Few people know this, but in another life, I worked as an independent contractor for a luxury wedding planner in Charleston!
I’ll never forget my first wedding weekend in town, where I was tasked with couriering the most decadent welcome amenities to guests at The Charleston Place. Stepping into their lobby, with its grand staircase and glittering chandelier, I remember feeling pure awe. It was formal and elegant, and quintessential, classic southern elegance. In other words, it was one of my earliest brushes with true luxury hospitality.
So you can imagine my unbridled delight when their team reached out to host me for a girls’ weekend in the Holy City!
The Charleston Place today is, at its soul, the icon I first encountered over a decade ago, all while transforming into a full-scale resort. It is in the middle of a multiyear transformation totaling more than $150 million, and while the bones are the same (it sits where King, Market, and Meeting Streets meet in the historic district), it is reinvigorated in both its aesthetic and the team’s palpable spirit of service.
Put on a robe and pour some bubbles as you tuck in below to the diary of our weekend!
P.S. A note of transparency, as always: this stay, along with our dining and activities, was gifted by the team at The Charleston Place. All musings are entirely my own! Endless thanks to the The Charleston Place team for their impeccable hospitality — as ever.
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Getting There
Charleston is beautifully easy travel wise. From Charleston International Airport, it’s about a 25-minute ride to the hotel’s front door on Meeting Street. You can land at ten and be holding a latte by half past!
Friday
10:00 AM | Wheels down in Charleston, and a quick zip downtown.
10:30 AM | Arrival at The Charleston Place. Before anything else, I went to the darling coffee cart on property for a cup of coffee and a gluten-free chocolate muffin, which I found genuinely delicious and not merely delicious for gluten-free!
11:00 AM | An early check-in, a gift never taken for granted. The rooms are exquisitely appointed and felt almost designed with me in mind: French, light, airy, and washed in soft blues. I unpacked slowly and pinched myself more than once.
12:00 PM | Up to the pool. The hotel has reimagined its fourth floor as a retreat devoted to wellbeing, anchored by a light-filled rooftop pool, a garden bar, and redesigned locker rooms. The locker rooms deserve special mention, because they feel less like a hotel amenity and more like the most luxurious spa you’ve ever set foot in. The pool piazza has an indoor-outdoor design, with a saltwater pool beneath a retractable glass roof, so it can be used all year. Outside, the lounging patio was serene, with the Ravenel Bridge floating in the distance. The attendants were sublime and anticipated every need before I’d thought of it. Throughout the day, they pass through with small pleasures like breakfast pastries, chilled towels, seasonal fruit, and after-sun care, and in the evening there’s a signature cocktail and mocktail. I settled in with my book and a cocktail and let the afternoon take its time.
1:00 PM | Lunch at Perch, the brand-new rooftop garden bar, only steps from the pool. The menu is light, bright, and seasonal, with crudo, stone fruit salads, and grilled local produce next to classics like lobster rolls and caprese. I ordered a green juice and the green goddess salad. It was fresh, savory, and exactly what a Charleston afternoon called for.
2:00 PM | Back to my chaise for more reading!
4:00 PM | My best friend, Riley, touched down and was on her way. I went up to shower and made a Nespresso in the room while I waited for her arrival!
5:00 PM | One of life’s greatest pleasures is getting ready with your girlfriend in matching robes. We danced, we did our makeup, and then came the surprise: The Charleston Place sent up the loveliest welcome amenity, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot with an assortment of decadent treats. We had planned on pre-dinner cocktails out, but we skipped them. We stayed in our rooms instead, sipped champagne, and marveled that this was real life.
7:30 PM | Across the bridge to Mount Pleasant and its Old Village, a storybook little pocket of town where The Notebook was filmed. Dinner was at The Post House Inn with friends from town: oysters, burgers, and impeccable craft cocktails around a lively table.
10:30 PM | A nightcap back at the hotel in Thoroughbred Club. I always try to take it easy on the first night. Reverie, as usual, had other plans.
