In 1733, James Oglethorpe set up Savannah on a 24-square Roman military grid with wide streets as firebreaks. That plan has served the city well: Civil War General Tecumseh Sherman was so impressed with the beauty of Savannah that he gave the city that his troops occupied to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift. That beauty endures today and continues to make Savannah one of the most popular cities in the South.
Savannah’s Landmark Historic District, the nation’s largest, is one huge walkable neighborhood. Live oaks hung with Spanish moss create an enormous, cooling urban forest. Photo-snapping groups on walking tours, clip-clopping horses pulling carriages, professionals on their lunch hour and backpack-toting Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) students meander past shops, coffeehouses, tearooms, pubs, theaters and churches sprinkled throughout 22 garden squares, each with a distinctive personality. Crowning this history-rich area is 30-acre Forsyth Park, ultimate outdoor local hangout and event venue. A busy selfie spot, its elaborate fountain flows green on St. Patrick’s Day during the country’s second-largest celebration.
Little wonder that in May, Travel + Leisure named Savannah one of “America’s Favorite Cities.”
Distinctive Neighborhoods
The district’s lovingly restored historic buildings include City Market; the Mercer-Williams House, made famous by “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”; and the Olde Pink House. Once a bank, this 1771 Georgian mansion now serves Southern lunches and dinners — she-crab soup, shrimp and grits, etc.
“Our second-floor grand ballroom holds 130 and features large murals of low-country scenes painted on silver leaf,” said Reginald Mack, restaurant manager.
Its basement Planters Tavern, all leather and dark paneling, can host up to 50 for a corporate buyout.
Broughton Street is a downtown shoppers’ nirvana, with 37 upscale stores in the midst of a $200 million facade lift. SCAD has been instrumental in Savannah’s preservation by restoring buildings throughout the city, such as an early-1900s-era Greyhound Bus Station, now a hot new restaurant, The Grey.
“A destination plays an important part in the meeting experience,” said Jeff Hewitt, senior vice president of Visit Savannah. “Savannah appeals to all five senses.”
Set on the Savannah River across from downtown, the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center has 330,000 square feet of meeting space — a 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 13 meeting rooms, four boardrooms and a sunlight-filled, 1,800-person-capacity concourse for receptions that can flow outdoors onto the riverbank. A 25,000-square-foot ballroom boasts evening views of the architecturally intricate Talmadge Bridge, downtown lights, and huge container ships chugging into and out of this busy port city.
“We can create an area for smaller groups by using our 367-seat auditorium and smaller meeting rooms,” said Fredia Brady, the center’s senior director of sales. “It mimics that intimate feeling of a hotel.”
Just steps away, the 403-room Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa shares an island with the center and features 35,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 6,000-square-foot outdoor Harbor Lawn, which hosts up to 250 seated. Amenities such as an 18-hole PGA Championship golf course — a former host to the Legends tournament — and a Bourbon and Chocolate Bar lure visitors to park their cars for the duration of their stay.
“Thanks to a partnership, guests can also chill at Bloody Point Golf Club and Resort on Daufuskie Island, just a short, complimentary boat ride away,” said David Moses, director of public relations and communications for Savannah and Hilton Head Westins.
When a meeting is over, attendees can hop aboard a Savannah Belles Ferry for a free, four-minute river ride to River Street to stroll the riverfront on cobblestones once used as ships’ ballast, past old cotton warehouses repurposed as boutiques, shops, candy-makers, restaurants and bars. Nearby is the Marriott Savannah Riverfront, with 391 rooms, including 46 suites; 36,000 square feet of meeting space; the full-service Magnolia Spa; and splendid water views.
Hotel Boom
Despite the city’s strict historic preservation building codes, meetings-related construction is booming downtown. The big news is the October ground-breaking for the conversion of a spacious old River Street power plant into a 420-room J.W. Marriott hotel. Directly across the street, a 170-room Tribute property is going up. Both are due for completion in late 2018 to early 2019.
“This development is game changing because it will provide 600 rooms either on or near the waterfront, convenient to the convention center by water taxis,” said Hewitt.
At the opposite end of River Street, a new Homewood Suites opened in 2015 is the first installment in a three-hotel complex to include a new 80-room Marriott AC hotel and a new 200-room Hilton.
“Most of the construction is limited service because there aren’t big footprints of land available,” Hewitt said. “We see a lot of older product being repurposed.”
A former horse livery on Washington Square that once housed the first Coca-Cola plant outside Atlanta has just reopened as the 145-guest-room, 26-suite Kimpton Brice boutique hotel. Its Secret Garden accommodates 100 for receptions.
Other historic district properties include a 151-guest-room Andaz, Hyatt’s high-end international boutique hotel, with a rooftop pool and a 125-capacity outdoor terrace; the Hotel Indigo, opened in March, with exposed brick and high ceilings, 252 guest rooms/suites and 6,000 square feet of event space; and the five-story River Street Inn, a Historic Hotels of America, 200-year-old converted cotton warehouse with water views from a rooftop deck and the River House Restaurant nearby, which welcomes groups.
An 1888 Victorian-Romanesque mansion hotel, the 125-room-and-suite Mansion at Forsyth Park offers indoor and outdoor event spaces, a noteworthy art gallery, a spa and the elegant 700 Kitchen Restaurant and Cooking School. Groups of up to 15 can assist James Beard featured chef Peter Russo in preparing meals, buying fresh produce or tying on aprons for team building.
“Teams can make a meal from a basketful of mystery ingredients or try to guess what’s in a dish made from 15 ingredients,” said Russo.
