My wife and I are planning a vacation to Charleston in October. Some of the hotels we are considering are outside the historic district. How difficult is it to get a parking spot during the week and week-end? Is it possible to get a spot on the street? What is the going rate for parking?

Why don't you post under ONE vacation destination==Charleston AND Savannah. People ususally know about both.Don't spend much time in Savannah==more time in Charleston. Where are you coming from? Are you driving or are you renting?

ken, don't dick around with hotels outside the historic district if you are spending time inside the historic district.

It is a pain to drive, park, drive back to hotel to freshen up for dinner or whatever, drive back, park, yadda, yadda.

Skip the more expensive dinners, splurge on lunch and put that money towards your hotel.

The Andrew Pinckney Inn is one of the more reasonably priced better located hotels in the historic district and it includes breakfast.

Also check out Indigo Inn, King Charles Best Western, Holiday Inn, and Days Inn.

All have excellent downtown locations.

Parking is difficult on street if you aren't a resident.

While I do agree it is preferable to stay in the historic district, I have stayed outside twice (once for over a week), and I have never had much trouble with parking. It is a good way to save money. There are several parking decks near the Battery, or you can park at a deck near the visitor center and ride the trolley. My trips were in October and May.

I would also spend the extra $$ and stay in the historic area. Why muddle up your trip by having to drive around town looking a parking space, particularly on a weekend.

You might want to consider the length of stay in this decision. If staying for a short period (2-3 days), staying in the historic district is relatively more affordable and offers more convenience. If staying for a long period, it becomes both much more expensive and relatively less convenient (depending on your sightseeing agenda). For example, staying outside the historic district is just as convenient, and sometimes more so, for the beaches, plantations, Patriots Point, and Ft. Sumter. To give you an example of not staying in the historic district - I could drive from Mt. Pleasant to the historic distric, park, and be out on the streets within 15-20 minutes. The most inconvenience comes at dinner time. Going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and then driving back into the historic district is not always so great.

I checked on the Andrew Pinckney Inn website:

http://www.andrewpinckneyinn.com/

and rates for peak season (October is peak season) start at $119 per night which is a STEAL. Book this hotel.

For the heck of it, I checked rates at the Hampton Inn for the weekend (also peak season) of October 15th and the rates are:

HI Riverview: $124
Mt. Pleasant: $129

GoTravel seems to have found some good rates for you. I would certainly pay that. If you still want to stay outside, I would recommend the Mt. Pleasant Sleep Inn as one option. It is close to the bridge. It is a basic hotel but is only a few years old (I stayed there in 2002). We liked staying there for over a week. The rates are still about $90 per night - standard rate ($81 AAA). I would stay away from the Econolodge across the street and the hotel next to the Sleep Inn. We didn't like staying at the Econolodge (bad service at the time and too much noise), and I had a reservation at the other hotel I mentioned and moved to the Sleep Inn after looking over our dirty, worn room (the only time I have ever done that).

Just a brief note. They no longer run trolleys from the visitors center or anywhere else. Only for the College of Charleston.

Thanks for the trolley update.

Check out the Seaside Inn on the Isle of Palms. It is right on the beach and we really loved it the two times we stayed there. It's a 15 min. drive to Charleston and we didn't have trouble parking in a parking lot. There are some good restaurants on the Island, too, to you don't need to drive back into Charleston to eat if you don't want to. Take a glass of wine onto the beach and watch the sunset, then walk up the street to eat.
The motel isn't posh, but it's clean and very cute.

Seaside Inn certainly has a prime location, but almost all the rooms are windowless. That just about drove me nuts. I'm afraid I'll never be able to stay there again.

BTW, I think wine on the beach is illegal. If I'm wrong, then it was silly of me to keep hiding that bottle of champagne in my beach bag when the cops were on the beach. ;-)

Litespeed, alcohol on the beach is illegal you silly girl No one ever drinks on the beach!

Seriously, as long as you are cool with it, aren't drunk, and do not have glass containers, the police will not bother you.

Put any alcohol in a solo cup and put that in a coozie.

GoTravel - what a relief! Thanks for the Solo cup tip, packing the Riedels was nerve-wracking anyway ;-)

While you're here...do you have any ideas for where to stay on Folly for just a night or two and get a deal? I usually rent a house, but I don't want to mess w/ bringing my own linens and crap for a short stay. Holiday Inn is looking like $169...is that a good deal? Do you know if any of the condos down there take 1-2 night ressies + provide linens? Thinking about either weekend of 8/26 or 9/9. I assume the beach and the city would be crowded on Labor Day. Thanks!

p.s. Now you know which weekends will get hurricanes.

Actually, the city may be cheaper over Labor Day.

I'm not any good with hotels on Folly because we never stay out there. It is kind of the island next to us if that makes any sense.

There are plenty of companies that will rent you linens but I don't know if the minimum night stays at condos will have dropped to the point where you can even rent for two night stays.

Sorry I'm not an more help!

GoTravel: Can I pick your brain a bit more? I didn't quite follow your comment about Labor Day being cheaper.

My current quandry is: I'm planning to come on the 26th, but it's tempting to wait until Labor Day weekend so my husband is not out of the office much. Can you give me a feel for crowding conditions in Charleston (on the streets, in the restaurants, etc.) and on the beach? Traffic horrible? My husband is very anti-crowd and won't ever go with me to the bridge run, Easter weekend, etc. because of it. Any insight into what Labor Day is like would be appreciated.

Cost is a concern, but a lesser one.

Traditional summer holidays (The Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day) are usually packed at the beach and less quiet in downtown. Everyone usually wants to go to the beach those weekends!


The beach will be busy both weekends. Can you wait until the weekend after Labor Day for the beach? As you know it will still be hot as the dickens but with less than half of the crowds.

If that doesn't work, my suggestion would be downtown for Labor Day.

Really? the 26th will be crowded too? Rats. The weekend after labor day is out due to a party. The weekend after that...well, hurricanes do happen, and I want to give myself a safety weekend in case of weather problems.

I guess it was silly of me to ask, I was just hoping crowds would be less due to the kiddies being back in school.

Wish me luck getting a surfing lesson...it didn't work out last year.

Thanks for your help.

Litespeed - I've stayed at the hotel on Folly - it's been a couple of years. Nothing remarkable but they have a corner on the market as it is (or at least was at that time) the only hotel on the beach. I recall the rooms as being musty but that goes with being at the beach sometime.