At Hotel Bennett, a Midcentury Library Becomes an Historically Minded Hotel
Locals have been frantically whispering over their iced teas about the hotel boom in Charleston, South Carolina, for several years now. In the past four years alone, seven hotels have opened downtown, and apparently they are all continually booked. While the constant crane craze has caused eye rolls around town, the Hotel Bennett seems to have approval from many Charlestonians, possibly because it was built by one of their own. Michael Bennett, founder of development company Bennett Hospitality, was born downtown and served as a bellhop at The Mills House while attending the College of Charleston. He has worked tirelessly on his namesake hotel—which may be the only hotel in the U.S. that has gone to the state supreme court because of its height.
The Hotel Bennett (managed in collaboration with Salamander Hotels & Resorts) just swung open its doors on January 27 to much fanfare. After all, it has been in the works for 25 years. Ever since Bennett bought the old Charleston County Library (a midcentury modern building clad in pink marble) in 1994, he has had plans on opening an elegant hotel in its place. Twenty-five years is a long time to build a hotel, but the local preservation groups put up a fine fight over the height of Bennett’s proposed hotel (they saw it as out of context with the historic city center) and took him all the way to the state supreme court. They lost and, as proper Southern folks do, they shook hands and carried on. Regarding the extended delays on construction Bennett says, “I got really working on the hotel 15 years ago, and then we got sued, so that delayed it for 12 years. Once we won, it took another year to get approval from the Board of Architectural Review, then four years to build.” He laughs, “I’m just looking forward to a good night's rest once I know I got this place open!”
The nine-story building was designed by classical architects Fairfax & Sammons and evokes a grand Italian palazzo-style building nestled onto Charleston’s bustling Marion Square. "Fairfax & Sammons had done a design charette ten to 15 years ago focused on bringing classical architecture back to Charleston and that really resonated with me,” Bennett says of his selection. "When I was in my late 20s, I was developing some of the sea islands and everyone was building these huge block buildings and I built 1920s-looking beach cottages with deep porches. I didn't want to go to the beach to be in a tall building with shag carpet. So I have always looked back in time to find what is right for the development.”
AD PRO took a hard hat tour of the place last summer, and we were amazed by the vastness of the entire project, which comprises a rooftop pool, a jewel box of a ballroom, and a coffee shop, La Pâtisserie, run by executive pastry chef Remy Funfrock, born in Lyon, France. One of the many things Bennett is proud of are the massive bronze entry doors. “The doors and first-floor windows are all made by Hope in upstate New York, which made the doors on the Empire State building. I wasn’t required to use those, but I opted to go that route and spent the day at the factory, where we picked out the materials and colors.”
Bennett hired Atlanta-based Design Continuum, Inc. (DCI) for the interiors. "My partner, Karen Jenkins, and I first met Michael Bennett five years ago and were enthralled by Mike’s dream for the property," explains DCI president Norwood Faust. "He described his vision of the hotel as the finest hotel in Charleston that paid respect to the city's long and rich history.” Bennett wanted a traditional interior while so many in the industry were going the modern route, so DCI took his words to heart and created a story line focusing on the history of Charleston.
Faust walks through the design concept below, so pour yourself a tall glass of sweet tea and read on.
Rotunda
"The detailing of the interiors is based on the designs of the 18th century," Faust says "This can be seen in the painted raised paneled walls used throughout the public areas, the inlaid patterned stone floors, the paneled domed rotunda ceiling with its oculus, and the sinker cypress coffered ceiling in the lobby. Against this traditional background, we layered a varied palette of transitional through current design for lighting and furnishings. The goal was to create a space that looked like it had been there from the city's founding, fell asleep, and then reawakened. We wanted it feel like the current generation of the family added to their ancestors' history. "
Camellias Bar
"The space we’re most excited about is the Camellias Bar," the designer tells AD PRO. "Mike asked us to design a space that felt more feminine in contrast to the more masculine lobby bar. We started with the concept of a Fabergé egg. The space is an oval and very detailed. We paid homage to Dorothy Draper with the color palette of vibrant shades of pink and beige. We also used her idea of white shapes in a space, hence the white banana palm columns. There is a pink stone throughout the space that was reclaimed from the façade of the library that stood on the site. The floor is especially amazing; it is an intricate sunburst pattern of two tones of onyx that are actually new to the market. They were laser jet cut and assembled on site. We’ve been told it is a first for the product and that it pushed the product to its extreme. "
Lobby Lounge
DCI looked to The Connaught hotel bar in London as their primary source of inspiration for the lobby, whose most exciting feature is on the ceiling. There, they used sinker cypress for a rich addition to the lounge. For those unfamiliar: Sinker cypress is wood that fell off sawmill rafts over a century ago and rested in the cool water of the river bottom before it was hauled back out and reclaimed to craft furniture, restoration projects, and, of course, ceiling details.
Gabrielle Charleston
This grand space will be the first restaurant to offer seating directly on Marion Square. For those looking for something more private, the second floor of the dinning room will have serene views of the square in the surroundings of paneling, brown furniture, and marble-top tables. Locals were thrilled to hear that Michael Sichel, formerly of Galatoire’s in New Orleans, will oversee the restaurant.
Guest Rooms
Each guest room’s case goods are based on 18th-century furniture pieces from Charleston’s Colonial period, but fear not, the bed and upholstered pieces reference a more current transitional style, and the window treatments feature a crewelwork fabric, which was a traditional embroidery technique common to early Charleston. Bookcases have been placed in each room to pay homage to the Charleston County Library that originally stood on the site.
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