Embassy Suites Historic Charleston

A nice quick stay near downtown Charleston but definitely not clean at all. The window panels have never been cleaned before with a variety of collection of dust and dead insects to choose from. There’s mold developing on the corners of the shower curtains. It was nice to have two tvs and one comfy bed though. You can hear everything in every direction, the walls are like paper-​thin and people love slamming doors.
Pro: Convenience, comfy bed, and multiple tvs.
Con: Dirty and noisy.

Hotel check in at 3 is a joke. Room was not ready when it was supposed to be at 3 o’clock. Will update on how stay is. Not starting off for a very good stay.

The front desk staff is rude as hell. However, this should be no reflection on the hotel as a whole. My stay was great after both me and my co-​workers were checked in by different staff, both persons were exceptionally nasty and inappropriate.
The rooms are nothing special but what is special is the stellar service you will receive at the breakfast service, from the bar and the valets. Everyone (minus the front desk staff) speaks each time you see them. For the high cost, one would expect a pleasant check in experience.

If my review were based only on the room, it would be 1 star. I prefer my hotel rooms to be bright, airy, and open and this was just about the polar opposite. I stayed on the first floor and found my room to be dark and outdated. There isn’t a closet so the bedroom contains a large armoire with a desk crammed into a small space. I can confirm Angela C’s review from March of this year is accurate. The room actually did feel a bit dungeon-​like and the construction really did start at 5am right outside my window. If you are traveling to Charleston and plan on spending a lot of time in your room, for whatever reason, this probably is not the hotel for you.
Having said that, I do have several positive things to say about Embassy Suites.
1. Fantastic staff: Everyone was polite, friendly, and helpful.
2. Location: Just a short walk to King Street’s bars and restaurants.
3. Happy Hour: The hotel offers an evening reception from 5:30 — 7:30 consisting of complimentary beer, wine, and a small selection of liquor.
4 Breakfast: Nice hot and cold breakfast with full service and friendly servers.

I’ve been to other Embassy Suites and this one is decorated to be less modern and more «historic». I wouldn’t write a negative review over that. The staff was all very nice and our rooms were very large and spacious compared to other hotels in the area. Parking is $ 17 for self parking, $ 24 for valet which isn’t awesome, but better than finding parking on the street. Here’s what makes us love the place: free wi-​fi, full breakfast, and evening snacks with drinks (alcoholic or soft drinks). It’s in walking distance to a lot of stores and restaurants and our über drivers took about 2 minutes to arrive to take us any place further.

I’m upgrading my review after the General Manager reached out and issued a credit for my stolen camera.
I loved the charm of this hotel being the historic «Old Citadel». Seeing it today is unbelievable. Looking down to the courtyard today with the fountain, dining tables, and lounging areas, the developers have left enough of the original architecture to imagine the cadets marching in that same area. Check out the dining room gun ports while you’re at breakfast.
Breakfasts were very good. Nice selections, «made to order» omelettes by filling out a slip of paper, ready to eat bacon, sausage, potatoes and lots more. Everything we ate was delicious. The staff is quick to clear empty plates and prep a table. If the room is full you can walk down to the courtyard and enjoy the fountain and palm trees on the linen covered tables. We never took advantage of this but always thought we should have when we rode up in the glass elevator and looked at the peaceful scene below.
We had the double queen suite with a nice solid door that let us close off our bedroom to any party noises and festivities (prom week) taking place late at night. Our room got bonus points for the wet bar area doubling as an extra bathroom sink area, large living room, two TV’s, roomy bedroom armoire and a beautiful night view of Michael’s on the Alley.
You can hardly ask for a better location. Stepping out the front lobby and swinging right will take you onto Marion Square. A one block radius gives you everything; visitor’s center, restaurants, Charleston Music Hall, homes to tour, churches and free trolley rides.
All in all it was a nice mix of peacefulness and activity.

