The DeSoto ★★★★

The Same Name on the Same Corner Since 1890

The first DeSoto opened in 1890 on the site of Oglethorpe’s barracks, a vast red brick pile with turrets that anchored Savannah society for three quarters of a century. It came down in the 1960s and the building that stands today went up in 1968, which is why the DeSoto reads as mid century rather than antebellum. What makes it interesting is what was carried across: the crystal chandeliers from the original, described at the time as sparkling clusters, and terra cotta work salvaged from the old facade. A hotel with its own history rather than a borrowed one.

Why It Works

Savannah’s best known addresses are small. The DeSoto is the opposite, 246 rooms and 20,000 square feet of function space, and it uses that scale to offer things the inns cannot: a real pool with poolside rooms that open onto it, a fifteenth floor room with a view over the whole Historic District, three separate food and drink outlets and a lobby big enough to sit in. It is also independent, which shows in the detail. This is the address for a group, a family or anyone who finds the hush of a historic inn a little too close.

Why This Location

Liberty Street runs east to west through the middle of the Historic District, and the hotel sits on it between Bull and Drayton, in what the city calls its garden district. That is a useful position: Forsyth Park is a straight walk south, the squares of Bull Street start immediately north, and City Market and the river are fifteen to twenty minutes on foot. The neighbourhood is residential in character, with the Victorian houses and live oaks that bring people to Savannah in the first place, and the traffic on Liberty thins out after dark.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Mid century, independent, sociable

• Rooms: 246, including poolside rooms, one bedroom parlour suites and the named Taft and State suites

• Best For: Families, groups, longer stays, travellers who want a pool in the Historic District, guests arriving with a dog

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The Harborview Room on the fifteenth floor, which looks over the rooftops to the river and is the only vantage point of its kind downtown

• Dining: The 1540 Room for Southern cooking, with blue crab beignets and biscuits and gravy, Edgar’s Proof and Provision for drinks, Buffalo Bayou for coffee and pastries

• Amenities: Outdoor pool with poolside rooms, 20,000 square feet of meeting space, fitness centre, dogs welcome, family rooms

• Attractions: The squares of Bull Street immediately north, Forsyth Park a walk south, City Market and the riverfront about fifteen minutes away

The Poolside Rooms, and the Suites Worth Asking For

The poolside category is the one that separates this hotel from the rest of downtown: king or double rooms that open onto the pool terrace, which in a Savannah summer changes the shape of the day. Above them sit the one bedroom parlour suites and two named suites, the Taft and the State, which carry the hotel’s history in their fittings. Standard rooms on the upper floors are the ones to ask for if the view matters, since the building is tall enough to clear the tree line.

Eating and Drinking in the Building

The 1540 Room is the restaurant, Southern and locally sourced, and it is the reason the hotel fills at breakfast with people who are not staying here. Edgar’s Proof and Provision is the bar, and it anchors the Sip and Stroll walks that set off into the Historic District. Buffalo Bayou handles coffee and pastries for anyone leaving early. Three outlets in one building is unusual in Savannah at this level, and it means the hotel works on a wet afternoon.

Before You Book

This is a large hotel with a busy function calendar, so ask what is on during your stay if quiet is the priority, and request an upper floor. Poolside rooms should be booked by name rather than hoped for. Parking is on site and paid. Dogs and children are both welcome, which makes the DeSoto one of the easier addresses in the Historic District for a trip that is not just two adults.