"Why did this hotel catch your attention? What's the vibe? The Old Village is an enviable neighborhood just across the bridge from downtown Charleston. You might have glimpsed it in The Notebook or the TV series Outer Banks: deep verdant lots, oak covered streets, white picket fences laden with morning glory blooms, clapboard houses dating to the mid-1700s—a provincial timestamp of the South and one of Charleston’s most coveted zip codes. The three-story 1896 Post House Inn rises above the lone block of commerce at village center. It markets itself as a “restaurant with rooms above.” There is no lobby per se, but there is an umbrella-sheltered outdoor patio with fledgling olive trees where you can breakfast or sip your nightcap. You can dine elbow-to-elbow with locals, then when everyone departs, you get to creak up the staircase past the “Inn Guests Only” sign and tumble into a large pillowy bed.
What's the backstory? Married duo Ben and Kate Towill are no strangers to custom refurbishments. Their design firm Basic Projects has shepherded a number of projects from revival-to-launch, including the 300-year-old Ferry Boat Inn in Ben’s native Cornwall, England, and an 1800s apartment hotel in Savannah, Georgia called The Windrose. Kate is the design mastermind, with a talent for breathing sunshine into older structures. She sourced archival wallpaper from the Arts and Crafts movement to transform the inn’s seven bedrooms, painted tall ceilings a hazy sky blue, and placed worn woven rugs on original wood flooring. Artwork came from nearby Charleston Artist Collective, so if you fall in love with a particular piece, you can stroll over to the gallery to peruse or make a custom order.
Tell us all about the accommodations. Any tips on what to book? No two rooms alike. I stayed in a top floor suite, worlds away from the hub of restaurant activity below. My dormer window looked out over treetops and rooftops. Fresh red tulips graced an antique bedside table with an assortment of some of my favorite magazines: YOLO, Surfer’s Journal, and locally produced Garden & Gun. An aqua-colored rotary phone kept me in touch with the 24-hour onsite inn manager. The minibar brimmed with temptations (at a price) with locally made benne wafers, mustard-BBQ kettle chips, and orange-infused chocolates. The bottled craft cocktail for two called my name, and I had to chuckle at the emergency bow-tie with attached note “because you never know when you’ll need one in Charleston.”
Is there a charge for Wi-Fi? Wi-fi was free and strong. Light switches were push-button throwbacks (fun) but the flatscreen TV snapped me back to this century.
Drinking and dining—what are we looking at? The Towills have great taste in food (they run the veggie-forward eatery Basic Kitchen downtown) and hired a young, James Beard-nominated chef, Evan Gaudreau, to run the tavern kitchen at Post House Inn. Gaudreau spent a year working on the sea island farm Spade & Clover, so he comes uber-knowledgeable about produce and terrifically passionate about local sourcing. The restaurant was an instant hit when it opened in late August 2020, with locals packing into its street-facing bar, covered side patio, and cozy window nooks in the rear dining room. Raw oysters on ice, lump crab seasoned with charred aromatics and Comeback Sauce on a wedge of grilled local sourdough, crudo fresh from a boat called the Amy Marie docked at nearby Shem Creek. The menu runs the gamut from the familiar (melt-in-your-mouth burger, fried chicken) to the exotic (my green curry entrée). The chef pointed out that Charleston’s semi-tropical climate echoes that of Vietnam, so he can source some pretty exotic herbs and peppers grown on local soil. I wolfed down a Basque-style cheesecake to finish, torched and caramelized on top, custardy within.
And the service? When the restaurant closes up, inn guests are not stranded. There’s a manager onsite around the clock, ready to be of service or offer advice about local outings. In the morning, we wandered downstairs for a European-style breakfast (included) with bottomless coffee, prosciutto, jammy soft-boiled eggs, cheese, crispy croissant, and seasonal fruit.
What type of travelers will you find here? The inn’s bar and restaurant are hangouts for linen-clad locals, many of whom walk or bike over. Room guests range from staycationers to visitors to extended families, or boutique special event attendees who sometimes rent the entire inn as a full buy-out.
What about the neighborhood? Does the hotel fit in, make itself part of the scene? You might recognize Pitt Street from The Notebook when Allie and Noah go on an ice-cream date and she playfully smears his face with vanilla then kisses it off. That scene was filmed at the retro soda-fountain-slash-pharmacy two doors down where you can still enjoy a swivel-seat lunch of old-school pimento cheese sandwiches and a mud pie milkshake. You might see thirteen-year-old girls taking photos of the Post House Inn’s patio, swooning over the fact that their OBX heartthrob “John B” ran through here.
Is there anything you'd change? The inn is brand new, opened in late August 2020, so there are still some plans in the works, like getting bikes or golfcarts for guest usage (stay tuned).
Any other hotel features worth noting? Charleston’s harbor is only a block away, so be sure to explore side streets that dead-end at the marsh. Look for osprey nests on pilings or channel markers. At its southern end, Pitt Street becomes an extended park flanked by harbor and marsh (a century ago, when steamboat ferries and trollies connected Charleston to the sea islands, this was a trolley bridge). Just a few blocks up from the inn is Shem Creek, lined with working shrimp trawlers, public walkways, bars, and more restaurants. Here you can rent kayaks, paddleboards, or hire private boat charters. And if you’re into dolphins and pelicans, this is your spot.
Bottom line: Worth it? Why? A peaceful, seaside village retreat, only ten minutes from downtown Charleston." - Allston McCrady
