Savannah wears its history on its sleeve. The architecture, the food, even the future — all of it feeds through the filter of the past. You see it throughout town, and you see it at Hotel Bardo.
By Mark Fedeli
Marketing and Editorial Director, Tablet Hotels
Book Hotel Bardo Savannah on Tablet Hotels.
I was reminded recently that you could fit the entire time between the Beatles’ first appearance on Ed Sullivan and the recording of Abbey Road into the span between the beginning of COVID and today. We’ve lived the entire second half of the sixties since the pandemic started. From black suits and Chelsea boots to Mod and the Maharishi to long beards and bell-bottoms. What seemed, for those of us who weren’t alive for it, like an entire epoch, was condensed within the time from when you wore your first N95 mask to now, when you probably still have a handful stashed in a drawer somewhere.
I think about time all the time. I want to say something profound about it, but if you’re of a certain age, you’re familiar with the condition. Has it really been 30 years since that movie came out? 20 since I moved to this new place? 10 since we last saw each other? That these giant chunks of calendar could slip behind me so casually is increasingly hard to reconcile.
I was thinking about time during a recent visit to Savannah with my family. The city wears history on its sleeve. Unlike nearby Atlanta, it was spared destruction during the Civil War, saved instead as a gift for President Lincoln. The mix of existing architectural styles is the evidence, from Colonial to Victorian to Greek and Gothic. The town’s iconic squares, all 22 of them, were mostly laid out in the 1700s and early 1800s, prime real estate set aside for aesthetics and the public good. And drifting above it all like fog from a flashback: Spanish moss. Many of Savannah’s live oaks are over 100 years old. They add ominous atmosphere to the ghost tours that take place beneath them. This is the ghost tour capital of the country, I’m told.
The preservation of Savannah’s past is increasingly matched by the progress of its future, led most forcefully by the Savannah College of Art and Design. The school has acquired something close to 200 properties, many in an effort to save the city’s timeless personality while injecting into it the kind of new perspectives you only get from serious art students. This has been controversial for all of the reasons you’d immediately imagine, from the impact on low-income housing to the impact on residents who might not align politically with the college’s point of view. As outsiders, it was surprising to learn just how many of the attractions we enjoyed were owned by SCAD, from museums and galleries all the way to restaurants and cafes.
We ate well on this trip. And our meals didn’t escape thoughts of time, either. In a 1938-vintage diner car we adored the pork tacos at Strangebird. In another restored 1938 landmark, Savannah’s old Art Deco Greyhound bus terminal, we had brunch at The Grey, where Chef Mashama Bailey whips up her unforgettable Port City Southern food. In the loading dock of a 1930s grocery store, the mouthwatering fried chicken at Brochu’s. In a circa-1920 storefront, sandwiches from Flora and Fauna. In a corner shop that dates to 1859, perfect espresso at the Gallery. Finally, inside an 1888 Victorian-Romanesque mansion overlooking Forsyth Park, the coastal Italian cuisine of Saint Bibiana.
Not coincidentally, the mansion is also home to the Hotel Bardo.
A stay at the Bardo starts off with the valets, who put on a masterclass of efficiency and professionalism. They’ll guide you through the front door — a work of theatre placed behind a pair of proscenium arches that set the stage for the drama to come.
Let’s stop here for a sec. The arch is having a moment. Curves are all the rage. You can see it in newly designed hotels all over the world. The furniture, the headboards, the couches, the entryways — all rounded off. Art Deco is nearly a decade into its comeback, leaving behind many of its heavy, metallic, Moderne forms, but bringing along its gentle swoops, delicate golden tones, brass fixtures, and Art Nouveau verdure. And rattan. Lots of rattan, calling back to the west’s early 20th-century obsession with the east.
All of this is coming your way when you enter the Bardo… but with much discipline, and much learned from the past 100 years of design. There’s a perfect amount of modern restraint on display here, ensuring that the rooms are bright and open and airy. We had a Corner Suite, which sits in the middle of the hotel’s room hierarchy, and it felt massive. Our daughter had plenty of room to roam. The use of color throughout the hotel is uplifting; pastels of pink and orange and lime mix nicely with a range of browns and the occasional blue or green to playfully punch through it all.
Our favorite space in the hotel, and perhaps its darkest, was the Green Room, a light-bite restaurant and bar just off the lobby. In the morning, it’s a great place to get coffee and pastries. At night, we enjoyed cocktails with anchovies, arancini, and Italian cheeses. We also really enjoyed its brooding evening atmosphere and the cozy corner table we huddled in. Then, of course, there’s Saint Bibiana, of which there isn’t much to add to the raves it’s been receiving for its handmade pastas. Already it has a reputation as one of Savannah’s best meals. It also runs a cooking school, inviting you and your family to brush up on your Sardinian cheffing skills.
That’s just the beginning of the amenities and activities Bardo offers. There’s a fitness and wellness spa called Saltgrass, a massive Mediterranean-inspired courtyard and pool with bar service and cabanas, and a kids club called Camp Bardo, which kept our daughter entertained with a day-spanning scavenger hunt. There are mahjong nights and movie nights and live music nights, and to top it all off, a private members club. Hotel guests get exclusive access to the benefits of that last one. The Bardo’s “urban resort” concept comes from Left Lane, a new hospitality development firm that specializes in transforming historical properties into progressive cultural hubs. Mission accomplished.
If you’ve read this far, through paragraphs about the unsettling passage of time and about SCAD and the city of Savannah, through all of that and then through my description of the hotel, there’s a good chance you’re considering a visit, and a great chance you’re leaning toward the Bardo for your stay. You have excellent taste. And you’ll have a wonderful time.
Book Hotel Bardo Savannah on Tablet Hotels.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.