795eileenj
Business · November 202510/10
I almost do not know where to begin. I will start with this: I have been lucky to stay at luxury hotels that have incomparable reputations. I travel a lot but I also live in California which has some ...I almost do not know where to begin. I will start with this: I have been lucky to stay at luxury hotels that have incomparable reputations. I travel a lot but I also live in California which has some of the best hotels in the world and I have stayed at many of them (Post Ranch Inn and Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, e.g.). Luxury hotels are not all alike; some can even be horrible, esp. related to service and at the end of the day, I don't care how gorgeous the hotel is, or how it has the best views, or free bikes, or a Michelin-starred restaurant, or an in-room butler-mixologist (happened to me at Soho House NYC), or whatever: it will always come down to service. The Dewberry must treat their staff extremely well because it shows and glows. I'm just blown away: the infectious enthusiasm and warmth, the smiles, the fun banter & the constant attention to guests who never have to worry that they aren't being extremely well cared for. I lived in South Carolina for 10 years (2000s) and visited Charleston often, and then I started coming back in 2018 for an annual conference & have been back there every year since (except 2020, for obvious reasons), but not at The Dewberry, so I decided to give it a try this year. A lot has changed from the aughts to now, Charleston has changed a lot, but one thing always remains: it is one of the most hospitable places on earth, and that's saying a lot. So the moral of this story is: in a city known around the world as a place of warm hospitality, The Dewberry took that invaluable reputation and raised the bar on it. They deserve every accolade because of their staff. We live in stressful times & many are not doing well. Many, many restaurants & hotels show the strain of this situation. & yet the Dewberry staff shine, and never once did I think, why haven't they hired more people? Staff were everywhere when you needed them! I cannot stress enough that the Dewberry must be treating their staff well for this level of service. Indeed, when it comes to service, The Dewberry Hotel has smashed it so far out of the park that *they* are now the bar. Keep this in mind as well: it is also our responsibility as guests to treat staff well and with the utmost care. It is not just the hotel's responsibility to ensure the staff will shine. Tip these people well and often and don't be in such a rush all the time (esp. in Charleston): they deserve it, they earn it, and those of us who can afford to stay here need to recognize better that we have a responsibility to spread the wealth around. We're the human family, after all.
I could also say lots of wonderful things about the architecture & design of the hotel, its perfect location for shopping & dining in downtown Charleston, its fabulous Volvo car service, its spa, its rooftop Citrus Club with the best sunset view of the city you'll ever see and kickass cocktails, etc. etc. Those are the reasons I chose The Dewberry to begin with, but I will return often because of the service.Show More
