Suggestions for Charleston, SC hotels from Amtrak

[NETrainfan]

Would like some suggestions for mid-range price hotels between the

Amtrak station and the historic Charleston, SC district. (Would like

to be in a walking area- only would take a taxi to and from Amtrak.)

As many know, the train arrives at 5:00 a.m.- so we would need to go to

a hotel directly for early, early check-in and breakfast.

Thanks in advance for any information about the above.

 

[niemi24s]

Trip Advisor website can provide ratings of hotels based on reviews by many (usually at least 100 for the better hotels) travelers. You can even use that site's map to browse hotels in your area of interest. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g54171-Charleston_South_Carolina-Hotels.html by clicking on any hotel, clicking on the map that appears on that hotel's page (down on the right hand side) and then scrolling around on the full size map that will appear. The Amtrak station is in North Charleston and its icon will appear when you zoom in close enough.

 

[jebr]

I would also call whatever hotel you choose to go to in advance to see if they can do that early of a check-in. It likely will not be possible, but I wouldn't rule it out. Most hotels will hold your bags for the day until you check in, though.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Not to dis Charleston, but as a getaway destination, Savannah is better in every way, including the train calling time.! ( just my opinion, YMMV)

You can Google up Hotels, but the B&BS are a really nice alternative to staying in a chain place!

 

[NETrainfan]

Hi- Have been reading reviews. Interested in where train riders have stayed.

We would have to pay for a hotel the night before an early, early check in.

Charleston vs. Savannah- am interested in comparisons. Thanks. (Train gets in to Savannah at 6:30 a.m.-a better time.)

 

[Seaboard92]

Savannah I think is a better choice. Stay on river street and your good. Then enjoy walking around town. Forsyth park. You can go to a train museum if you like. They have several ghost tours and carriage tours. If you have a rent a car go to the beach near by. And then eat in Cart Hilliards. A local chain. I recommend savannah.

 

[user 6862]

We stayed at the Comfort Inn Downtown in Bee Street mid March this year. Found it good value for money for where it is, good service and a very good breakfast. 15 minute walk to the center of the Historic District, we found the walk very pleasant with a lot of 'ordinary' but interesting buildings along the way and a real lived in neighbourhood feel.

Don't know if they do early check in, sorry as we didn't go directly to the hotel but to a plantation after finding breakfast along the way.

We arrived and left again on that 5am train, don't know how to tell you this but that train is seriously early!

We found Charleston a good place to stay, in some ways we preferred it to Savannah (sorry Jim) in particular downtown.

Still haven't worked out to place an URL in the text, get a box come up for a link, place the URL and then it all freezes. Using IE 11

 

[City of Miami]

I went down to Charleston last spring for 4 days. I was disappointed in the destination and didn't enjoy my stay very much except for the opera which is what I went for. There is quite a bit of historical interest but it is drowned in the tourist oriented hype. 0verpriced junk food galore everywhere. Just like Fisherman's Wharf. And way too many tourists to eat up all that junk food and hordes of pedicabs so they don't have to walk it off. I plan to visit Savannah too and hope it is less of all that.

 

[NETrainfan]

This is interesting- the train is *early* into Charleston! Erg.

 

[user 6862]

That's odd CoM, we were there 8-11 March this year and nowhere was busy although we were outside of downtown for some of the time. Maybe it was because we were there Sunday to Wednesday, possibly Friday and Saturdays are busier?

We have a friend who lived just outside Savannah town and visited twice, also met with his friends around the town too so saw a bit of Savannah by visiting their homes and eating out. There's no doubting there are some fine buildings there but it lacked atmosphere in my personal view.

ps: did I mention that this train is so early?

 

[NETrainfan]

v v- Two questions:

What kind of atmosphere does Savannah have compared to Charleston, in your experience?

(Not an essay question.)

Also- are the areas around the Amtrak stations similar in Savannah and Charleston?

( Have noted that the Savannah station is closer to their Historic District than Charleston's is to their Historic District.)

 

[user 6862]

Have only arrived in Savannah by car, don't even know where the Amtrak station is in Savannah. In Charleston the station isn't really part of the city but not such a long cab ride either.

Rosie said Savannah didn't feel very lived in, I felt it was a bit flat. Rosie loves the architecture of Savannah and can be absorbed by that, I felt there were many interesting buildings but being more interested in people than old buildings the atmosphere was more noticeable to me.

Charleston was as said felt more lived in and had a more comfortable feel, plus has interesting architecture too.

Have to point out we are not regular tourist types and don't have to see famous building and sights even if we are near, so maybe our opinions are skewed away from the main stream?

I have written a trip report on the first half of this year's journey around America, it will give a better idea of how we see your country if you are interested.

Hope this all helps, we both would recommend both cities for a first visit.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

If you are coming all the way down from Maine, would you be able to visit both cities? I have not been to either, but it looks like they are only a couple of hours (although weird arriving hours) from each other by train. If you may not get all that way down there again for a while, you might want to consider doing both if time and resources permit.

 

[niemi24s]

. . .are the areas around the Amtrak stations similar in Savannah and Charleston?

See for yourself by using Google Earth. In addition to the overhead views, you can get street-level views using the Street View feature. You may even find somebody providing a guided tour on YouTube.. There's enough weird stuff on YouTube already - why not that?

