Francis Marion Hotel Review

Attended a wedding here and the hotel was beautiful. If your from a smaller town, expect to pay more for parking.

Very nice hotel, GREAT location in downtown Charleston.

I believe my disappointment is that the hotel is old, used, and there has been no attention to detail.
For example- the bathroom toilet has no tank behind it. The room is so small that when washing your face in the one sink with no counter space you can back into the toilet as you bend over. The shelf over the sink hit my head as I brushed my teeth. The towel rack is rusty. The tub has no plug.
The bed was comfortable, but the mattress pad was hanging out the side.
The telephone on the desk has not been touched in years with Lysol. It is caked with grime.
I had about an half inch of dust on the desk and lamps.
I called management and discussed these items. I was told that this is a historic hotel and part of the charm.
I got a corporate discount to stay here through my employer. I've still paid $300.00 per night. I must say that as a business traveler even with my discount I would not recommend this hotel.
I have been offered a new room from management for my remaining night. I am appreciative and happy that they are responsive. However, complaining is not something I like to do-therefore, I am hoping they will spend some money on this hotel to fix what can be fixed. Rusty towel racks have no charm.

Historical, renovations kept the charm of the original building. However as far as a hotel goes, it's got smaller rooms and a very small bathroom even for around $250/night. Parking will cost you $25/day with valet or $20/day if you park in the third party garage on your own. Overall a great stay but keep in mind these nuances when booking your stay.

Very convenient location, love older buildings with history

The views from our room are unbelievable. The staff is very friendly and helpful. They have made our stay even more memorable. Thank you.

Great place within walking distance of many of Charleston's great restaurants, shops, and attractions

The rooms are small and bathrooms very tiny. They made a mistake and told us we only had a reservation for one night and were ready to kick us out the next day. Totally their mistake and I had to almost beat an apology out of them. They made a similar mistake for the people we were traveling with and told them they had NO reservation instead of simply asking if it might be under a different name. After we complained to the manager he simply said the problem had been fixed (only from our hard work and perseverance) He didn t offer so much as a free drink or a coupon. The desk people were surly to us for the rest of our stay. I would never stay there again.

My husband and I absolutely loved our stay at The Francis Marion Hotel , it is a beautiful hotel - and located in a great area with so much shopping and food just steps away from the front door. The staff was incredible, they were very accommodating and made us feel very special. Our room was clean, and we loved the old-world decor. I especially loved how our room had two bathrooms and we could even see the ocean over the city. Loved it, highly recommend to all .

Me and my mother visited the beautiful city of Charleston and stayed here. Right in the middle of the city, we enjoyed our stay very much. The staff were all professional and helpful. The rooms very nice and clean and the staff left us surprises each night. The lady in the general strore Alexus was a blessing to talk to. Daniel is a gentleman that works in the restaurant Swamp Fox, and he was a joy and pleasant to talk to.

Solid historic hotel. Our double room has 2 bathrooms, albeit early 20th century size, but nice. Watched all the college kids from next door CofC rolling out at midnight when we were coming in. LOL

Check in was supposed to be at 4pm. We are traveling here from Florida for a wedding, so after a 7 hour drive here we go to check in at 4 and they do not have our room ready. They are saying it ll be ready by 5, but the rehearsal dinner is at 5:30... NOT HAPPY! Poor planning Francis Marion...

Great Location, Historic Property, Great Service

Definitely one of the hotels in Charleston, and in America, that you need to stay at once. Historic property in the heart of King St. Once you get here, leave the car in the garage and walk the city. Most all the historic district attractions are within walking distance.

The hotel is beautiful, the service is great, the rooms are clean. It is an old hotel, so be prepared for smaller rooms and very small bathrooms.

Friendly staff. Bathrooms make NO sense - small and beds in the way/doors blocking flow. Otherwise great hotel.

Are at Swamp Fox. Was really good! The Deviled Eggs were particularly delicious!

