Hotel Bando
The newly-opened salmond pink Savannah hotel by Left Lane
Image: Savannah's New High-Design Social Hub | AD
There’s some serious change happening in the small city of Savannah these days, or maybe there’s nothing new to the “quiet rebellion” going on in this gothic southern city. What I can say with greater certainty is that I’m no doubt interested in making a field trip after reading about the grand opening of Hotel Bardo.
"Although Savannah’s ageless allure hasn’t changed, the people who call it home have."
— Wildsam
More than being pretty in pink, Hotel Bardo is a beautiful example of a boutique hotel moving from a strictly-visitor model to one built to benefit guests and locals in equal measure. I find this shift particularly intriguing because bringing guests closer to the city’s social scene, bringing a bit of what’s real about the city’s energy in rather than trying to create an hotel experience, however indulgent, that feels separate from the city. Hoxton Williamsburg and Atlanta’s soon-to-open Forth hotel are yet other examples of hotels designed for locals and guests to mingle.
Another element of intrigue is the Hotel Bardo’s integration with not just locals but Savannah’s history. Occupying what was formerly the Mansion on Forsyth Park, the 140-room hotel was built using the existing structure and designed to mix the old-world elements like Savannah’s cobblestone streets with the city’s “ever-developing, cool-kid hangout that is Starland District.”
And if you were curious like me, Hotel Bando was developed by Left Lane, the real estate firm also responsible for Savannah’s Recess Hotel & Club and Hotel Perry, which it claims on its website was “one of the most successful hotel openings of the last decade.”
Now for the fun part! A few notable details to the property include the Club Bardo’s members only lounge, the signature Italian restaurant, Saint Bibiana, the soft pink branded pool, the extensive art curated to feature local talent like SCAD graduate Libby Barret, Bar Bibi, and “perhaps the crown jewel of the property…its outdoor spaces,” promises Atlanta Magazine.
If I’m visiting Savannah, a) please join and b) dinner at The Grey and a visit to one of Left Lane’s hotels, preferably Bardo, are on the to-try list!