The only thing nice I can say about this hotel, is their staff. Every person we came in contact was genuinely nice.
As 10 + year loyal Hilton Diamond members, we have seen a lot! My husband travels 80% of the time for work. Every trip, we stay at a Hilton property. That may be coming to an end.
We checked in on a Thursday evening. The first room that we were taken to was literally a dungeon. Very small, no windows in the living area. A tall window at the top of the wall in bedroom. May I ask when was the last time you updated the pics from your webpage? I can assure you, they look nothing alike. We called down to the desk where Rachel answered. She was more than happy to switch our rooms. Once down there, she informed us that due to the construction (going on nearby) people had been complaining that it woke them up as early as 5 am. So, our room options were limited. She called around to other Hilton properties to check availability. After driving for 5 hours, it being our anniversary… we were over it. Rachel walked us to another room to check it out. We settled on that. Rachel was so sweet. She sent up a carriage ride compliments of the hotel. The irony is, we don’t do those. We actually believe it’s cruel. Whole other story! We said thank you and left it on table. It was never used.
As we settled in, we noticed a lot of things. First the in room safe was broken. So I took my valuables with me everywhere. Of course we could not miss the «repaired» carpet right at the front door (see pics), then there was the shower fixture that was literally falling off. I’ve attached a pic of that as well. And to add salt to the wound, we passed several beautiful hotels!!!
We are terribly disappointed with this property. To say it’s historic is one thing. But the carpets, room décor (furniture), cleanliness, and overall feel needs some serious attention.
The only reason I gave it one star is because of the staff. With it being our anniversary and our first trip to Charleston, Embassy suites absolutely failed.
I highly recommend everyone to look elsewhere for lodging.

We did not stay here but toured the place and bought straw baskets. It was great in both ends.

I feel I need to update this review… After emailing the staff at embassy suites with my feelings and reviews, two days after returning from my wedding and stay at embassy suites, I received an email from their manager stating she intended on sending gift cards to me for a stay anywhere of my choice with embassy suites. 2 weeks have passed and I have not heard anything nor received anything from embassy suites !

Do not stay at this hotel unless you want to feel like you you are staying in a prison cell. The hotel is dark, dirty, sparsely furnished and the bed is awful. I woke up with leg cramps from bracing myself against rolling into the middle. The rooms have very small windows and many have brick walls… hence the prison reference. There is construction on all sides, so it is dirty, dusty and noisy. It is also a least a mile from everywhere you want to go. I called the front desk and complained about the darkness of the room and was told that the building can’t be renovated because it is on the historical register. Not sure that explains why there are tiles missing in the shower, the hot and cold water are reversed and one of the sinks didn’t drain.
On a bright note, the cooked to order breakfast was good and the staff were friendly and accommodating.
I would never stay at this hotel again and wish I didn’t have to ruin my trip to Charleston by staying there the first time.

Loud construction at 7:39 am.
Management blamed me for doing an e-​check-​in. Never again
Update~
General manager called me the next day and apologized, gave me some free Hilton points. Made some effort to take care of a Hilton Diamond member.

Just completed a one week stay at this hotel on 9÷11÷15. All in all, just okay. If you’ve stayed at other Embassy Suite hotels, this may be a little less than what you expect in terms of the ambiance and amenities.
Pro’s
Central location
Free breakfast and daily happy hour
Attentive service (front desk, housekeeping, valet)
Con’s
Very dim interior throughout, particularly in the rooms
Parking is off site
Gym only has one treadmill and one elliptical machine
Super small pool

Old hotel that’s been updated, but furnishing are still pretty dated and bathtub needs caulking and has black gouges in the enamel. Excellent, friendly service. Not the hotel’s fault but there’s construction right outside our window that starts at 7:30 am each morning and ends at 5. Giant drills, cranes and machinery breaking up concrete parking lot. Non stop noise that shakes the room and the entire end of the hotel. Avoid room 121, 120, 220 etc for sure. Not sure how to avoid this. Construction we are told will last week or longer. Go somewhere else if you want some quiet or to sleep past 7:30 am.

