I was in Charleston for a friend's wedding, and decided I'll treat myself with a stay in a high-end hotel. I'm glad I did. Service was great, and I felt like royalty, especially after I saw my room. My first night I dined at the Peninsula Grill; the pan-seared Carolina trout, followed by the chocolate bread pudding for dessert, was awesome. I loved the stay so much that I took a bathrobe and got a teddy bear (don't worry, I paid for it). I hope to get back to Charleston and do some more sight-seeing; when I do, my first choice of hotels will be Planters Inn.

My family and I spent 2 nights at Planters Inn right after Christmas. Being a Relais & Chateaux, we were truly looking forward to our stay, but began wondering if we were making a mistake before we left home. I sent 2 emails to the Concierge to make dinner reservations at the Peninsula Grill; neither emails was ever answered. I called the hotel and spoke to a concierge, explaining my frustration in not receiving a reply to my 2 messages. At no point was an apology proffered nor any empathy shown; I was informed that a concierge had, indeed, made reservations for us but not at the requested time as it was not available. I asked if anyone was ever planning to notify us of this fact, not to mention give us a choice as to other times and not just randomly select for us; the reply was "I don't know why she (whomever "she" is) never answered you. I called again the next morning and spoke to the hotel manager, who did apologize and switched our reservations to the desired time. We arrived at the hotel and found the bellman (Bo) and the young lady at the front desk to be quite friendly, but that is where the friendliness stopped. One of the five "Cs" of Relais & Chateaux is courtesy; we found the staff to be civil but NOT friendly. At times, eye contact would be made with staff yet no hello, welcome back or anything else said. Most of my comments and disappointment are really about the physical plant itself: the noise from the street keeps you awake, therefore, the windows should be double-glazed. There is a lack of outlets; we had to take turns charging our phones, etc. The wi-fi did not work on any of our Apple devices. The closet is in the bathroom, which I have never seen before, and the right hand door is on some sort of hinge that snaps back at you so you have to hold it open with one hand or risk it hitting you, hard, on your head. Something else I have never experienced. The 4-poster bed blocks the view of the TV, so watching the news in bed is frustrating. There is a reading chair in the corner but no lamp ANYWHERE near it, so it renders the chair useless after dark. Only one side of the bed has a reading light, so too bad for the person on the other side. The bathroom has a single sink. The air conditioning/heating unit was VERY loud, disrupting sleep when you combined that noise with the street noise. The lighting in the bathroom is very poor; this is especially bad in the evening, when natural light from the window is unavailable. No map of the city and attractions was offered, no information whatsoever. We found our room door open. The excess pillows that we did not use were found on top of all of our shoes inside the floor; pretty disgusting considering a guest might want to use those pillows to prop themselves up, even if they do not use them to sleep on. Finally, we returned to our room after dinner and found the ice tongs INSIDE THE TOILET, not on the toilet, but INSIDE. We can only guess that the person who did the turndown service dumped the old, melted ice water into the toilet, dropped the tongs in the process and did not bother to retrieve them. I only regret that we fished them out ourselves instead of calling management upstairs to do so! The hotel manager DID take $100 off our bill, which was NOT our goal. All-in-all, a huge disappointment.

We have stayed at many hotels in Charleston, but we find Planters Inn to be our favorite. It's location is perfect, right at the corner of Market and Meeting. Once you valet your car, you are done driving. Everything is right there. The rooms are big and comfortable. They might lack some of the newer amenities, but they more than make up for it in pure charm. It's proximity and association with the Pennisula Grill, one of Charleston's finest, is great as well. Beyond this, the staff will know your name 5 minutes after you check in and are always at your beck and call. If you are looking for a classic, quaint Charleston hotel, this is the place.

We just spent five days at Planters Inn in Charleston and were thoroughly satisfied and charmed. The Inn is located on a corner of the three block long market and a pretty busy street, Meeting St,. but still manages to maintain a relative calm. We were located on the fourth floor in a room with multiple large windows overlooking the market and experienced no significant noise. We were able to close inside shutters and heavy curtains each night to shut out any possible excessive noise and morning light. The king bed was very comfortable and well appointed with good linens. And the room itself was large and comfortable enough to read for extended periods if so inclined. I was also impressed with the staff from the housekeepers, the bellmen, the front desk personnel all the way to management. They were all friendly, helpful and very willing to go the extra mile to accomodate us. All in all it was a truly relaxing, comfortable stay. Additionally, the location is perfect for a convenient visit to many of Charlestons restaurants and historic sites as well as the College of Charleston. They are all in easy walking distance. We definitely look forward to returning.