Worth Traveling For
Charleston’s hotel scene has exploded in recent years, with luxury properties popping up in nearly every sector of the Holy City. But there’s a lot to be said for the tidal marshes and twisty salt rivers that wind through the Lowcountry. For that, you’ll want to head to The Dunlin, Auberge Collection on the Kiawah River about 40 minutes from downtown.
It’s not about the city here. Instead, days are spent exploring the other faces of the Lowcountry, from the tides that transform a kayak excursion into a date with bottlenose dolphins to sipping sweet tea — perhaps enriched with a dividend of bourbon — on a porch or apool looking out over the scene. You’ll taste the southern staples you’ve always heard about, too, like sorghum, field peas, sorrel, Carolina gold rice, trout roe, and buttery grits, all prepared with tradition and style.
Hotel Highlights
The Dunlin celebrates the landscape by making it accessible from almost anywhere on the property. Rooms have oversized private screened porches; boardwalks and gravel pathways offer views of the river as they wind toward restaurants, the spa, and the pools. Interiors are breezy and cottagey — seagrass rugs, painted wainscoting, rattan, and pastel-printed fabrics — but with enough estate silver, English antiques, and Audubon prints to remind you to sit up straight.
Spend cocktail hour in the Willet Room, the resort’s lobby bar, which has an expansive back porch where locals sip old fashioneds and eat cheeseburgers (or caviar) as their golden retrievers look on. Upstairs, at Linnette’s, the resort’s fine dining restaurant, the menu skews southern, but with enough well-placed creative or luxurious touches — ramp butter, caviar, yuzu hollandaise — to keep it from feeling like dinner at Aunt Minnie’s house.
Rooms and Experience
Relaxing at Dunlin is easy. Rooms and suites are large with lots of natural light and there are plenty of soft sofas for napping, both in the room and on the porch. Or stake out a spot at the cabana pool, which is set so close to the river that you can hear the water rush in and out with the tide.
Maybe because it doesn’t share space with a gym (it’s across the way), the intimate Aster spa is as easy as the rest of the property. You won’t get lost wandering through a maze-like lounge in search of your locker, and the outdoor relaxation area is serene. Treatments, though, are sophisticated and include results-based facials and body therapies from Biologique Recherche, dreamy botanicals from Farmaesthetics Fine Herbal Skincare, as well as massages.
What to Know Before You Book
The Dunlin offers plenty of access to watery fun on docks, boats, or kayaks, as well as two pools, but there’s no river swimming or walkable access to a white-sand beach, although you can drive toone in less than 20 minutes. Or do as the locals do and book a “beach drop” by boat on one of the hundreds of sandy isles that dot the region. There’s a good chance you’ll have it all to yourself.
Fall and spring are the best times to visit the Lowcounty, but don’t rule out a winter stay sipping hot toddies by the fire.
Address: 6000 Kiawah River Drive, Johns Island, SC 29455
Closest Airport: Dunlin is located 45 minutes from Charleston International Airport
Featured image courtesy of The Dunlin Auberge Collection. Travel Curator may earn a commission for booking links on this page.