In the case of this hotel, historic means run down. The rooms are sparsely appointed. My one bedroom suite offered a small sofa and one chair. In the bedroom there was only the desk chair for seating even though the room was large enough to hold more. The queen bed was placed against the wall, requiring one person to climb to their side. This hotel needs to update the quality of mattresses and pillows. The lighting in the living room and dining room were poor. The toilet clogged from the first minor usage.
On a positive note, the ac worked great– a necessity in the south in the summertime. The hotel staff was friendly and the location is good. It’s easy to walk to most downtown attractions.
The rooms are pricey on the weekends and I think that’s where most of my frustration stems. I’m getting discount hotel quality but paying for a higher end experience. I’ll book elsewhere next time I visit Charleston.

This place was a huge disappointment. You walk in to a lovely hotel with decent décor. It feels very Tommy Bahama. There’s even a cocktail period from 5:30 — 7:30 with free drinks and snacks. The snacks and drinks were meh, which was expected except for the mini corn dogs… score!
The hotel staff generally doesn’t answer the phone or have any knowledgable advice about the city. The pool is small and unattractive. There’s a free breakfast, at the cost of you getting to wake up to clinking silverware and kids screaming and running to breakfast at 7am. The sound travels far too well. I could hear every running step over my head. Then on top of all of that there was construction we were not notified of behind the hotel which literally shook our room from 7:50am to past 8pm. I would definitely not stay there again. The lighting was pretty terrible in the room as well.

Beautiful hotel with an extraordinary entrance including exotic birds in a cage in the lobby. Like all embassy suites there is complimentary breakfast which is quite good with eggs made to order as well as a complimentary happy hour from 5:30 — 7:30 pm with light snacks. Not mentioned on the hotel website is that there is a hot tub in addition to the pool. I was also interested to learn that the hotel was once the old city citadel and you can see remnants inside the suites if you look closely. If it’s to steamy to travel to the market during the day there is usually someone selling baskets in the lobby in the evening or you can always use Charlestons rickshaw service who can usually make it there before an Über and is also less expensive. It would have been a perfect stay except for the construction that stared at 7am! We were on the top floor and it was incredibly noisy and actual shook our bed.

Hmmm… I was a little skeptical by some of the mixed reviews, but I decided to give this hotel a shot anyway. If you’re reading this review, don’t be discouraged by the 3 star rating. it’s just that this is an older hotel and I’m used to a little more… class. I mean honestly, when riding up the elevator… the inside interior made me think of the movie Scarface… like any minute some assassins were going to come thru and shoot the place up… it’s just really outdated. BUT!
This place is decent. The bed was aight, nothing great. And if you are viewing the pics I took, well we were pretty much staying in the equivalent of a 1 bedroom apt. I mean you can’t really get any better than this as far as space. I liked it, because my dude and I need to regroup sometimes… alone. So it was great.
The hotel was quiet and the staff were friendly enough. Oddly enough there was water in our room when we stepped out for a bit. Didn’t expect this as we had all of our things laid out. Not sure where this came from. Any «extras» I receive (because I’m a Hilton Honors guest) are normally given when I arrive. Going into my room unannounced is not really cool, but luckily all of our electronics were still in place.
Parking is $ 16 if you park yourself and $ 22 for using the valet for 24 hours. The parking deck is barely down the street, and I was told you get to come and go as you please in the 24 hours. Perhaps we’ll scope out street parking next time.
Now I’ve seen reviews about the breakfast aaaaand again maybe it’s because I have stayed in pretty dope hotels (Home 2 in Charlotte)… I mean the breakfast ain’t all that! However, it is better than the usual. My omelet was juicy and seasoned well and my potatoes were good but probably because we were there right when they opened for breakfast. The service was good tho. Nice touch with the staff cleaning off tables immediately after a guest left and picking up our plates when it looked like we were finished. Pretty much like a regular restaurant.
They serve snacks mid-​afternoon: broccoli, carrots and ranch dressing. Warm meatballs. And some sort of trail mix. Also wine… which I was unable to participate in.
Now the location of the hotel was what was happening. We were right next to the Food and Wine Festival, and our hotel was not even a block away from Kings street. Hence the prices of this room.
So why just 3 stars? I mean I don’t want to get your hopes up, leading you to believe you’re staying in a bomb hotel. I mean the prices are justified only because of the location… location, location, location. That’s really all that matters… well and a clean hotel and it was clean… and quiet. Question is will I stay there again (because we’re going back… only 2 ½ hour drive). Yep, we would stay there again.

