A Different Side of Savannah: Staying at The Ann

By Jennifer Primrose

Few American cities are as recognizable as Savannah, with its historic squares, moss-covered oaks, and hidden courtyards. It’s the kind of place where history feels present almost everywhere you turn. But where you stay changes how Savannah unfolds around you.

Located on the western edge of Savannah’s Historic District, The Ann Savannah is within walking distance of many of the city’s attractions, with everything else just a five-minute drive away. The property occupies the site of a former City of Savannah municipal building, reimagined through a multiyear adaptive reuse project that transformed the once-utilitarian structure into a design-forward, apartment-style hotel.

After roughly three years of planning and renovations, the building reopened in February 2025 as The Ann Savannah, becoming the first mainland U.S. location for Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy. The redevelopment preserves the neighborhood’s historic aesthetic while introducing a more contemporary residential feel.

Studios, lofts, and multi-bedroom suites come equipped with full kitchens, washers and dryers, and layouts designed for longer stays, larger groups, or visitors who simply want more space than a typical hotel room. “A lot of our guests like the privacy,” says general manager Leigh Ann Staden. “You can come and go without ever really going through a traditional hotel lobby.”

Instead of the hectic pace that often comes with larger hotels, the 157-room property feels calmer and more flexible. Guests move between the courtyard and café with an ease that mirrors the neighborhood surrounding it.

Once outside, you will find Savannah College of Art and Design’s (SCAD) influence is everywhere—not just through one centralized campus. The school is folded into the city itself through restored historic buildings, galleries, studios, and cafés scattered throughout downtown. That creative energy exists alongside a growing mix of restaurants, cocktail bars, and retail spaces that are helping shape Savannah’s next chapter without losing the character that made the city so beloved in the first place.

The Historic District can feel crowded quickly, especially near River Street and City Market, where music spills from open doors and crowds linger long after dark. Returning to The Ann after a full day feels less like stepping away from Savannah and more like slipping into another version of it.

Inside Little James, the hotel’s onsite café and cocktail bar named for General James Oglethorpe, Georgia’s founder, guests can stop in for a quick bite—or linger for hours. Mornings start with espresso and laptops. By afternoon, it becomes a meeting point for those filtering in from out of town. In the evening, it shifts into cocktails and Mediterranean-inspired shared plates. “It really becomes a community feel,” Staden says. “We really want it to feel like a gathering place.”

The hotel’s proximity to the city’s landmarks changes how you move through the Historic District. Instead of spending time planning transportation or navigating parking, you can experience Savannah at your own pace.

One of the easiest ways to see the city is aboard one of Savannah’s Hop On Hop Off trolley tours. Part ride, part rolling storytelling session, the route loops through the Historic District as guides point out architecture, Civil War history, ghost stories, film locations, and the city’s long-running fascination with folklore.

Hop on near The Ann Savannah—it’s an easy walk or quick rideshare to your first stop. From there, start exploring. Step into Chippewa Square and you’ll inevitably hear Forrest Gump come up. The bench is long gone, but the film connection still shapes how people see the square.

A few stops away, the Mercer Williams House Museum pulls visitors deeper into the world of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, where true crime, legend, and Southern intrigue collide.

Book an evening tour at the Old Sorrel-Weed House Museum and you’ll move through candlelit rooms as ghost stories unfold in real time. As guide Aubrey Northrop puts it, the stories keep evolving: “There’s about 50 different versions, depending on who’s telling it … we’re constantly trying to find more documentation about the property.”

Near City Market, the American Prohibition Museum brings another layer of history to life through immersive exhibits that explore the rise and fall of Prohibition and the city’s role in rum-running during the 1920s. The tour ends inside a speakeasy-style bar, where the storytelling continues in cocktail form.

For a quieter pause, walk over to Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum. Housed in the historic Scarbrough House, it traces Savannah’s maritime roots, with gardens that feel secluded from the bustle of downtown.

Then make your way to Forsyth Park, where locals spread out under live oaks and visitors gather around the fountain. By evening, the surrounding streets fill in with pre-dinner drinks and unhurried walks.

Savannah’s culinary scene blends Southern tradition with a growing wave of contemporary, chef-driven restaurants, where Lowcountry staples like shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes sit alongside inventive, globally influenced menus. One evening, dinner took us to The Emporium Global Table at the Perry Lane Hotel, a monthly multicourse dining experience on the third Thursday of the month. Like much of Savannah, the experience was elevated but not overly formal. Hospitality first, presentation second.

That approach seems to define much of the city right now.

Savannah still embraces the history visitors expect, but a quieter evolution is happening beneath the surface. Boutique hotels. Restored spaces. Independent restaurants. Cocktail bars tucked inside historic buildings. Creative energy is shaped in part by SCAD and by people choosing to experience Savannah beyond the typical tourist checklist.

The Ann fits naturally into that version of the city.

By the end of the weekend, it stops feeling like somewhere we stayed and starts feeling like the place we reset—between long walks through historic squares, afternoons on River Street, museum stops, late dinners, cocktails, and ghost stories that ran later than planned. Savannah remains steeped in history, storytelling, and hospitality, but a stay at The Ann Savannah shifts how you move through it.

You’re close to everything without being in the middle of it. And that sense of ease and Southern charm lingers long after you leave.

Dinner at the Emporium Wine Market

By Dathan Kazsuk

Savannah has never been short on dinner options, but The Emporium Kitchen and Wine Market inside the Perry Lane Hotel is giving visitors something more transportive than the usual shrimp and grits shuffle.

The restaurant’s Global Table is a monthly, multicourse dining experience built around a different region or wine, pairing food and wine in a way that feels less like a hotel dinner and more like a culinary passport with better lighting. Held on the third Thursday of each month, the experience leans into The Emporium’s identity: Southern-rooted hospitality shaped by global influence.

The Emporium’s concept is inspired by the hotel’s fictional muse, Adelaide Harcourt, a well-traveled Savannah native who brought flavors, stories, and worldly curiosity back home. It’s a smart bit of branding, sure, but also a good excuse to spend an evening eating your way across France, Greece, rosé regions, or wherever the next menu decides to wander.

Hosted by the restaurant’s award-winning executive chef, Miguel Bautista, these multicourse meals embrace his childhood memories of watching his father spend an entire afternoon preparing dinner for family and friends.

On May 21, the theme was Regions of Rosé; on June 18, Summer in Greece. The dinners typically run from 6–8 p.m., and admission is $99 per person. Check the hotel’s website for future pairing dinners.

For food-focused travelers, the concept reframes Savannah as a living, evolving dining town rather than a tourist destination with great restaurants. The ghosts may linger in the squares, but dinner is rooted firmly in the present.

A Different Side of Savannah: Staying at The Ann

Dinner at the Emporium Wine Market

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