Savannah, Georgia’s signature Spanish moss, dangling from the oak trees shading its many public squares, dance in the wind while palm trees line the banks of the Savannah River.
One tree in particular, the 300-year-old Candler Oak Tree, even predates the colony of Georgia, which was founded in 1733.
I discovered on a recent visit that the storied destination’s heady Southern Gothic allure itself serves as a meeting point—a place where history and myriad coastal activities collide.
As Visit Savannah, the city’s DMO, looks ahead to the 300th anniversary of Georgia in 2033, one of our hosts, Supriya Christopher, director of public relations at Visit Savannah, reminded us of where our feet were planted: on the grounds of a city that is older than the country.
Southern Hospitality Is Real
Right on cue during cocktail hour on opening night, a container ship sailed by on the Savannah River, signifying the city’s presence as the largest single-terminal container facility in North America. In its absence, we were left with views of the Savannah Convention Center—the reason for our visit.
Visit Savannah hosted eight writers on a familiarization trip deemed “the inaugural Savannah Meetings and Conventions Editorial FAM.”
On the first night, we gathered at The Lost Square, a rooftop bar overlooking the river and convention center, and well before the cocktail reception had begun it was clear Southern hospitality was exemplified in the destination.
Prior to arriving at The Alida Savannah, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, the property reached out to me to inquire about my favorite artist, and when I arrived to my room on February 9, I was greeted by a record player accompanied by a Taylor Swift vinyl: her 2012 album, Red.
Swift’s Red Tour was my first; I attended at the age of 11 and I’ve seen every tour since. Swift and her music have always been a symbol of love in my life, and that feeling of love immediately seeped into my stay in Savannah.
Another detail I noticed in my room was cleats along the wall in the bathroom. Different from a sport shoe, cleats are metal t-shaped objects that are attached to a dock. Ship crews use rope to tie knots around the cleats, leaving the ship tied to the dock, a practice called “tying off.”
The 173-room approachable-luxury hotel plays into the coastal ship town vibe with darker wood and a nautical feel to encapsulate the area’s ports and industrial hub.
Michael O’Shaughnessy, general manager at The Alida, said the property is focused on curating local experiences, including regularly changing F&B menus.
“We’re not cookie-cutter,” he noted.
The hotel has more than 7,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor space for meetings and events. We were hosted for breakfast in a private dining space, the Williamson, which is located behind the hotel’s restaurant, Rhett Restaurant and Bar.
Before departing, I returned to my room to find a high-quality emerald-green leather luggage tag alongside a thank-you note from Renee Laurie, Alida’s director of sales and marketing. The front of the tag reads, in gold foil, “Keep your friends close.”
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A nod to a quote I heard earlier about the destination: “If you come to Savannah, you’re going to be back,” said Larry Bowder, senior director of sales at Visit Savannah. “It’s not a one-and-done city.”
With a hospitable city like Savannah, it's no secret the destination keeps all its guests close to the heart and coming back for more.
Entering the Jewel Box
Upon arriving at the Savannah Convention Center, we were greeted in an area called “the jewel box,” which glimmered bright with natural light, a white interior and light fixtures. Other prized gems in the jewel box include art displays of scenes from Savannah, so even inside the convention center, visitors get a glimpse of the city and its outdoor setting.
To the left of the jewel box was one of the convention center’s three customizable dining options that customers can select for their shows. One of those, a wine bar called “The Port,” featured a tile backsplash that replicated the appearance of containers on the city’s famous container ships.
We traveled to the convention center by bus, but for groups staying across the river, they have the pleasure of arriving at their meetings via a 90-second ferry ride.
“They [convention attendees] don’t get to take a boat ride to their convention anywhere else,” said Joseph Marinelli, president and CEO of Visit Savannah.
Located on Hutchinson Island, the Savannah Convention Center is a 660,000-square-foot waterfront complex featuring four exhibit halls, 27 meeting rooms, five executive board rooms, three “zoom rooms” for private conversations, multiple ballrooms and a 367-seat auditorium.
