This New Charleston Hotel Is a Smart Choice for Women Travelers

The rooms at Live Oak

Photo: Live Oak

Compared with the original buildings on King Street, Charleston’s main historic corridor a block from the hotel, Live Oak is filled with modern neutrals, stone, wood, and greenery that bring a sense of calm after a day spent walking around the neighborhood. It has a mid-century modern look and feel, with details that gesture to the community, such as large panels that look like hurricane shutters and river rock behind glass, framed like art.

I stayed in a double queen room with city views, leather accents on the drawers, and a banquette in the corner with a small table and chair where you can snack from the minibar or do some work. The bedding was crisp white; the carpet was blue and gray, patterned after an aerial view of the Charleston marshlands. The bathroom, separated by a sliding door, has refillable Byredo products, and the hotel also provides fluffy robes to make lounging more comfortable.

The hotel has 84 king bedrooms and 36 double queen bedrooms, with some ADA availability. There are also upgraded rooms with options like a balcony, patio pool access, or one of three one-bedroom corner suites with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. As a woman who frequently travels alone, I also appreciated that the hotel requires a keycard to take the elevator up to your accommodation.

The amenities at Live Oak

Tracer Coffee. Photos: Live Oak

There’s nothing better to me than sitting by the pool on a warm day, and that’s exactly what I did at Live Oak. The pool is located on the second story of the five-story property with views of a neighboring pool. It’s a small area but has plenty of seating. There are lounge chairs and tables, but I sat in a cabana, spending my pool day reading and sipping a Diet Coke that a waiter brought to me without my having to get up. The pool bar, Bloo, also has bites, including yucca fries, and alcoholic beverages. It’s open from 11 AM to 10 PM. An outdoor shower inset into the wall by the pool fits two people and handles the rinse before or after a swim.

The hotel cares about wellness beyond the pool. Its large fitness center is full of Technogym machines: treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, plus free weights and resistance machines for the strength-training crowd. There’s no in-house spa, but Live Oak has partnered with nearby Salt Spa & Yoga and will arrange in-room treatments for you. While I did not have a treatment, I did walk by the spa’s outpost on King Street, which has yoga, a salt cave experience, and typical spa treatments, including facials and massages.

Bikes with a front basket for your things are also available for hotel guests. You can reserve one from the front desk and pedal your way around town from the main entrance.

Dining at Live Oak and nearby

Terra. Photo: Live Oak

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all covered at Live Oak. Terra, the primary restaurant, serves modern Mediterranean fare. The farm-to-table menu was created by Chef Eucepe Puntriano and sources quality fish, meat, and produce from the Southeast. The restaurant itself is styled in light colors and raffia accents to match the tone of the food.

For appetizers, I chose the mezze board with four dips (hummus, baba ganoush, labneh, and a carrot harissa) and the yellowfin tuna. For my main course, I chose the chicken tagine, mainly because the waiter told me it had a fun presentation. First, the staff brought out a Moroccan-style trivet with a rainbow of colors, then the tagine was served in the traditional tagine dish, and the lid was removed with a flourish.

Dinner at Terra is served from 5 PM to 10 PM. Breakfast is served from 7 AM to 11 AM. Terra also serves Tracer coffee, which is located next to the restaurant and open from 6 AM to noon.

Charleston is a food city, period, and the Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood has delicious options within a short walk from the hotel. I tried Bedford Falls for lunch, a gastro pub that you can see from the hotel’s front door. It has both indoor and outdoor seating and a full bar. The steak and cheese eggrolls, burger, and fries were my favorites.

On King Street, you can try Indaco, a modern Italian spot with pizza and pasta. I’ve been going here for years on my Charleston vacations. My go-to order is to start with the little gem lettuce and have the tagliatelle pasta for my main course. The restaurant also has gluten-free options. For lunch, Bar Felix feels like you’ve been transported to a Paris cafe. Seating is available both indoors and outside, and the menu features dishes like a croque monsieur, raclette burger, and petit steak-frites with a four-ounce filet mignon and house-cut french fries.

Women-owned shopping near Live Oak

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taxidermy (@shoptaxidermy)

Between meals, I walked through Elliotborough on Spring Street and scouted some of the best woman-owned businesses for souvenirs. Taxidermy is a leather goods shop run by Amy Driggers, a local designer who founded the brand in 2014 and has since landed it in Dillard’s and boutiques nationwide. I first came across a few of the brand’s bags at my local department store. When I walked into her shop, Driggers was discussing a custom order with a client, and despite the brand’s growing profile, she took the time to chat with me and show me around. It was a genuinely Southern experience that the store’s national reach hasn’t changed.

The Tiny Tassel is a Black and Asian woman-owned design house and boutique that’s been a Spring Street fixture for a decade. Mimi Striplin founded the brand in 2015. Her mother, Keiko Striplin, emigrated from Tokyo and ran an alteration shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for more than 20 years before joining the brand as the designer. One of my favorite pieces featured a hand-illustrated print of powerful women, including Michelle Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This print is found on dresses and accessories in the store, and I was told it sells quickly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paper Shop in Downtown Charleston (@thepapercanopy)

Other stores I visited included The Paper Canopy, a stationery shop owned by Casey Berry where you can customize a wax stamp, buy a journal, or mail a handwritten card to a friend. (The shop sells stamps, so there’s no excuse not to send a postcard.) I also stopped by Hermosa, founded by Haley Holzworth, who started making jewelry in high school and was the first to bring permanent jewelry welding to Charleston (that is, custom-fit pieces that are welded onto the wrist without a clasp). You can book an appointment at the Spring Street location, which happens to occupy the former Taxidermy space.

Getting to Live Oak and around Charleston

Photo: Live Oak

If you’re checking into Live Oak from out of town, fly into Charleston International Airport (CHS). It’s about a 20-minute rideshare trip to the hotel, depending on traffic. Live Oak also has valet parking for guests for $49 per day if you’re road-tripping to Charleston or renting a car once you get there, though you’re not likely to need one during your stay. The Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood is walkable, and most of what’s worth doing (the restaurants, the shops on King Street, the waterfront) is within a reasonable distance on foot. Rideshare and taxis cover anything further.