Ansonborough Inn

21 Hasell St., Charleston, South Carolina, 29401, United States, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Fodor's Choice
https://www.facebook.com/Ansonborough-Inn-153391923935/

Why We Like It

The Ansonborough Inn is antithesis of a cookie cutter chain hotel. Architecture buffs will appreciate the original elements of this hotel while all travelers will dig its convenient location.

Fodor's Expert Review

Housed in a former stationer’s warehouse constructed in the early 1900s, the Ansonborough Inn is teeming with original architecture. A congenial staff works to make your stay special, and a nightly wine-and-cheese social harkens back to a more genteel era. Most rooms are quite spacious—more so than you’d expect from a boutique property—and the inn’s address at the corner of Hasell and East Bay Streets puts you within walking distance of the City Market, Battery Park, and other must-visit historic sites.

You Should Know The Ansonborough Inn is an old building with equally old (read: poorly insulated) walls. Depending on your neighbors, light sleepers may be bothered by noise from surrounding suites.

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Room

Guest rooms are each unique—some hold a fireplace, others have 16-foot ceilings, exposed brick, and chandeliers. Old-school oil paintings and wooden period reproductions add historic charm, while a mini-fridge, Keurig, and microwave add a touch of modernity to certain suites.

Tip Though they’re not the largest rooms offered, the Premium Plus suites are mega charming, with gorgeous exposed brick and beams, an electric fireplace at the foot of your bed, and a wall of windows overlooking East Bay Street.

Bathroom

Neutrogena products freshen up the basic bathrooms.

Lobby

A hunting club aesthetic informs the cozy lobby, where portraits of hunting dogs and maritime scenes dress walls. Overhead, a vaulted atrium with crisscrossing heart-pine beams stuns, below, Oriental rugs add to the antique appeal.

Gym

A solo treadmill and a solo weight machine make up the fitness center. Better than nothing though, I suppose!

Dining

An extended continental breakfast buffet with flaky pastries, cereals, fresh fruit, and a rotating hot item satisfies. You’ll eat in the hospitality suite with chandeliers overhead; drop by the space anytime for coffee, Charleston Tea Plantation tea, lemonade, ice water, and fresh baked cookies.

Drinking

Toast to your fellow travelers during the evening wine-and-cheese social from 5 to 6, featuring a glass of Burgundy or Chardonnay and house-made pimiento cheese. (For sweeping views of the Cooper River, take yours to the rooftop terrace.) And grab a pint or spirit at the Admiral Anson’s Pub.

What's Nearby

Getting Around

Park your car in the inn’s lot ($20 per day) then take off on foot. Hail a pedicab if you tire of walking, or hop aboard the complimentary DASH trolley. For off-peninsula excursions, drive or use ride-share.

Restaurants

Walk to Cru Café (4-minute walk) for a delectable Southern lunch or dinner (snag a seat on the porch, if possible). For a lobster roll and raw bar you’ll want to write home about, head across the street to 167 Raw (2-minute walk).

Bars

Take in views of the Cooper River and Holy City steeples at the rooftop Pavilion Bar (5-minute walk) at the Market Pavilion hotel. For a delicious cocktail, pleasant bar banter, and live jazz, cozy up to the bar at High Cotton (7-minite walk).

Quick Facts

HOTEL INFO

Phones: 843-723–1655;800-723–1655