Saturday
10:00 AM | We woke after the dreamiest sleep and went down for brunch at The Palmetto Café, which is conveniently tucked just off the lobby. It is light and airy, overlooking the interior courtyard, and the tables are set with beautiful china (I always turn pieces underneath to check the designer!). We had mimosas and wholesome bites to fortify us for what came next.
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM | Shopping!!! Charleston has endless things to do, but on a quick girls’ escape there is only one correct answer, and we had a serious case of the shoppies.
The highlight of the morning was Goldbug Collection, a Charleston jewelry and gift brand designed by sisters who are fourth-generation members of the family behind Croghan’s Jewel Box. Croghan’s is a Charleston institution, and it has just emerged from its own beautiful facelift, so a visit to both makes a lovely pairing. At 308A King Street, Goldbug’s interiors are deliciously designed. I especially fawned over the wallpaper, which matches the jewelry pouches exactly. It’s the kind of detail that tells you everything you need to know about a brand. They offer engraving on site and custom work, including silhouettes of little ones and pets! I left with a new wishbone necklace, an order for a custom pendant, and we both selected very special gifts for people we adore. With so many gorgeous pieces, I still can’t believe I managed to choose!
2:00 PM | A graceful pause in our spending for Afternoon Tea at Thoroughbred Club. The lounge is sophisticated and English-inspired, and the tea is traditional with a Southern accent: a tiered spread of sweet and savory bites paired with tea and champagne.
4:00 PM | Back to work!!! Beyond Goldbug and Croghan’s, these are my favorite stops on King Street:
Sézane, right inside The Charleston Place
Julia Amory
Juliska
Estelle Colored Glass
La Ligne
Hill House, which has the most darling coffee and sweets shop inside, Nell’s
Beau & Ro
LAKE (a Lauren Warrant alum, naturally)
I’ve also heard wonderful things about Nette and Sister Shop. For the luxury houses, Louis Vuitton and Gucci are connected directly to the hotel, so you’re a few steps from a very dangerous afternoon.
6:00 PM | Back to our room to freshen up and spread our purchases across the bed like trophies.
7:00 PM | Dinner at Chef Daniel Humm x The Charleston Place, which was the unrivaled highlight of our weekend.
For the uninitiated, Humm is the Swiss-born chef behind Eleven Madison Park, which became number one on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017. For his Charleston chapter, he and his team took over the hotel’s former Charleston Grill space for a yearlong residency. They reimagined the room with new wood floors, elegant floral arrangements, and custom plates by Eleven Madison Park’s ceramicist, Jono Pandolfi. The cooking interprets Humm’s world-class vision through Charleston’s own ingredients and traditions, alongside some of his signature dishes.
The food and the libations were extravagant and undeniable. For me, though, the real pièce de résistance was the service. The team was elevated but never stuffy, and warm, playful, and a little bit magical, which is the rarest combination in fine dining. (In a nod to some of my own content, we squealed when a server set down our cocktails and added, “Oh, and f*ck an Airbnb!”) We finished with espresso martinis served in ceramic versions of the classic “We Are Happy to Serve You” Anthora coffee cup, a wink to Humm’s New York roots and the perfect final note.
Please note: the residency closes September 27, so if you can get a reservation before then, do not hesitate!!!!
10:00 PM | Back upstairs, back into the matching robes. We ordered a bottle of wine and giggled late into the night in our cloud of a bed.
Sunday
10:00 AM | We slept in (gloriously) and ordered room service. We ate breakfast in bed and went back over the whole magical weekend one more time.
12:00 PM | Time to say goodbye, and we were absolutely gutted. The team sent us off as warmly as they had welcomed us, and we promised we’d be back soon.
Final Thoughts
A weekend in this city is never quite enough. When I return, I’ll spend more time on Sullivan’s Island, my favorite corner of Charleston, and I’ll wander the Battery to admire its historic architecture.
I also can’t wait to come back once The Charleston Place Spa reopens after its renovation. The rest of the property is so exquisite that I know this space will be something special.
P.S. I promise to always keep The Lauren Letter free as my little exercise of trying to make the world a bit more beautiful. If, in return, you could considering giving this post a “like” or share with a friend, it would just mean the world to me.