The Francis Marion is a beautiful Hotel with a wonderfully historic feel. The staff gave excellent service. I also found the location to be very convenient for sightseeing with lots of restaurants in close walking distance.

Stayed here for a wedding. Booked 3 nights had a good trip. Room was good, had a view of the water and the staff was responsive. It was really convenient to have the direct access to king st.

Their breakfast was warm and delicious. Negatives in parentheses. Lobby was beautiful (our floor, the 2nd floor, smelt like a dirty toilet), the king bed pillow top was heavenly (their welcome text/texting service is a joke, my inquiries went unanswered), the restroom was small but there were two! (the toilet seats were peeling, could use some touch ups), and most importantly: PRIME location (service received was 50/50, let me explain...).

I called at 8am the morning of my arrival to inform the front desk agent that I was expecting to receive a package between 8am and 6pm (one of those expensive fruit deliveries). Inquired about the delivery before checkin at 3, after check in at 4, before leaving the hotel at 5, and upon returning to the hotel at 7 (I received a confirmation email from the delivery service at 4pm to tell me my package had been delivered).

Spoke to several different front desk agents and no one could help me. It wasn't until I bombarded them with calls from my room minutes later before I left for dinner that they finally located the sweaty box and "harshly dropped" it outside of my hotel door. The room and location were nice but the money paid was not worth the incompetince of the staff. Will try Charleston Place or Planter's Inn on our next visit.

I cancelled my reservation a week prior to arrival for a conference and they charge me 199+tax for cancelling. They would not work with me at all.

I would not recommend this hotel!

Great location on King St. Near plenty of things to do. Staff was very pleasant and friendly and happy to accommodate.

Beautiful hotel! The rooms are a little small. No fridge in rooms and no breakfast.

Comfortable and clean room. Free Wifi and kind personnel. The building is very nice too.

Great historic hotel in the middle of it all, but other equally convenient hotels offer more space in the rooms for the same or lower rates. Still, a great place to stay downtown.

The hotel is a older hotel indeed. There s a very unpleasant smell that resignates throughout the entire building. The food from the restaurant was gross. I gave them 2 stars because the staff was friendly and the beds were ok.

** Way over priced + super out dated.
-The rooms are SMALL. (Think a large closet size).
-The bathrooms are so small you can t turn around in them, yet alone get dressed in them.
-The shower was all rusty.
- The toilet had rust in it.
- The bed was SUPER uncomfortable.
- You hear EVERYTHING in the hallway. (Things are not even slightly sound proof).

***bottom line. This hotel needs to buck up and spend some money on renovations. While the location is Nice, I would stay at a competitive hotel next time. Definitely will not be staying here again.

AN OLD CLASSY HOTEL WHICH HAS MAINTAINED A QUALITY STAFF AND VERY HIGH STANDARDS of SERVICE. WE WILL RETURN AGAIN IN THE SPRING. WALKING DISTANCE TO SEVERAL OUTSTANDING RESTAURANTS. MY WIFE LOVES TO STZY HERE.

Did not stay but stopped by Starbucks for a drink. Professional service!

Absolutely my favorite hotel in Charleston. Location is wonderful for getting to everywhere there is to visit in the city, especially the downtown area. Staff is always top notch. Many hotels are great but the historical aspect to the Francis Marion gives it an advantage in my book!

Always clean and friendly service. Great location close to everywhere you want to be. You can walk to 90% of what you come to Charleston for.

Just checked in, warmly greeted by Daniel was allowed early check in. Lovely room on 11th floor. Looking forward to our visit.

Beautiful historic hotel! Rooms are well kept, staff is very friendly

Over priced old rooms, very small, poor condition. Ceiling falling , toilets barely flush, Small showers. Shay somewhere else.

Girl at the front desk is extremely unpleasant and unwilling to work with staff hired to work in the building.

