Who knew that visiting Charleston mid week in October would be such a challenge....

We were finishing plans for a trip to Nashville - Chapel Hill and the NC Outer Banks, and my beloved husband said, "I've never spent much time in the south....never been to the Carolinas. I'd love to go see Charleston." DONE! Easy, right?? NOT....

With 3 weeks until our trip, I started searching for a place to stay. We only had 2 nights, with check-out on Saturday a.m. How hard could it be??

Can you say, "impossible?" I found one place in the Historic District: Palmer's Pinckney Inn. I booked it, Danno.

We arrived LATE....around 1 a.m. Fortunately the gal in the office left our keys in an envelope taped to the outside of the office door. We had a room on the first floor (The Parisian Room), and stumbled in. It was dark and kind of eery....as we drug our luggage over to the Inn, I heard a few loud bangs in the building next door, which was a big wooden building without windows. Creepy.....

We were asleep in minutes, and woke up the next morning to explore. It turns out the Inn is right next to several barns that house both donkeys and draft horses that pull the tour carriages around the city. Hence the banging the night before.

Our room was large. Yes, the TV is tiny and ancient, but we never even turned it on. The bed was big (king) and comfy (we have a Swedish bed system at home, so beds are usually a big disappointment.....the bed in the Inn was fine) and we slept well. The lighting is, well, difficult. The bathroom is tiny, but workable.

We found the room charming, but if you are into high security, the latest ammenities and grand accoutrements in your room, keep looking. This building is ANCIENT, and the furnishings are older too. Some antique....which doesn't necessarily correspond to high quality. But it worked for us.

The location is great....heck, you can roll out of bed and onto the carriage tour! All the restaurants and shops in the historical area are within an easy walk.

Breakfast: Toast (it's great!!)

Dinner: Wow....options galore. We drove out to The Wild Olive, and loved it. Incredible food, nice atmosphere, very casual and very busy. The bar looked like a lot of fun, too! We got in so late we missed our reservation to Fig the first night, and they had no options for us to rebook the next night. Kind of glad, as we would have missed TWO.

TAKE THE CARRIAGE TOUR if you want to get the lay of the land and find out some of the history of the area. We were told the Palmetto tour was one of the best as the guides are all very well trained. We thought it was great!

And bring your walking shoes! This is definitely a park it and walk kind of town. You won't see the town from a car!

After Checking in the reality hit. This was a mistake. The only good thing I can say is good location even better office staff. I agree with the other visitor, rooms are furnished in early garage sale. Even the television was a 12" tube type tv that you couldnot see due to the bad picture and the small screen. The t/p holder fell off the wall everytime it was used. The bulbs in every light were from a chandlier. The chandlier, none of the bulbs worked. The door to the room did not lock except for the keyed deadbolt . We were very dissapointed. The sheets were so frayed that they should have been tossed in the trash. The beadspread, instead of washing it, was flipped end for end to cover the dirty part. I could go on. This is a place that given the right attention to detail could have been a great stay. We were given the choice to stay at the owners other location "The Palmer House" but after visiting it (bigger version with same OLD WORN OUT furnishings) we were given our money back for the balance of our stay and moved on to other accomidations.

The Pinckney's staff was friendly and helpful from the moment we arrived. The room was perfect; from the beautiful antique furniture to wine glasses waiting by the bed. One of the best parts about the Inn was its location - right off of Market and Bay streets, we parked the car and walked to everything; restaurants, nightlife, the battery, and the farmer's market.

My favorite part of the weekend was winding down with a glass of wine at the Inn's sister location, the Palmer House Bed and Breakfast, located right on the waterfront. The owners were incredibly welcoming; southern hospitality at its best. We spent well over an hour just enjoying the view and the company.

After reading others' concerns about the noise and early morning wake-up from the garbage trucks and stables next door I brought ear plugs to be on the safe side, but honestly didn't need them. We heard some noise from the street one of the mornings, but it was hardly worth complaining about. Sunday morning we lazily slept in until 9 or later - no interruptions at all!

Parking is free, but a little tight. And though the rooms have been painted and well decorated, there's no secret that this house is a few hundred years old - it's certainly not a luxury suite, but it does have that downtown historic Charleston feel. I would most definitely return for another weekend!

The Palmer Pickney is very strange... but very well located. The rooms are early garage sale! We stayed in the Equestrian Room and all the furnishing were very rough. The writing desk, when pulled out to address a note, had old cell phone numbers written on a label.The magnifying mirror in the bath had the price tag half removed, shampoo and conditioner half full (obviously used by previous guest). The equestrian art included a 2009 Calendar of a Horse. The breakfase was a do it your self- which included bags of bread and bagels. I might add that the small kitchen, where breakfast was prepared, by the guests, also was the laundry room, which housed the washer, dryer, toliet paper, etc. NOt very appetizing. This place could be amazing if the owner, spent a few bucks on improving the overall appearance. I would not go back! The ONLY redeeming quality was the location. Shame on the owner! There are so many great places in Charleston to stay, be aware ot this one, at any price!!