This place is really nice!
They serve breakfast, complimentary afternoon happy hour drinks, and have coffee out all the time!
The atrium area is very pretty.
The rooms are nice and the beds are comfortable.
One quibble: the rooms are numbered weirdly. I get there’s a mezzanine floor, but why does it share similar numbers to the first regular floor? That’s silly.
Overall, if you’re looking to stay in a place that’s convenient to all the cool places in Charleston, this is a place you should stay at.

Yup, pricey hotel. For the cost, the room and bathroom were just ok. I’ve stayed in nicer, but I’ve certainly stayed in worse… and we saw no signs of bugs or anything dirty in our room. The beds were comfortable, the pull out couch was fine, the pillows were nice… it was certainly sufficient. The common areas were also nice, the fountain in the middle is classy for sure.
But its the location that likely drives up the price– it’s next to a beautiful park that has a huge farmers market on Saturday mornings, plus it’s behind a bustling part of King Street, so you are literally steps away from some of the best shopping in Charleston.
Besides the location, there are two really delightful things about this hotel that make it stand out for me:
1. Happy Hour. Every night from 5:30pm-7:30pm, there’s a free happy hour at the hotel. They put out light refreshments, usually veggies and ranch dressing, and then a rotating selection of cheese and crackers, freshly made sweet potato chips, etc. But the stand out is the bar. It’s a real, fully stocked bar. And the drinks are good, strong drinks. We made dinner reservations every evening for 8:30pm, so we could enjoy happy hour out on the patio, and then get dressed and head out for the night… it was the ultimate pre-​party.
2. Breakfast Buffet. Every morning, they serve a full breakfast buffet for guests. Made to order omlets, pancakes, sausage and bacon and fruit and cereal and pastries and yogurt and grits and coffee and juice… everything you could possibly think of for breakfast. This breakfast was worth paying for, but in fact was free each morning.
I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

I’ve stayed in a handful of hotels in downtown and I must say that I love staying here. The rooms are huge, as expected because they’re all suites, but there really is a lot of space between the private bedroom and separate living space. Every morning they have a full hot breakfast with choices like cereal, oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt, bagels, toast, bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, and yes… even made to order omelets! I made sure to catch breakfast every morning but if you go at the last minute, like everyone else, you might have to wait a bit or won’t find a seat anywhere.
In the evenings they also include a free happy hour although I was only able to take advantage once. The staff were excellent and helped me with a few things throughout the week including getting a couple packages delivered and making sure I received them in time. I also needed to spend most of my day in the room and then heading out for ours in the evening for an event. Every day when I left, I would call down and let them know I was heading out and that the room was available to be made up. No matter how quickly I came back, they had already sneaked through like ninjas to put everything back in order, make the beds, and replenish the towel supply.
The location couldn’t be better being that you’re in Marion Square Park when you walk out the side door. You can walk to anything you might need in Charleston including all the bars and restaurants of the Upper King St area or all the shopping and dining of the Lower King area. Most of the historical and more tourist based activities are down by the Market which is very walkable but a rickshaw (bike taxi) or cab would do just fine for the true lazy vacationer.