The room was dark and small. So small that there was literally minimal floor space. On the ad they showed they had two beds and then it turned out the room had a queen bed and a single sofa bed. The mattress was poor. I could feel the springs through it and the pillow were knotted in multiple places. The room felt Dingy and uninviting. The stool
Provided for luggage storage was broken.
There was no service whatsoever.

Overall we went with expectations of experiencing something of a charm and we fled the very next morning in search of something better.

Stay away

Hotel was nice overall. If you are interested in exploring downtown, it s in a prime location. However, I had a very negative encounter with a staff member. My wife was attending a conference at the hotel so my very young son and I tagged along. The first two days of the conference we ordered food through ubereats as my son is a bit of a public nightmare around lunch. Well... on the second day, I get a phone call from the front desk telling me that I ve ordered food three days in a row and it was sent to the spa and asked that I stop. I apologized and she again repeated that delivery folks are going to the wrong place for three days now. I informed her that I ve only been there two days, but again, I apologized. I m then told that I cannot have food delivered to the door for security reasons and needed to come to the lobby. I said ok.
Now, this isn t the worst possible behavior by hotel staff, but the entire conversation centered around her and the hotel, not around the guest/customer. I was talked to like I was a kid living back in my parents house. The conversation lacked hospitality and could have easily been tweaked to be client-focused.
Other than that everything was good, thus the three stars.

Great location in Charleston. Good service and nice historic hotel. Rooms tend to be small for the price with cramped baths. Nice furnishings and comfortable. Overall good not great.

Great location, service is amazing, I can't wait to go back.

hotel with the soul. don't see it that often. late night doorman John is the best host.
Thank you for making our stay amazing!

Beautiful place that we joined to celebrate the union of our cousins...awesome people...friendly and helpful

Participated in a class in one of the conference rooms, very unimpressed. I think it would have been better to hold the class in a Holiday Inn Express or a Motel 6 or something even cheaper. They couldn't keep water in the room, and we (the class) didn't drink much. I had to ask 3 people for more and all they did was fill the carafe from a sink somewhere, very poor service. Went to the bathroom and it was out of toilet paper, repeatedly. It's the little things that count. I hope the rooms are better because the conference room wasn't worth it.

I m here for a conference and I m staying off premises so I can t speak to the guest rooms but I gotta say this is the LEAST mobility-friendly hotel I ve ever been in. For example, the lobby is 11 steps up from street level and the lobby bathroom is an additional 10 steps up. There s an elevator but there are so many weird in-between levels and mezzanine things I can t imagine trying to navigate this place if you have mobility issues with stairs. Yikes. A real ADA nightmare.

Really nice suite; very clean and beautiful view of the city and the ocean. The bar is lacking...they were out of cherries & mint. Most of the cocktails on the menu required one or the other. Overall, very nice!

Great value and off the beaten path a little, on the fringe of downtown. This place offers great rooms that have character and some of the old charm. I'd definitely go back!

LOVE the Francis Marion Hotel. If you want a boring cookie-cutter hotel, this is not the place for you. If you want character, history, and charm, this place is AMAZING!!! I photograph a lot of weddings, conferences, and events here. Their staff is just incredible...a true embodiment of southern hospitality! In fact, we love it so much that we often spend a couple nights here on special occasions like anniversaries...even though we only live 20 minutes away! Highly recommended.

The Fancis Marion offered very friendly, helpful staff. Especially the valet staff. It is slightly more to use the valet service but worth it if you plan to do any going and coming. If you have a handicap designation (placard or license plate,) the valet service is complimentary.
The room I was in was smaller than I was used to. Honestly, a little tight for two of us. There was "wine cooler" type of mini-fridge that set upon the floor which made it a little difficult to access. One particularly troublesome quirk was an uneven threshold between the room and bathroom. It was carpeted so it was not noticable at first, but the unevenness was significant and somewhat troublesome. The vending area on the floor was just ice and drink machine with no snacks. The vending machine did not accept credit cards. The overall appearance was somewhat dated, in need of freshening up throughout
The restaurant in the motel, the Swamp Fox,was surprisingly good and offered a varied menu. See menu below. There was also excellent live piano music.during dinner.There is also a Starbucks in the hotel.
The location is fairly convenient and there is a large Walgreens store right across the street.
The cost during the week were reasonable and this needs to be factored in to the review. I rate the staff 5 stars and the hotel itself 3.

