Charleston, South Carolina, is a beautiful city rich in history and culture. Don't let the high price of a hotel room stop you from going there. I want to tell you that the best place to stay in Charleston isn't really in Charleston.
That's right. It's on Johns Island. I would never have known that if I wasn't frugal, but I am. And I could not have been happier with my frugalness than when I refused to pay over a thousand dollars for 3 nights in Charleston. Why? Because it caused me to look for alternative options and led me to Airbnb.
I had never stayed at an Airbnb or any bed and breakfast for that matter. I really like my privacy and love to stay in hotel rooms. There's a certain sense of security at a hotel, in my opinion. But since I had a limited budget for a conference, I had to be careful with expenses and look for an alternative.
I ended up searching Airbnb's website and found a couple of options that looked promising - one was a boat that I would have all to myself or a room at a yoga studio. Yes - a yoga studio was an option and it was the one that I ended up booking.
The studio is located in the home of Brenton and Jessica and is only about 15 minutes away from downtown Charleston. I saved about $600 by staying in a room at their circa 1969 home/yoga studio. The room that we (my friend Jenn from SweetTMakesThree.com came with me) stayed in was located on the second floor and we accessed it via a spiral staircase (the first time I have used one!).
The backyard and views from our room were simply amazing. I mean, just look at that photo above. Peace. Quiet. Tranquility. We had it ALL!
Our room was really spacious - there was a full or queen-sized bed as well as a twin bed and a sleeper sofa. Although I am a big fan of modern decor, the room had a vintage feel to it. But we weren't there to be spoiled and pampered with 1000-count cotton sheets and upgraded amenities. We were there to save money and attend a conference in Charleston.
But you know what? We were very spoiled by our hosts. Jessica made us breakfast every morning and delivered it to us. We had fresh eggs from her chickens and avocados and organic coffee with cream a couple of mornings. We also had homemade waffles with berries and bacon on our last morning.
What really made the whole experience about staying there is that our hosts were amazing people. When Jessica delivered those delicious waffles to us, we all started talking and we may or may not have had a personal life coaching session with her. I'll never tell what all we said, but I have never felt so welcome, safe, and at peace in a home as I did in hers.
I HIGHLY recommend staying at Brenton & Jessica's Airbnb if you are going to be in the area. Your experience will probably be different than ours was, but overall the hospitality from Brenton & Jessica cannot be surpassed.
FYI - this post was not sponsored or compensated by Airbnb. In addition to incredibly awesome yoga studios or boats, Airbnb has tiny house rentals, full apartments, and a lot of other unique homes and experiences to explore.
Thanks to Airbnb, on another trip I was able to stay in an old Southern mansion that was featured in Southern Living magazine.
If you get the chance to go to Charleston, be sure to check out my post Tips For Exploring Charleston in One Day.
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