Beautiful new boutique hotel will open this fall in historic Georgetown

Beautiful new boutique hotel will open this fall in historic Georgetown

The George, a new boutique hotel on Front Street in historic Georgetown, will offer 56 rooms, 42 of which will have stunning waterfront views of the Sampit River and the city’s harbor.

Hotel officials took the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce board of directors and staff on a tour of the still-under-construction building at 615 Front St., the former site of The Georgetown Times newspaper. It will be the only hotel located on Front Street and the city’s famous historic district.

Joe Keenan, developer and general partner with Winyah Hospitality LLC, which is in charge of the project, said that the hotel should be open by Thanksgiving 2023 and will be taking reservations by mid-summer.

“We feel like The George Hotel brings a lovely amenity for the city and its guests,” Keenan said.

Winyah Hospitality has contracted with The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, which will manage the hotel, as well as a bar and chop house-style restaurant on the first floor. Scott Neslage, regional director of lodging operations, and Christa Poliska, director of sales, both with The Indigo Road, and Christy Whitlock, another general partner, said during the tour that they are looking forward to opening the hotel.

“We are thrilled to be showing the Chamber of Commerce where we are in this project,” Whitlock said. “We are thrilled with how it’s going and looking forward to opening this fall.”

And Neslage added, “We are honored and excited to be selected to manage this project on behalf of Winyah Hospitality LLC and its investors. We share their optimism and vision for this unique Georgetown destination. We are humbled to be a part of the incredibly talented team bringing this hotel to life and dedicated to showcasing the hospitality we take pride in at The Indigo Road.”  

The George will offer guests a variety of king rooms, queen rooms and suites on three floors, with different types of balconies on each floor. Rooms that do not have water views will overlook historic Front Street. Three of the rooms will be handicapped-accessible, and valet parking will be available.

Guests can also relax in an outside courtyard with a bar and firepit or gather inside in a meeting event space that seats up to 100 people.

“We are planning on having a lot of weddings, rehearsal dinners, parties and things of that nature,” Keenan said. “It is set up to entertain, and it is going to be really cool.”

Polinski said the meeting room was set up as a conference area with six eight-top tables which would accommodate 45-50 people, but it can be configured in a classroom style to accommodate up to 100.

The hotel’s restaurant, which will be able to seat nearly 90 people, will be designed with a bar area and a large open, exposed kitchen designed for catering events, Keenan said.

“Our kitchen is almost bigger than the restaurant and that is because when we have weddings and other events, Indigo Road is able to cook for more than 200 people,” Keenan said. “It is really a full-service boutique hotel in that regard.”

Indigo Road will be hiring hotel staff throughout the summer months. The company has already completed a search for a general manager and is currently deciding between two qualified candidates. Resumes are also being collected for a sales manager, who will handle wedding inquiries, an executive chef, restaurant manager and wait staff.

“We’ve been blessed to have some great talent in the area speak up for positions so far,” Neslage said. “We will continue our search all the way up to our opening date.”

Christy Whitlock, left, a partner for the hotel, speaks with Beth Stedman,
president and CEO of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce,
and members of the Chamber staff and media outside the hotel.
(Photo by Mark A. Stevens/Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce)

Beth Stedman, president and CEO of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, which operates a visitor center beside the hotel, agreed that The George will be a welcome addition to the city.

“We are excited to help promote this hotel with gorgeous views of the waterfront, as well as the restaurant, meeting space and outside event space,” Stedman said. “The George will be a valued accommodations partner and a destination for people visiting South Carolina’s Hammock Coast in the months and years to come.”

The Gladstone, torn down in 1967, was the last hotel on Front Street.
(Photo courtesy of the Georgetown County Library Digital Archives)

The George will be the first hotel on Front Street since The Gladstone was demolished in 1967.

The Gladstone was one of the few Front Street buildings that remained unchanged by the desire to modernize the business district that swept Georgetown at the turn of the century, but, in the end, the hotel was closed. The ground floor had a café where “Miss Nettie” Gladstone served red rice and duck every Saturday. The second and the third floors housed the guests.

Now, with The George set to open soon, a hotel in this historic district of Georgetown will, once again, be a calling card to tourists coming to South Carolina’s third-oldest city. For many, “George” is going to be a very welcome guest.

The George under construction on Front Street in Georgetown.
(Photo by Mark A. Stevens/Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce)

By Clayton Stairs / tourism manager for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®