Ballastone Inn, Bed and Breakfast

Famous Faces, Private Places: Our Savannah B&B Celebrities

The Ballastone Inn takes pride in the privacy afforded to all of our guests, whether they be household names or the boy next door.

Ballastone Inn's Entry Hall | Photo (c) Ballastone Inn / Estelle Morris

Ballastone Inn's Entry Hall

But sometimes our more famous guests are kind enough to share an autographed photo with us, and when that happens, we know just where to display it – in the most private of places! If you’re a guest needing to refresh while you are on our parlor level, enjoying afternoon tea or a wine at our private bar, you’ll see what we mean.

Where, after all, do you display an autographed photo of a superstar? It just doesn’t quite fit in with the luxurious and romantic décor of any of the lavish rooms or suites at the bed-and-breakfast inn. The entry hall won’t work – why cover up the elegant Scalamandre wallpaper? And photos look jarring hanging next to antique Harper’s prints. Continue reading

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Our Best Savannah Picks for 2012 Spring Vacation in the Old South

Savannah B&B breakfast dressed up | Photo (c) 2011 Ballastone Inn / Adam Kuehl

Table for Two Breakfast at Ballastone Inn

Savannah, dressed up! That’s Ballastone Inn.  Just when you thought Savannah would be a nice Old South destination, the well-placed Ballastone Inn — Savannah’s first luxurious mansion B&B –  makes your visit even better.

Historic Savannah gardens, homes, music, art, and celebrated people are only a few of the reasons to visit Savannah in springtime. Here we share our choices for Savannah’s best happenings during a spring vacation in 2012 — March, April, May and June.  Our concierges will have more wonderful tips for you. Continue reading

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Green Grows Our Garden at Ballastone Inn

Hydrangeas in the window boxes | Ballastone Inn

Hydrangeas are blooming in the Ballastone Inn's window boxes

Hydrangeas are blooming in the Ballastone Inn’s window boxes and in the ornamental containers along the front of the property – a sure sign that spring is finally here! Next, the Ballastone’s secluded garden courtyard will get its seasonal makeover.

Debbie Hall of Debbie Hall Designs is the historic bed-and-breakfast inn’s designated florist and gardener. If it blooms, either as a plucked blossom in a Ballastone bridal bouquet or cascading from a pottery urn flanking the steps, then it’s Debbie’s territory, and she covers her territory beautifully. Continue reading

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A Georgia Story: History Meets Hospitality, Inn Meets Industry

Fireplaces at Ballastone Inn are Georgia made vintage coal inspired gas fireplaces from Grate Fires in Washiongton Georgia

Vintage inspired fire place in Gazebo Suite is custom made in Georgia by Grate Fires in Washington, GA.

SAVANNAH Georgia — When history meets hospitality, Georgia entrepreneurs prosper. Just ask Jennifer Salandi in Savannah and Mary Craven in Washington. One runs a luxury bed-and-breakfast inn (that’s Jennifer) and one runs a small company that hand-assembles gas-powered fireplace grates (that being Mary).

Jennifer discovered Grate Fires, Mary’s company, when she went looking for a way to outfit the rooms at the Ballastone Inn (circa 1838) with authentic-looking working fireplaces. Natural gas was clearly the fuel of choice, but Jennifer – a stickler for detail – wanted her fireplaces to look both great and authentic. Continue reading

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The Finishing Touch to Your Day at Ballastone Inn, Savannah GA

“The best of men have ever loved repose.” ~ James Thomson

Turn down in China Trade Suite | Photo (c) Ballastone Inn / Tim Nealon

Turn down in China Trade Suite

Picture yourself enjoying a romantic stay in Savannah, whether for a quick trip or long weekend. You’ve spent a fascinating day in the Historic District, maybe capping the evening off with a moonlit horse-drawn carriage ride. It’s been a great day, but it’s time to make your way back to your exclusive lodging at the Ballastone Inn mansion (circa 1838). Continue reading

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High Tea in Savannah, Georgia: Ballastone Inn’s Strawberry School

Ballastone Inn Strawberry School

4 O'Clock Victorian High Tea Daily at the Ballastone Inn

Strawberry school?

