of shimmering harbor encircling the lower peninsula. Smart guests park themselves up here, settling into cushioned wicker with a craft cocktail to watch snowy egrets migrate in the setting sun. The lower levels of this grand hotel are worth leisurely exploration, from the sprawling second-floor ballroom lounge to Camellias, the stylish, pink Champagne bar tucked off the breezy marble lobby. The sunny corner bakery La Pâtisserie has a pressed-tin ceiling along with fresh pastries, strong coffee, and stacks of newspapers that attract Charlestonians and out-of-towners alike. The hotel spills directly onto Marion Square, a public park known for its weekend farmers market—just one more perk of staying here.
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