- Hotel overlooks Savannah's prettiest greenery, Forsyth Park
- Design is hip, artful, and contemporary - an updated take on Old-World Savannah
- There's terrific dining at 700 Drayton Restaurant and cocktails in Casimir's Lounge
- Poseidon Spa is fabulous, as is swanky courtyard pool
- Staff couldn't be more welcoming
- One of Savannah's more costly hotels
- The hipster vibe isn't for everyone
- $10 daily resort fee seems unnecessary at a boutique hotel (and parking is another $19)
- It's a mile from riverfront (although this is a bonus if you prefer being away from touristy crowds)
- At 700 Drayton St., on the east side of Forsyth Park, a 10-minute walk from heart of Savannah's historic district.
- The 126 rooms and suites have WiFi, cable TV, Bose CD stereos, flatscreen TV, pillowtop mattresses, and cordless phones.
- Bathrooms are done in Italian marble and have deep soaking, whirlpool or garden tubs and separate showers.
- Book online or call 912-238-5158 or 888-711-5114.
- Rates start around $200, and range into the $400s.
- It's a mainstream property, but it draws a discernible gay and lesbian clientele.
- Amenities include 700 Drayton Restaurant, 2 bars, the 700 Kitchen Cooking School, Poseidon Spa, and a heated pool.
From the moment pull into the drive of this turreted, redbrick mansion fringing Forsyth Park, you get the sense you've arrived at a hotel that has no peers in Savannah. Young and efficient bellmen and valet rush to your car, and upon entering the Mansion on Forsyth Park's sleek lobby, with its gilt molding, mirrored walls, and black leather sofa, you sense the property's updated sensibility.
The contemporary sensibility continues throughout the property. There's a swank spa with a minimalist look where you might opt for a men's facial using Phytomer skin products, or perhaps a reflexology massage. The on-site Grand Bohemian Art Gallery carries works by acclaimed contemporary artists. You can sip cocktails in two different stylish bars, or sup on inventive, globally inspired fare in 700 Drayton Restaurant. Most of the hotel occupies a recently built redbrick structure that blends seamlessly with the 1888 Romanesque mansion it's attached to. And there's a glizty courtyard in back with a pool that feels vaguely as though it was lifted from Miami Beach's Deco District. The Mansion on Forsyth Park bears little resemblance to Savannah's many pleasantly, but in some cases archaic inns.
Rooms are over-the-top gorgeous, with cushy beds outfitted with pillowtop mattresses and borderline-kitschy faux-mink throws draped across the white duvets. The bathrooms are done in white Italian marble, as are the work desks. Ornate decorative touches icnlude crystal chandeliers and pewter candelabras. There's nothing shy about the guest-room decor - it's fun, it's sexy, and it's bold. And for this reason, the hotel is a hit with trendy sorts.
The Mansion on Forsyth Park is part of a Kessler Hotels, a collection of distinctive properties, most of them in Florida, but also including Beaver Creek Lodge in Colorado, and El Monte Sagrado in Taos, New Mexico.
