With an aesthetic which combines the feel of a Slim Aarons photograph mixed with Miami Art Deco, the Hotel Bardo Savannah is a genteel and clean place to stay. The housecleaning staff came frequently, and changed the bedding. It was chic, and quiet. It helped that the hotel also welcomed my dog, Sam, and together, we enjoyed a Staycation—we are Savannah residents—full of good meals, lazy mornings lying in our room’s king side bed, and lots of long walks in Forsyth Park, the gorgeously manicured city park right outside of the entrance. Here’s what it’s like to stay at the Hotel Bardo Savannah.
What stay at the Hotel Bardo Savannah?
I say this with the bias of a local, but Savannah is one of the prettiest cities in the United States. Established back in 1733, the city is built around 22 manicured squares bordered by live oak trees, and dripping in Spanish moss. In the center of the city is Forsyth Park, a 30-acre public gathering space that, when I stayed in October, was full of blooming camellias and sweet olive shrubs that fill the air with perfume.
The Hotel Bardo is located on the east side of Forsyth Park, which blossoms year round, and when you walk out of the hotel, you are immersed in all of this beauty immediately. In fact, the setting is so graceful that it distracts from the fact that the Hotel Bardo, located in a looming 19th century brick mansion originally built for a businessman from Baltimore, served as a funeral home from the 1950s until 2005 when it became the Mansion on Forsyth, and then, in 2024, re-opened after a renovation as the Hotel Bardo.
The club charges a $10,000 initiation fee for members, and offers fitness classes, pool access and a private clubhouse to members—it’s expensive, particularly when compared to local country clubs where amenities might also include tennis and pickleball courts, and even 18-hole golf courses for the same price.
What are the rooms like at the Hotel Bardo Savannah?
While the blonde wood furniture, green accents, gilded fixtures, and various shades of dusty, peachy blush on the walls might sound like an unwavering commitment to the “millennial pink” aesthetic, it serves the hotel’s aim of transporting guests to the time and place when socialites like C.Z. Guest held dinner parties by their pools in Palm Beach.
My room, a premium pool view suite king, was spacious. It had a glass door that led to a private outdoor patio replete with two pink lounge chairs and pink and white striped umbrellas, and there was plenty of room to spread out. There was a gracious entry hallway, a comfortable king bed, a seating area with a table and two chairs, and a media console with a television set up to easily allow me to sign into my Netflix account.
The bathroom had double sinks and a shower, clad in gray stone, that could easily accommodate two grown adults. I was disappointed that there wasn’t a bath, but pleased that when I closed the door to my private patio, the terrible corporate dance music pumping at the fully empty outdoor bar—it was 50F, practically Arctic temperatures in Savannah—was effectively muted. It gets some bonus points for having a mostly manual lighting system that did not find me jabbing a screen on a wall for twenty minutes when it was time to turn out the lights to sleep. For a room such as mine, the average price is $799.
What are the best things to eat and drink at the Hotel Bardo Savannah?
St Bibiana is the property’s Italian restaurant, where guests can enjoy three meals a day, and before my stay I’d dined here a handful of times, though as a New York City native who was raised on Italian food, the menu here leans into the fussy details, where the true magic of this cuisine is its simplicity. My brother and I shared the Bistecca Fiorentina, but while in Florence this would arrive dripping in balsamic oil reduction, ours was dry, salty, and lukewarm. We skipped the pasta entirely, and that was a good choice, considering that our table could barely fit our glasses, plates and two dishes.
The Hand-Shaped Pasta Workshop at the restaurant’s cooking school, which I took part in the night before (and costs $124 a person) was a different story. Taught by Benjamin Wheatley, a professional chef and dad whom I frequently run into in my neighborhood park, the class taught me and a group of five other guests how to make butternut squash ravioli from scratch. We also made cavatelli in a mushroom Bolognese sauce, a salad with edible flowers, and an olive oil cake with lemon custard. The food, which we ate after two hours of labor, was so delicious that I returned to the communal serving dishes for second, and third, and fourth servings. On my next stay, I’d skip St. Bibiana’s entirely, and takes another cooking class (the schedule also includes Southern biscuit and Farmers Market workshops).
Fortunately, the Hotel Bardo is within walking distance to both the Victorian District, which houses local restaurants and coffee shops great for breakfast and lunch including Henny Penny and Goody’s, as well as Perch, the gorgeously appointed rooftop bar overlooking Forsyth at Local11ten. You can also walk to the historic downtown, where you can enjoy a classic Southern meal at Mrs. Wilke’s or The Grey, which is helmed by James Beard award winning chef Mashama Bailey. Why eat Italian, after all, when you’re in the land of grits and gravy?
What are the facilities like at the Hotel Bardo Savannah?
A fellow travel writer once told me that the facial she received at Saltgrass, the spa at Hotel Bardo, was extraordinary, so I was excited to try the spa’s signature facial myself. If you measure facials by the massage you get while the product sinks into your skin (I do), it really was extraordinary. The neck massage delivered to me by Emily Hadland, the lead aesthetician at the spa, transported me into that state between dreaming and waking, when some people have spiritual revelations.
The spa itself had none of the sorts of amenities—saunas, hot tubs, cold plunges—that in other luxury spas do which allow you to relax and linger. Instead, the real draw of the Bardo is the 90-meter outdoor pool, which is located in the courtyard of the center of the property, and flanked by an outdoor bar. The space is boarded by a pink and green solarium that resembles one from the 19th century.
What is the area like around the Hotel Bardo Savannah?
If you want to experience Savannah—and really you should—then the Hotel Bardo is the perfect place to stay. It’s a city so lovely that the Union General William T. Sherman decided not to burn it down during the American Civil War in December of 1864, presenting it instead as a Christmas gift to President Abraham Lincoln. And the Hotel Bardo offers a luxurious all-inclusive resort experience that you don’t find at many other luxury properties in the downtown area of the city, which include the smaller and less amenity-driven Perry Lane, and the newly opened Municipal Grand.
Located on the Coastal Plain, an area once covered by the Atlantic Ocean, the city is so flat that it’s easy to walk long distances through the downtown neighborhoods, including Starland, a recently revitalized arts district. There are plenty of art and history museums, as well as preserved homes from the Civil War-era, to keep visitors busy for at least a few days. Be sure to explore the surrounding tidal marshlands, too.
Just be wary that there is no public transport, so if venturing to Bonaventure Cemetery or Fort Pulaski, you’ll need to rideshare or rent a car. And if you come in the summer months, expect to sweat. A lot.
Why you should book a stay at the Hotel Bardo Savannah
The Hotel Bardo might not be a destination in itself, but Savannah is worth a visit, and the Hotel Bardo is an elegantly appointed place to stay right in the center of the city, with excellent treatments at the spa, cooking classes, and a notably friendly staff.
DETAILS
Address: 700 Drayton Street, Savannah, GA 31401
Price: From $340 per night
Closest transport: There’s a bus stop right outside the hotel, and Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is a 30 minute drive away.
Book now: via Booking.com
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