We stayed at the Town & Country Inn. I understand they have just done a major renovation and it got very good reviews on TripAdvisor. Downtown hotels may/may not provide free parking. When we drove to the peninsula, we usually parked near the Visitor Center (for a fee) as it is very centrally located. It would be a 15-20 min drive from the T&C.

IMHO, there is a HUGE price differential and only you can know if it is worth it. There is a big benefit to staying on the peninsula and being able to walk everywhere, go back to your room and rest in the late afternoon, and go out again for dinner.

We have stayed at the Francis Marion, the King Charles Inn, and a couple others on the peninsula through the years. Price was always the deciding factor for us. My preference would be on the peninsula, but if you can't do that, the T&C is very nice. Hope that helps.

The T&C is fine, but it's in a busy business area with lots of traffic.

This question is asked a lot. From the feedback I've gotten over the years, people who stayed in the HD are glad they did. People who didn't wished they had. The King Charles BW has free parking.

Thanks for the input. Will check out your suggestions.

I attended a meeting at the T&C about a month ago and renovations were still taking place. The the hotel is just about at the I-576 / Rte 17 intersection so traffic is heavy. Traffic on 17 into and out of Charleston is heavy but moves fairly well.

The only hotels in the historic district I know of that have free parking are the King Charles Inn and Days Inn. King Charles Inn is a better choice, but Days Inn is OK if it's significantly cheaper.

We stayed at The Indigo Inn a couple of years ago . . I don't recall paying extra for parking, but that is not something I worry about.

http://www.indigoinn.com/

We actually stayed in the Annex . . it's separate from the main hotel and very quite

In recent years we stayed once in the Historic District at the Moss House which was wonderful and Mount Pleasant, which is just outside of Charleston, at Plantation Oaks - a B&B. To see Charleston it was great being in the HD and every thing was easily walkable. On the other hand Mt. Pleasant is aptly named and the B&B was lovely, romantic and had beautiful views over the marshes. A bonus is that is is just down the road from Boone Plantation, a place well worth a visit, and just off route 17 with it's sweet grass basket stands. It took about 20 minutes to drive to the HD. Either way you can have a good time - it just depends on what you want. If you want to take a chance, stop at the Tourist info center on I95 at the state line and ask if any HD hotels have sent in specials for when you plan to be there - sometimes you can get lucky. We got Moss House that way for $79/night which was extraordinary.

In your searches online, you may see adds for hotels in North Charleston. I think every chain in the US has a hotel there. The prices may be attractive and the hotels can be very nice but be aware that it will also take at least 20 minutes to the HD and IMO, unlike Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston itself has little to offer.