 

[Carolina Special]

I researched a Charleston trip a couple of months ago, partly inspired by City of Miami's trip report. It seemed to me that the price/value proposition for hotels was better over on Mt. Pleasant rather than staying in downtown Charleston. My parents lived in Mt. Pleasant before I was born, so that was an added bonus.

I was tentatively going to take a cab to the Hampton Inn Mt. Pleasant. On Day 1 I was going to visit the Yorktown exhibit and then take the obligatory boat ride out to Fort Sumter, and on Day 2 take a bus ride into downtown Charleston to see the sights there. Then a cab ride the following morning back to the station to catch the NB Palmetto. Unfortunately, real life events intervened to scuttle this plan, and the recent flooding took place just after my planned visit.

My plan worked for a single guy who is willing to do some walking: if you have a significant other who wants/needs to stay downtown, that's where you need to be. The bus schedules to/from the Charleston station are not that great, nor is the area around the station. You basically need to plan to take a cab. Hopefully if/when the station remodeling is complete the bus situation will improve.

Oh, and try not to schedule a trip on a weekend with a Citadel home football game. The downtown hotels seem to be all booked up then.

 

[Alex M.]

Charleston and Savannah are both very similar, although the former predates the latter by about 50 years or so. The stations in both areas are of similar post WWII vintage. I am not that familiar with the Savannah station, but the Charleston is rather decrepit. There are plans to replace it with a new facility to resemble somewhat the old Union Station that burned in 1947. The spring and the fall are the two best times to come to the Charleston area. Try to visit before the Spoleto Festival if you want to avoid crowds.

 

[NW cannonball]

<edit> Decent hotels on the peninsula are typically $200+ per night. Check the usual websites. consider rent-a-car and outlying <edit>

My visit to Charleston was 8 years back. The train station is in a deteriorating area, but safe. This hasn't changed, according to my informants.

Downtown hotels are fairly expensive, most always, sometimes moreso.

Wherever you decide to stay (I had a cheap motel up in Goose Creek, and a rent-a-car) the downtown, the waterfront, (the many waterfronts, with all those "rivers" ) there's a lot of tourist-trap crappy restaurants, but also a lot of reasonably priced excellent seafood.

And there's a lot of good, safe, amazing places to walk on the peninsula. With a car, there's Patriot's point with those ancient warships, there's the waterfront, there's the Hunley museum (confederate submarine) -

To walk the old town, which could be worth a day or two, get a downtown hotel. It won't be cheap.

If you want to see the nearby sights like Patriot's point, the beaches, the Hunley -- yoiu want a renta-car.

If you want public transport, not cab, near the station, at 5-6 AM - uh - make sure you catch the southbound bus, and don't worry the neighborhood on River too much, it's worse farther north.

 

[NETrainfan]

Hi- Appreciate all of the the Charleston/Savannah information here.

Wondered about the safety of areas around the stations. Would plan on a taxi to a hotel.

We are planning on a Spring trip- late March or early April- guess the Spoleto Festival is in May/June????

Planning to walk- not rent a car.

 

[City of Miami]

I went during the Spoleto Festival (early June) so it seems that accounts for the crowds of tourists. But still, so much of the city seemed oriented toward tourists which of course detracts from what this tourist wants to experience.

I had an Airbnb which was fine, north of town near Hampton Park. My host picked my up at the Amtrak station but I took the bus back to it for departure. The bus was perfectly doable for intrepids like me and Carolina Special. I didn't see anything about the station or surrounding area that aroused alarm. Mostly I walked around town but I did take the free trolleys a few times. It appeared to be a very bike friendly city [and largely flat] so that is surely an option. I saw many ordinary citizens of all ages wearing ordinary clothing riding ordinary bikes. It reminded me of Holland a little.

 

[Carolina Special]

Since doing my research, I've been bombarded with internet ads for Charleston which show a woman and a couple riding bikes. So I agree that they encourage bicycles.

I've actually used a bicycle in Charleston back on a field trip in grade school, but that was over at what is now Charles Towne Landing, which is sort of a nature zoo and history park with walking/biking trails. It was originally set up for the tricentennial celebration back in 1970: Columbia and Greenville also had exhibits, but only Charleston's survived. The park is difficult to reach by bus without blowing a whole day, but if you have a car and children who need to run some energy out of their system, it might be worth a visit.

 

[afigg]

Charleston and Savannah are both very similar, although the former predates the latter by about 50 years or so. The stations in both areas are of similar post WWII vintage. I am not that familiar with the Savannah station, but the Charleston is rather decrepit. There are plans to replace it with a new facility to resemble somewhat the old Union Station that burned in 1947. The spring and the fall are the two best times to come to the Charleston area. Try to visit before the Spoleto Festival if you want to avoid crowds.

After being stalled for years and years, the plans to replace the Charleston station with a new intermodal center are moving ahead. The new station will be at the same location; the plans to build a new station at a better location fell through due to insufficient funds. The website for the North Charleston Passenger Intermodal Facility projects a February, 2017 completion date for the new facility. But they have not yet awarded a construction contract, so the February, 2017 date is likely to slip.

However, by sometime in 2017, Charleston could have a nice station with more local transportation options. And the intermodal station will be named after a local or state politician to boost someone's ego.