Review: Hotel Bardo: First In

Why book?

On the Spanish moss-draped Forsyth Park, this red-brick mansion turned urban resort has big-city amenities with quintessential Southern charm.

Set the scene

Looking out onto Savannah’s largest and oldest public park (that’s not counting the city’s 22 lush squares), Hotel Bardo is nicely positioned between downtown and the increasingly cool Starland District. While it’s a roughly 20-minute walk to the North Historic District or 5-minute drive to Starland, the choice to bounce between the two sides of the city positions you well—this is Savannah with a modern twist. A mix of heels-and-jeans wearing New Yorkers, friendly wider-Georgia visitors, and local social butterflies perch in the lobby or share small plates in the restaurant, Saint Bibiana. Kids are welcome, though the velour swivel chairs and brass furnishings in the lobby demand young guests be on good behavior. With the hotel’s private members club officially open (think Soho House in concept, but with decor reminiscent of The Wing), it’s even more likely that the person breaking a sweat beside you in the 7:00 am bootcamp class or at the lobby bar grabbing a negroni has their own charming residence nearby.

The backstory

Stylish Hotel Bardo sits inside the 1888-built Forsyth Mansion. Like all homes in Savannah, it has history—it's housed several families since it was first built, and later functioned as a funeral home before becoming a three-star hotel, The Mansion of Forsyth Park, until 2022. The team at New York-based Left Lane plans to build on that heritage with The Bardo. The development group, for whom Bardo is the first IRL incarnation of their plans, has ambitions to open additional properties in Savannah (they have already nabbed the former Hotel Savannah to house a second member's club) and Hotel Bardos in other small cities: Pittsburgh and Providence, Rhode Island, will open in 2026, they say.

If you happened to visit this property before the reno that was unveiled in February 2024, you’ll notice a few significant changes. While the exterior of the two main buildings with its iconic brick facade is largely unchanged, a second white brick building housing 20 suites has been attached to the back—and a shimmering pool and “carriage house” for workout classes and events has been carved out of what was once just a parking lot. Talk about an upgrade.

The rooms

These hit everything on your bingo card for a stylish hotel room in 2024—there are brass light fixtures, rattan wardrobes, and art-deco curves and tier motifs. The color story is slightly more Georgia peach than millennial pink, and I won’t forget the punchy green-and-white tile in the double shower (I stayed in a balcony suite, which also won me over with the freestanding bathtub). I couldn’t help but think about how great the space might be during a wedding weekend: There’s a ton of closet space, perfect for letting your suit or dress de-wrinkle before an event, and no shortcuts are taken on bathroom supplies: hairdryers are Dyson, toiletries are Corpus, robes are Frette, and there was even a steamer to use.

Food and drink

Saint Bibiana takes its cues from some of the city’s restaurants of the moment—instead of staying classic with a coursed meal and Lowcountry staples, they do shareable plates that come out as they’re ready, with flavors rooted in “coastal Italian” cuisine. At dinner, the mushroom torchiette was special (overall, there’s a use of lesser-known pasta shapes that I appreciated), as were moments like a gratis focaccia delivery (the tray of steaming bread was carried table to the table by our server via a neck-suspended platter, the same way a ballpark employee might sling peanuts—but with rosemary woven into the dough, and olive oil steeped with herbs and alliums, the reward was obviously greater). The breakfast menu is fairly simple, but solid; look out for brunch on the weekends, and Bar Bibi, for poolside lunch, opening March 1, with more Mediterranean food. A tip: though many restaurants in the city are closed on Monday and Tuesday (heartbreaking when I realized my trip over those days would keep me from the much-buzzed-about chicken at Brochu’s Family Tradition), Saint Bibiana is open for breakfast and dinner every night of the week.

The spa

Left Lane makes a point of doing everything in-house, from curating their gift shop to designing spa treatments. I’m glad they do—my Alchemist facial at Saltgrass, using products from Swiss skincare sorceress Margie Lombard of Margy’s Monte Carlo, felt like a true investment in my skin with cutting edge LYMA lasers, a thick collagen and vitamin-C mask, and most importantly, plump results the minute I walked out the door at the end. Show up 20 minutes early to enjoy a glass of wine or tea with decadent snacks, like parmesan crisps or Turkish dried apricots, and hit the steam room and sauna (though the latter two weren’t yet open during my visit, the team expects them in early 2024).

The neighborhood

There’s perhaps no better location in the city for a curious traveler. Being on the park sets you a bit further from the heart of downtown than rival properties like Perry Lane (perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the team leaders came from that hotel), or big-box luxury stays like the JW Marriott on the waterfront—but closer to where the cool kids are really hanging out, like Starland. In fact, seasoned travelers may appreciate some distance from the souvenir shops and frozen-cocktail stands. Here, you're just a short couple blocks to Jones Street, for example, where you’ll undoubtedly want to stroll agape at the 1850’s-built homes and archway of live oak trees drenched in hanging moss.

The service

Attentive, and always on hand. I never had to turn my head more than 30 degrees to find someone who could assist with whatever I needed, be that a spare iPhone charger, help sending out the postcard in my room, or a menu suggestion.

For families

Camp Bardo, opening March 1, will have three-hour-long activity windows—arts & crafts, scavenger hunts, etc.—during which guests can can drop off kids and have some grown-up fun. It’s like hiding the vegetables in mac ‘n cheese, but for babysitting.

Eco effort

Not a big part of the conversation here, though they hit the mark on water refilling stations, glass bottles in the room, and a near-total absence of single-use plastics. Most of the toiletries are in pump dispensers, thankfully, and not travel-size bottles.

Accessibility

There are elevators to the rooms and suites, and an ADA-compliant entrance for the Saint Bibiana restaurant.

Anything left to mention?

Take advantage of the beach cruisers to explore further throughout the city—and chat with the doormen. Getting to say hi to regulars like Omar was a highlight of coming and going. Nobody is lying about that Southern charm!