Wentworth Mansion

There’s a good reason this hotel gets voted the best stay in Charleston again and again and again. Multiple reasons, in fact. But let’s begin with the guest rooms, each one an ode to the Gilded Age, with Tiffany glass transoms, pressed tin ceilings, parquet floors and heavenly amenities, including fresh flowers, gratis nonalcoholic drinks in the mini-fridge, and a whirlpool tub for unwinding after a day on the cobblestones. We love the East Wing Rooms for their gas fireplaces and private porches; the Grand Mansion Suite includes gleaming carved woodwork and original Italian chandeliers twinkling over the 1,000-square-foot space.

An ornate 21-room hideaway in an 1885 manse known for outstanding service, a luxury Lowcountry restaurant and a spa in the former stables.

Stingy. Your stay includes full breakfasts, turntown with housemade chocolates, an evening sherry (and brandy. And port) hour, and afternoon wine and hors d’oeuvres.

You can’t pass up a view, and you can see all corners of the city and harbor from the rooftop cupola.

Sitting beside the rounded windows at Circa 1886 restaurant, housed in Wentworth Mansion’s original carriage house, you’re not surprised the eatery was voted among the greatest in the country by USA Today: there’s magic in the air here. But after one bite of your venison with sunchoke hash with sage smoke and sour cherry pan sauce, you’re thinking of writing the editor: it’s not one of the greatest. It’s the greatest.