Other highlights of the center’s renovation are design elements such as soft seating and furniture placed intentionally to spark conversation.
That’s because in the meetings, events and hospitality industry, we know all too well that when we get together, it's a big “lovefest,” as described by Staci Stover, senior national sales manager at the Savannah Convention Center.
The center completed a $276 million expansion project in February 2025. The expansion doubled the center’s exhibit hall space and added new meeting spaces, including a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, and a parking garage.
The convention center hosted lunch in a prefunction space outside of the new 40,000-square-foot Governor’s Ballroom. To our left, we viewed construction of the 444-room Signia by Hilton Savannah, which is expected to open in 2028. The Hilton property, which will boast more than 34,000 square feet of its own meeting space, including a 13,000-square-foot ballroom, will serve as the center’s headquarter hotel.
The Signia and another meetings hotel on the convention side of the river— The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa—are directly connected to the center. The Westin is connected via an underground walkway.
[Related: Savannah Struts Its Stuff as a Meetings Destination for Business and Play]
Ships of Savannah
The Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum further solidifies the city’s rich history and large maritime presence.
“There are about a million ships named Savannah and all of it is because of William Scarbrough and his first hybrid sailing ship,” said Molly Taylor, executive director of the museum.
The museum sits inside the historic Scarbrough House—a home originally built in 1819. Before it was restored to its current glory as a maritime museum, the house was a school for African American children from 1878 to 1962. West Broad Street School averaged between 600 to 800 students, with one teacher for each grade, first through eighth.
We started our tour outside of the historic house in its three spaces for meetings and events—two gardens and a covered event space for 750 people. The gardens feature heritage plants such as camelias, pomegranate trees, banana trees and heritage roses.
Indoors, we saw a variety of exhibits, including modern art, whaling, celestial guidance and ship dioramas—one of which, in reality, would have been two football fields long.
Throughout our tour, Taylor referred to her past experiences working in art history, pointing out multiple examples of artistry she’s recently discovered on Instagram.
I asked Taylor how she balanced both modern art and history in this unique, maritime-focused space, and she responded that incorporating different art installations is what keeps people coming back for more.
“I try to evaluate what might be interesting, what’s diverse, because I want people to know that we’re constantly thinking and reinterpreting what maritime is,” she said.
Sweet and Savory in Savannah
In Savannah, we dined at the Olde Pink House, a restaurant serving Southern food and hospitality since the 1920s. The Olde Pink House, was originally built in 1771, treated us with two appetizers: shrimp and grits cake and buttery biscuits that melted in your mouth. For dinner, I ordered pecan-crusted chicken breast with blackberry bourbon glaze. My dish was served with a sweet potato with pecan vanilla butter.
We ate in a private dining option; the conference room can host 14 guests seated. The restaurant offers full buyouts for 280.
For lunch one afternoon, we got a taste of Savannah’s Irish side. Wexford pays homage to Georgia’s Irish emigrants, more than half of which traveled to the city from County Wexford, Ireland. With so many delicious options to choose from, it was hard to pick a clear winner when it came to selecting my meal. Between another journalist and me, we collaborated by picking two tasty dishes, each getting to try the Wexford Fish and Chips and the Chick Pub Pie.
To satisfy my sweet tooth, we sampled Georgia’s famous Pralines from River Street Sweets, and brought home a box of the decadent, Southern candy thanks to Visit Savannah. Not to be denied, I also indulged in the store’s “bear claws,” an enlarged turtle candy made with Georgia Pecans.
At lunch at Wexford, just moments prior to our candy store escapade, Bowder shared that his client’s expectation of Savannah, turned out to be reality, “the southern hospitality that we’ve experienced is real,” he recalled her saying.
It was easy to fall back on a stereotypical description of a southern destination, but frankly, it’s the truth. The southern hospitality and charm that I experienced in Savannah was undeniable.
