My husband and I recently visited Savannah for 4 days as part of our road trip to Charleston and Wilmington NC.
Our stay at the Azalea Inn was wonderful. Everything about the Inn is fabulous- from the Innkeepers to the pool, the food, the rooms even the resident yorkies that will steal your heart.
Meals were great as well. We ate at the Pink House and Elizabeth's on 37. Both were terrific. Elizabeth's was my favorite, although I will admit, the prices were very high-and I am used to Manhattan restaurants!
We also ate at Lady and Sons. I really had no plans to do this prior to our arrival. I do not stand in line for anything. I planned to simply go by the restaurant and take a picture under the sign.
However, after our carriage ride when we walked over to the restaurant at about 4:30PM, there was no one on line! The hostess asked me if I was there to make a reservation. I asked, "for tonight?" she told me she had 8:30PM available. Since we normally eat at 8PM - 8:30PM when we are on vacation, we decided to cancel our planned reservation and come back for dinner.
The meal was was fine, not gourmet, but that is not what this restaurant is about. At $16.99 for fried chicken and spareribs with all the southern trimmings including desert, the price was fair. My husband ordered off the menu and had Crab stew a fablulous crab bisque that was so creamy and thick it resembled crab dip. His entree was fried lobster which was delicous ( I tasted a bite). The restuarant holds over 300 people on three floors. There are pictures of Paula, Jamie and Bobby everywhere, as well as two gift shop areas- selling everything from Paula's cookbooks ( at retail) to giant pens!) Anyone hooked on Paula's TV show will love coming here. It is very low key, down home in appearance and while the "family" is not there, you expect to see them wander in at any moment. Not my best meal, but a treasured memory from my trip.
The trolly is a wonderful way to see the city which is much larger than Charleston. We bought a combination ticket for the carriage ride, trolly and a house museum at the vistor's center. The Squares were wonderful as were the two churches we visited.
Its interesting to me (as a yankee!) that I did not experience the same pre-occupation with the "war of northern agression" in Savannah that was prevalant in Charleston. Savannah envelops you sort of like Paris.
While I enjoyed Charleston, I 'experienced' Savannah. I can't wait to return.

Thank you for taking the time to post this lovely review.

Yes, Charleston and Savannah are like two cousins....same family, but oh, what a difference in personality.

I hope that you will be able to come back soon. Try for the Springtime when the azaleas and flowering trees are at their best.

lady,
Thank you for this report. I figured we'd skip Lady & Sons because of the long lines, but I'd like to see the restaurant and gift shops. Is it possible to enter the gift shop w/out a dinner reservation?

Glad you enjoyed your trip!

Thanks for the trip report. I stayed at the Azalea Inn last year, and have to say that I would not stay there again. I was disappointed in the neighborhood and the owner. We had a sense that either the owner liked you or didn't.

I loved Elizabeth's on 37th also. It was my favorite meal on the trip. I don't remember feeling as though our dinner was overly priced. The food and the service were perfect. Interestingly, the owner of the Azalea supposedly made a reservation for us at E's on 37th, but when we got there, no reservation was made. I truly believed she just forgot to do it. Also, we found out at the restaurant that they had a local driving service of which the B&B was unaware.

Not flaming--but headed that way--could you explain "local driving service"? We only have one night and this resto is on our list. Thanks.

Not sure exactly what constitutes flaming. I was hesitant to post my comments. It was just our experience, and there were many other opposing views on Trip advisor, yahoo and obviously ladylyn's.

Re: "local driving service" - last year when we ate at Elizabeths on 37th, the waiter told us that they had a car that would have picked us up and dropped us off at our inn. Don't know if they do that all the time, and what the limits on distance was.

Just to clarify my last post, what I meant was that there are many positive reviews of Azalea Inn on trip advisor, yahoo....