Spotlight

The entrance is on East Bay and brass-lined push-open glass doors flank a circular brass revolving door. On each side of the doors, a pair of huge gas lamps imported from Hungary flare robustly, just like the traditional Charleston gas lamps of 150 years ago. Doormen and bellmen often hover outside the entrance, eager to greet guests with a welcoming smile.

(June 2008) On the corner of two famous Charleston streets, a square, 3-year-old, four-story premium hotel with a granite stone facade pays flawless homage to this city’s 300-year-old colonial and antebellum history and heritage.

Called the Market Pavilion Hotel, it was built over a seven-year period with painstaking patience and persistence by the local Palas Hospitality, Inc. and has become a 66-room boutique hotel that embodies time-honed characteristics of the Old South - hospitality, graciousness and style.

Rated Four Diamonds by AAA shortly after it opened in August 2002, the hotel’s rooftop Pavilion Bar has become a popular gathering spot for tourists and locals, with stunning views of Charleston Harbor and the unique rooftops of historic Charleston homes.

Located across the street from the U.S. Customs House Building and next to the City Market, at East Bay and South Market Street, the vision for the $25 million hotel was to blend seamlessly into the historic architecture of the city.

Inside, dark mahogany, marble floors and fluted crown molding reflect “an Old World ambiance,” said Nick Palassis, Managing Director of Market Pavilion operations.

His sister, Elaina Palassis England is Director of Sales and Marketing and mother Cookie Palassis coordinated and oversaw the hotel’s interior design. Her husband, Jimmy, is the Project Developer. The four family members own the hotel and operating company, SC Hotel and Restaurant Group, Palas Hospitality, Inc.

“It’s been a total family enterprise from the very beginning,” said Nick.

Nick Palassis and Elaina England represent the fourth generation of Palassis family Charleston hoteliers, a legacy that began with their great-grandfather in the 1930’s

HISTORY
Purchased in 1995 by D. E. Palassis, a local hotelier and restaurateur, construction began in 1999. Immediately artifacts and old privies from the buildings that occupied the site in the 1700s and 1800s were discovered in the water and pluff mud below street level.

Old Charleston man-made brick and century-old heart of pine pilings in immaculate condition were also found. At one point, the pilings were to be cut up, polished and used as flooring for a private house but an inspection found they were laced with arsenic, which had served its purpose and perfectly preserved the wood.

Many of the artifacts are displayed in a Dutch wallboard across from the hotel’s check-in desk, including bottles more than a 100 years old with the word “Charleston” embossed on them.

FRONT ENTRANCE AND LOBBY
The entrance is on East Bay and brass-lined push-open glass doors flank a circular brass revolving door. On each side of the doors, a pair of huge gas lamps imported from Hungary flare robustly, just like the traditional Charleston gas lamps of 150 years ago. Doormen and bellmen often hover outside the entrance, eager to greet guests with a welcoming smile.

Just inside the door, six potted ferns in brown marble planters sit between restaurant menus mounted on easels in front of a huge brass vase containing a colorful mixture of fresh flowers.

On the right, several 7-foot-tall carved mahogany and glass screens divide the lobby from Grill 225, a AAA Four-Diamond rated restaurant, which has earned a reputation as the one of the best steak restaurants in the country. Grill 225 has recently been awarded the distinction of Distinguished Restaurant of North America, and has been selected as one of the ten Great Steak Houses of North America.

Grill 225 remains an intimate place to dine, with the mahogany and glass screens reducing noise and preventing intrusion. Diners also can look through thick windows and watch the never ending parade of tourists outside on Market Street.

On the left, three round cherry wood tables with armchairs cushioned in a rich fleur de lis ornate fabric reside below a waist-high mahogany bordered window overlooking East Bay.

Against the wall, a magnificent L-shaped mahogany bar lined with 11 bar stools with red leather seats and red velvet backing, stands in front of a glass-enclosed chiller stocked with more than 600 bottles of 230-plus varities of temperature controlled wine.

On one end of the bar are portraits of George Washington and Martha Washington and on the other end hangs a modern impressionistic painting, part of the eclectic collection Cookie Palassis amassed of 500 original oil paintings that adorn the hallways, guestrooms, meeting rooms and public areas.

An alabaster chandelier hangs from the center of the lobby ceiling surrounded by decorative dome of detailed crown molding.

Polished black and white Italian marble serves as the floor.

Continuing past the bar, the check-in desk with a curved granite top is on the left. The walls surrounding the desk feature jade-colored silken upholstered panels of fabric bearing a fleur de lis pattern.

Next to the check-in desk, a concierge service desk serves as the check-in for suite guests. Further on the left are double brass door elevators that convey guests (who must use their room key) to their floor and bar patrons to the rooftop Pavilion Bar.

Continuing beyond the elevators, there is a private boardroom seating about 12 people, and the Jasmine Ballroom, with satin cloth fleur de lis pattern insets, that can partition the room for small groups or be arranged to seat 110.

ROOMS
There are 66 uniquely designed guest rooms and suites and two hospitality suites - all with their own distinctive decorative design. Included in the guest room mix are five corner suites, 45 king, 14 double queens, a 2,000-square foot presidential suite and a smaller terrace suite.

