Wentworth Mansion is an SLH property in Charleston South Carolina. The inn is charming, gorgeous, offers great service, and in my opinion is well deserving of its place on Travel & Leisure’s Top 15 City Hotels in the Continental U.S.
When Hyatt teamed up with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), I was excited for an absurd reason. One of my favorite hotel stays ever was the Brenners Park Hotel in Baden-Baden Germany. Brenners is part of the Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) not Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH). Still, I reasoned/hoped that SLH hotels would be similar. Since then, I’ve had occasion to stay at a few SLH properties. The Chesterfield Hotel Palm Beach was disappointing. The Pillars Hotel Fort Lauderdale was a delight, but in no way comparable to Brenners. Now I’ve had the opportunity to try Wentworth Mansion. And while I still believe Brenners to be even better, Wentworth Mansion is close enough to prove that my unfounded belief in SLH may not have been so absurd after all.
Wentworth Mansion Bottom Line Review
My wife and I stayed here for one night in November and we loved it. We would definitely stay again.
- Price: 30,000 Hyatt points per night (vs. almost $600 per night at the time of our stay). We paid with a category 1-7 free night certificate, which can be used at Hyatt hotels costing up to 30,000 points per night.
- Value: Good. In my opinion, this hotel is well worth the points-price.
- Location: Very good. Wentworth Mansion is in a very pretty historic residential area and a short walk to Charleston’s historic downtown.
- Room: Fantastic! We were upgraded to a huge and beautiful “Mansion Room”. Want to feel like royalty? This will do it. The only downside was that our shower’s water pressure wasn’t quite up to snuff.
- Parking: Free self parking.
- Service: Awesome. The staff were uniformly attentive, cheerful, and eager to help.
- Turndown service: Good. Due to COVID-19, a “turndown bag” was left hanging from our door. The bag contained truffles and a card showing the next day’s weather.
- Perks for all guests:
- Full breakfast: A full menu-service breakfast is free for all guests. It was great!
- Afternoon wine & hors d’oeuvres: Hors d’oevres were pre-plated and wine was poured upon request. Both were excellent. While everything is served indoors, we found a private outdoor balcony to enjoy these treats.
- Evening port, sherry, & brandy: Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to try this out, but we will next time we visit!
- In-room snacks: A mini-fridge was full of sodas and other bottled non-alcoholic drinks. A bag of cookies was found above the fridge.
- Rooftop Cupola: The mansion has a dome on top which is available to all guests capable of climbing stairs. The dome has a seating area around the outside. It’s a fantastic way to view the sunset! If anyone reading this is planning a wedding proposal, this would be a great choice.
- Hyatt Benefits: SLH hotels do not recognize Hyatt elite status, but they offer all guests who book through Hyatt the following perks:
- Free continental breakfast: Wentworth offers all guests free full breakfast, so this perk was not relevant.
- Room upgrade, if available: We were automatically upgraded to a King Mansion Room which was absolutely fantastic.
- Early check-in (noon, based upon availability at check-in): We arrived at about 4pm, so didn’t test this perk
- Late check-out (2:00PM, based upon availability at check-in): We did request late checkout, but were only given until 1pm.
- Free wifi: All guests get free wifi, so this perk wasn’t relevant.
- COVID Notes: As is true in all hotels during the pandemic (as far as I know), masks are required indoors except when in your room. The hotel’s restaurant offers outdoor seating as an option. At dinner, they lit heat-lamps and offered us blankets to ward off the chill. For some reason they didn’t offer either with breakfast, but our waitress brought us seat cushions which were much better to sit on than cold metal chairs. Charleston, itself, has a mask ordnance requiring people to wear masks in all public indoor areas and when within 6 feet of others outdoors. They even have enforcement officers who will issue a warning or a ticket to those not wearing masks in public.
- Would I stay again? Definitely.
Photos and captions follow…
Was upgraded to a Mansion Suite with Explorist status. The service here is a notch or 2 above, Brian was the best. He handled reservations & transportation for us at Hall’s Chophouse, a must-do wonderful dining experience. He was always anticipating anything we might need. He even showed up on the cupola bearing extra glasses of port & cushions for sitting on the bench!
There is an interesting book in the library they put together on the home/owner’s history, well worth a read. Wentworth is the 2nd largest home in Charleston (Calhoun Mansion larger only by the size of a broom closet). In 1865, it was the 2nd largest home built in the US only behind the Biltmore Estate. $200,000 then to build.
The on-site restaurant & spa are fabulous. And reasonable – a 3-course Southern gourmet dinner for $55 & a 90-min massage for $120. Best shrimp & grits ever had!
Thanks for the great review, definitely helped me pull the trigger with cashing in 60k points. About $100/day worth of extras if you take advantage of it all.
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Hotel Ranga (SLH property) in Iceland is a MUST also!
We live 90 minutes from there and Charleston is a truly wonderful city. If anyone is travelling this way I would highly recommend Charleston for 1-2 nights, Beaufort, SC for 1 night, and then on down to Savanah, GA for 2+ nights. Jekyll Island and Saint Simons island is further down the coast from Savannah. Savannah is probably the most unique city in the US. You have to visit and walk the city to understand. Charleston to Beaufort is 90 min easy drive and Beaufort to Savanah slighly less than 90 min.
(dont confuse Beaufort NC and Beaufort SC. I have been to the NC one and there is nothing noteworthy there.)
A bottom line review for a hotel in Savannah is my next to-do…
Greg, I love Circa 1886; we ate there for a very special meal- is this property right next to it? Is the included breakfast from Circa?
Yes Circa 1886 is in the old carriage house which is right next to Wentworth Mansion and share the same grounds.
It is good to see bottom line review again.
Thanks
Next Time you’re in Paris, consider Relais Christine. It’s a great SLH property. Good review of the Wentworth, thanks!
Thanks for the suggestion!