Food

Gwen Fowler

SOUTH CAROLINA INSIDER

 

Woodlands, Wentworth earn more honors

Posted 7/27/2010 6:27:00 PM

Woodlands Inn in Summerville continues to win awards, and the latest are recognition from Travel + Leisure magazine readers and Fodor’s travel guides.

Fodor’s recently named Woodlands Inn to its list of the top 10 best hotel restaurants in the nation.

Each year, Fodor’s gives its top picks of U.S. hotels in 10 categories. The only other South Carolina hotel to make the list in any category was Wentworth Mansion in Charleston, one of the top 10 urban escapes.

“The service and quality of the accommodations are exceptional, and the restaurant is one of the finest in this part of the country,” Fodor's wrote in a short review.

The review says that pros of Woodlands are “a country retreat excellent for de-stressing; well-geared for weddings and honeymoons; luxurious bedding and electronic blinds (with drapes) make it ideal for sleeping.” A con, according to the review, is that it is 45 minutes from downtown Charleston and isn’t near beaches.

Some information in the review was outdated. It referred to Chef Tarver King, who left Woodlands in 2008 and is now executive chef at the Ashby Inn and Restaurant in Paris, Va.

Matt Owen, corporate director of public relations for Salamander Hospitality, said Fodor’s representatives have visited recently so the review was based on current information. The Woodlands staff has asked Fodor’s to update its review, he said.

In the review of Wentworth Mansion, Fodor’s calls the inn’s restaurant, Circa 1886, a “laudable restaurant.”

Fodor’s is a publisher of travel guidebooks to more than 300 destinations worldwide.

Travel + Leisure readers gave Woodlands a score of 94.12 out of 100 to give it a spot on the top five inns in the United States and Canada. In honor of that award, Woodlands is offering a discounted rate of $94.12 per person for its junior suite. Rooms must be booked by Sept. 1 and are valid for travel until Dec. 30.

The 18-room inn, a 1906 plantation, is owned by Sheila C. Johnson and managed by Salamander Hospitality. It consistently wins awards for its restaurant, including the AAA Five-Diamond award. The inn also is a Forbes Five-Star establishment.

Owen said the most current awards are kept on display, but all awards from previous years are on display “in the basement where the staff passes every day.”

“There’s a whole wall of stars and diamonds,” he said.