I only needed the hotel for one night for work. I checked in a bit early and they were ready for me. The room was clean and neat. No complaints!

This hotel has got some age, but has been maintained so it's still classy. The staff was very polite and helpful. One particular elevator had a nasty habit of opening it's door repeatedly and unnecessarily. The AC worked really well, which was nice after a lengthy walk around downtown in June's humidity. Located in very nice area with plenty to see and do! There's a Starbucks and restaurant (The Swamp Fox) connected to the hotel also.

No complains. This hotel was tremendous. From the reception staff, we enjoyed our short stay. The room was clean, well equipped and of a good size. My only complaint is that I could not figure out how to turn down the air conditioner without turning it off. The city of Charleston is very beautiful.

My sister & I didn't get to stay very long, but what time we were there....was very enjoyable! While walking around the lobby, you can just picture and imagine what wondrous goings-on were happening during the early days! The beds were extremely comfortable. The rooms, along with the rest of the hotel, were very clean and accommodating. The staff were very friendly. Cost was less than what it would have been through Priceline, etc.........If I ever get a chance to go back to Charleston, I'll be staying at Francis Marion!!!

Friendly staff and clean room. Very enjoyable stay.

Staff are wonderful and it's a very nice and comfortable hotel.

Great hotel, great price! Beautiful lobby, clean rooms, great location. The staff was extremely friendly and attentive. Affordable parking on site or in adjacent garage. Perfect for your Charleston visit!

My wife and I stayed at this hotel and found that the location was key. Four blocks from the tour boat port and the aquarium. King Street is worth spending at least a half a day on looking through shops. What we liked most of all was the front desk staff, they were able to let us check out later than normal so that we could go and see Charleston's Fort Sumter. We were able to keep our room until 1:00 rather than Noon. That extra hour gave us a piece of mind. We could take our time and not feel rushed.

The hotel itself is more money than what I wanted to spend. However it did make up for convenience and allowed us to walk everywhere. The bathrooms were small, our view was of the parking ramp rather than a nice city view. That was OK. What we also liked was very little noise in the halls and we did not see many kids. It was a more grown up feel of hotel and we like that as well.

Nice hotel, but it shows its age by way of space. The restroom (in my room) was extremely small (felt like it was a small converted closet). The restaurant was extremely good, and service by all staff was great!

Very nice hotel. Attended for a professional event and was impressed by lobby.

We loved our stay. The staff were very friendly and the room was great! Can't beat the location either.

Easy check in, great amenities. Staff super friendly.

Historic hotel. I had a nice room with comfortable need. But some of my traveling companions didn't like their rooms.

Very nice hotel across from the farmers market. Staff was very courteous and the room was clean. It isn't as central as other hotels, but everything is still within walking distance.

Clean rooms, but dont waste your money, we paid 200$ a night, the bathroom is so small you can sit on the toilet and wash your hands in the sink at the same time. Oh and they forget to tell you its 20$ a night to park your car. So yeah pay your $ elsewhere..

The rooms were great. Old, but whimsical. Great colors. Unfortunately there was a large gap at the bottom of the room door. If other guests had been loud, we would have easily heard it in our room.

The only mishap had to do with our reservation. The gave me one price over the phone when I reserved, but then charged a different price at checkout. They would not give me the original price they offered.

Wonderful dinner. Not far from French qtr. Very nice menu

Great hotel with compact but comfortable rooms located in the center of Charleston. Great staff and services.

Hotel is very nice but quite old. Historic is one thing but I'm not personality a fan of the small rooms and old fashioned bathrooms. Would stay here again for the price but know what you are getting before you do so.