Innkeeper Jennifer Salandi insists everything be just so at the elegant Ballastone Inn in Savannah, Georgia. When guests take a break from Savannah’s charms to enjoy the complimentary high tea the Ballastone provides its guests, Jennifer demands their experience be perfect. A proper afternoon tea requires Devonshire cream and petite scones, she says. She wants chocolate-covered strawberries on the inn’s Savannah tea table often, and sometimes they’re a romantic little amenity in a guest’s room. Continue reading

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Private Haven and Elegant Society at Historic Savannah Mansion, Ballastone Inn

Ballastone Inn breakfast courtyard garden

Breakfast in the courtyard garden at Ballastone Inn

Divine beds, gourmet breakfasts, afternoon tea and lavish Savannah-themed interiors – at other Savannah bed-and-breakfasts and hotels, these might be goals. They’re givens, however, at the Ballastone Inn mansion. Confidently anticipate those, plus the less expected but equally welcome touches to elevate your Savannah experience.

Consider, for instance, the Ballastone’s private courtyard. Guests can enjoy Savannah’s lovely mornings (and our equally lovely breakfasts) in the peaceful courtyard that defines Savannah secret gardens. You don’t have to retreat to the far corners of the city to enjoy this privacy: the Ballastone offers seclusion in the midst of Savannah’s Historic District. A-list celebrity guests long ago discovered the inn was a private haven after a day on the film set. Continue reading

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Savannah, Always New Among the Old: Repeat Visitor Tips from Top-of-class Concierges at Ballastone Inn

Breakfast in the Front Parlor | Ballastone Inn

Breakfast in the Front Parlor at Historic Ballastone Inn

Savannah brings people back for another visit. Business or maybe a destination wedding could be what brings you to The Hostess City of the South for the first time, but you’ll be back, probably more than once – back for the romance, back for the elegance, back for the chance to step back through centuries.

What do Ballastone Inn’s repeat visitors do, after they’ve done all the “obvious” things? House museums that capture the way people lived in bygone centuries? Check. Art galleries showcasing period treasures and today’s rising stars? Check. Fine dining? Check. Shopping for everything from hand-forged iron oyster knives to antique furnishings to pralines to high fashion? Check. Romantic horse-drawn carriage ride, soaking up jazz in an intimate nightspot, beach-bumming it on Tybee Island? Check, check, check. Continue reading

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Valentine’s Day Embrace Romance at the Ballastone Inn, Savannah GA USA

Valentine's Day holiday Savannah GA at romantic Ballastone Inn mansion

Romantic Valentine's in Historic Savannah GA

Valentine’s Day 2012 is fast approaching.  If a holiday and an exquisite setting ever had the perfect intersection, it is Valentine’s Day and the Ballastone Inn.

By February 14th, most of what passes for winter in Savannah is behind us (although Mother Nature can still surprise us!)  The historic district will be poised for spring and showing a few hints of the seasonal glory to come.

Boasting luxurious rooms and elegant furnishings, our beautiful mansion revels in its history but still offers such essential modern conveniences as an elevator, and a table-for-two gourmet breakfast in our secluded courtyard.  You’ll fall in love with the Ballastone while rekindling your own relationship.

More exquisite service for each Valentine’s Day couple at Ballastone Inn!  Each will receive our special gifts — a split of Champagne and, of course, a long stem red rose in every room.  Continue reading

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Charleston Style and Design’s “Romantic Savannah” Points to Ballastone Inn

Charleston Style and Design

Editorial excellence and championing living with style, savvy and a zest for adventure

Savannah’s neighbors to the north (well, not very far north) have saluted the Ballastone Inn as “the perfect place for a social event celebrating romance – or for an intimate weekend getaway.” That’s from Charleston Style and Design’s current edition (February 2012), and you can read the full story here.

We especially loved that a couple wrote the piece.  Who better to know romance? Continue reading

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