A typical room will have custom-made mahogany furniture two or four poster mahogany beds topped with triple-sheeted cotton bed linens from Italy with 330 thread count and cashmere blankets. Color coordinated draperies are imported silk fabric.

The armoire contains a safe, CD player and a television with 99 channels (pay-for-movies are planned in the future). Polished cherry wood floors are accented by different rug designs.

Brass lamps with pull chains sit on marble-topped bed-side tables with a clock on one, a phone on the other.

All rooms have a writing desk by Maitland-Smith with a high-speed T-3 complimentary internet connection, brass lamp, cordless phone with two phone lines and speaker button and a copy of the Leading Hotels of the World catalog (Market Pavilion being one of those included). A card on the desk asks for comments and pledges guests “a level of service that is the best in the city.”

Also, a vase on the desk receives fresh cut flowers twice a week.

Stationery with the Market Pavilion logo is in the desk drawer. The phone book is stored in a drawer next to the bed along with an extensive notebook offering a brief history of Charleston, numerous places of interest, nearby activities, a brief history of the location of the hotel and a detailed listing of the hotel’s benefits, services and all-day in-room dining menus and wine list.

Depending upon the room, guests may find a pair of stuffed chairs with an ottoman and a two-tiered, see-through glass covered mahogany coffee table with a copy of Charleston Magazine.

King-sized beds come with a two-poster, half-moon shaped, polished cherry wood head board and a cushioned bench at the base of the bed. Queen sized poster beds have pineapple decorations - a Southern symbol of hospitality. Closets contain an iron and an ironing board hung on the inside of the closet door.

BATHROOM
Bathrooms in excess of 200 square feet have white and black Italian Bodoccino marble flooring with granite inlays, separate walk-in showers with brass fittings on multiple (3 to 9) shower heads and a plentiful stock of Hermes shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and foam bath.

Bathroom accoutrements include a jacuzzi tub below a huge gilded mirror, Lennox China lamp sconces over the sink, lighted make-up mirrors, a phone next to the toilet, a bidet, weight scale, granite vanity top and free-standing sink.

Brass fixtures, plus a brass covered tissue box, provide a touch of luxury, along with an ornate, gold colored, blue-velvet lined vanity box that contains the hair dryer. A brass tray contains hand towels.

PAVILION BAR
Arguably the best-known watering hole in the city, the Pavilion Bar opens to the public at 11:00 a.m. for lunch. Guests can enjoy the magnificent view and the 10,000-square foot, floor-level 25,000-gallon cascading swimming pool with 10 waterspouts and the bar.

Guests sunbathe during the day on the sundeck or in chaise lounges. Canvas umbrellas are used to shade tables, if necessary.

Enclosed by glass walls in the winter-time to reduce wind but allow an unfettered view, the rooftop includes the pool, 20 wrought iron tables that can seat six people each and the granite L-shaped bar with 13 wrought iron bar stools. Dotting the roof are cast bronze urns holding small cypress topiaries trees. Heat lamps and clear tenting are used in the winter to ward off the chill.

A small cardio fitness room on the same floor overlooks the Pavilion.

HALLWAYS/PUBLIC SPACES
Throughout the hotel, there are more than 2 miles of Old World egg and dart plaster crown molding decorating hallways, guest rooms and public spaces.

Hallway walls are decorated with cream-colored French wallpaper above waist-high cream white wainscotting and hallways are illuminated by small crystal chandeliers and sconce lights.

Fresh cut flowers are placed on tables on each floor, where until 10 a.m. a complimentary breakfast is served on an antique sideboard each morning consisting of coffee, juices, fresh baked patisseries and fresh whole fruit. Guests receive a of the New York Times each morning at their guestroom door. USA Today or the Charleston Post and Courier and the Wall Street Journal are also available.

CONCIERGE PARLOR
On the fourth floor a concierge parlor opposite the elevator doors offers a complimentary extensive breakfast from 7 a.m. -10:00 a.m., English tea from 2:00pm-4pm and evening hors d’oeuvre, beer and wine in the evening from 6 p.m. to 8:00pm.

The lounge contains five round mahogany tables for three in a room with a red rug, red leather armchairs and a pair of red leather couches. A small vase with freshly cut flowers sits on each table.

Breakfast one morning included a choice of three warm dishes – apple wood smoked bacon, jumbo link sage sausage, quiche – Columbian coffees, hot teas, juices, sodas and bottled waters, plus imported and domestic cheeses, breakfast patisseries, fresh cut fruit display, breakfast cereals and fruited yogurts, smoked salmon with traditional garnishes and European breakfast meats.

SPECIAL AMENITIES
The hotel has its own parking garage with a valet parking your vehicle for you. A personal phone number is assigned when you check in. The six king-sized rooms on the second floor have balconies overlooking the Market.

Windows on the first floor are made of 1 1/2-inch thick aquarium glass for protection against nasty Atlantic storms. At turn down, slippers and robe are placed upon the bed. The wake-up service always gives you the temperature and day’s weather prediction. Guest doors have a push button door bell that chimes. Staff training is top-notch. Upon departing, the bellman made a personal check of the room to make sure a guest had not inadvertently left something behind.

A room key is needed to exit on any of the guest room floors. Otherwise the elevator only goes from the lobby to the Pavilion Bar on the roof. Every public area, elevator and stairwell is security monitored but it is all unobtrusive. (Updated June 2008)