Not sure there's much of a distinction. Many good accommodations on Bay St. and Broughton, both adjacent to the Historic District. Some nice B&Bs in the Historic District. All this will be in walking distance of what you'll want to see.

It really doesn't matter. Savannah is small, and it's easy to see all the sights no matter where you stay.

I was just there today! If you look at a hotel map, you can see that the Westin (across the river) and the Marriot are little off the beaten track and less walkable. You would want to avoid mid town hotels as they would all require driving to the sites. As sudiepav posted, the river and the historic district are adjacent.

I was looking at the newer Homewood Suites, Embassy, and the Brice.

I stayed at the Brice a few years ago. I would not stay there again. It tried hard to be hip, but had a weird, annoying vibe.

sas95, ha, that is what I was thinking! I am turning 60 and don't know if I want to be right in the middle of everything either. Maybe the Embassy or Homewood would be the best fit.

We were there recently for a meeting and I wanted to stay at Cotton Sail on the riverfront but it was completely booked. We peeked in (stayed in same district) and it looked very interesting. The historic area can be very loud at night on weekends if there is a band booked on the esplanade near the inns and restaurants.

We stayed at the Hyatt, it was wonderful, so accessible and beautiful views of the river.

I was in Savannah at the end of January and stayed at the Eliza Thompson House in the historic district.... Savannah is "smaller" than I expected, and I agree that the river district is considered walking distance from there.

Thank you so much! Trying to really decide if it is a good fit for my 60th BD~~

I absolutely love Savannah! My youngest adult son and I took a road trip from my older sons' home in Wilmington, NC last summer, and went to Charleston and Savannah~we loved Savannah! We also stayed at The Eliza Thompson House which was in walking distance to everything, including Jere's , and several other little shops on the river. Myself and 3 dd's are taking our annual girls's trip in April, and they want to go to Savannah after hearing all about it from their brother and myself. We'll be staying at The Mansion on Forsyth Park, also in the historic district. One of the tours we went on was the Mercer-Williams house where Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was filmed. Very interesting story. We also did the hearse ghost tour, which will pick you up at your hotel, and doesn't start until 10 or 11, so you need to be a night owl. We were going to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant, but were told by a young couple who were staying at the same b&b it was over priced and not worth the money. I can't remember the names of restaurants we ate at, but they were all very good except for one down on the river front. We also drove to Tybee Island which imo, was nothing but tourtisty type shops. Dd's and myself will be renting a car and driving to Jekyl Island, a little over an hour away and is suppposed to be beautiful, and if you play golf, will be a 2-fer. All I can say is, Savannah won't disappoint you! ;)

Jekyl Island, a little over an hour away and is suppposed to be beautiful, and if you play golf, will be a 2-fer.

Even if you don't play golf, the history of Jekyll island is very interesting, as are the old "cottages" where the super rich of their day used to stay when they went there to hunt and fish. It's well worth a visit. Too bad that The Deck restaurant in Brunswick is gone, though.

Was in Savannah several years ago- loved it. Loved the tour of the Mercer House ( I adored Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and yes so many restaurants were awesome. My brain is not working to crisply at the moment but you will find it's a wonderful place to visit. as was Charleston. Savannah is very compact.

Don't underestimate Tybee island, please. We live here 4 months of the year. It is unique and interesting. Sundae Cafe can hold its own with the best of Savannah. The Breakfast Club is world famous...the owner catered JFK Jr's wedding on Cumberland Island. On second thought, please do skip Tybee. Too many people here already!

Sudie, so we were in the 'tourist trap' section? How would we find the 'better part' of the island?

My favorite stop in Savannah is the Savannah Candy Kitchen.....the best salt water taffee ever!!

Thank you so much for all the good information! Now I will start looking for a fun but nice restaurant for my 60th~~

patty Vinson, your trip to Jekyll will probably be closer to 90 minutes depending on where you are starting in Savannah. The Jekyll Island Club is nice to visit and one of my favorite restaurants is Courtyard at Crane which is on the grounds. Try to get to Driftwood Beach, which is filled with fallen sun bleached live oaks.

On your route to Jekyll there is a horrible speed trap on 95 at Darien, GA. The town puts up random construction zone signs and a few orange barrels on 95. They use the "construction zone" as a way to pass out tickets even if you are driving only slightly above the speed limit. They tend to go after people with out of state plates.

Vassar, we'll be leaving from our hotel in historic Savannah.. 90 minutes isn't too awful, we'll just leave earlier. Since we'll be renting the car there, hopefully it will have Ga plates, unless it's been driven from another state TO Ga~we can only hope. One of dd's will be driving, no 'speed demons' here, so it should be easy to stay within the speed limit, but thanks for the heads up. Thank you for your recommendations also.

We were there last Spring and stayed at the Green Palm Inn B&B.

It was an amazing place. It was so beautifully decorated and the food and hospitality were wonderful. It was in walking distance to everything. What a treat it was!!

The Jekyll Island Club will not disappoint! We've been there for Easter several times and it is a lovely place to be in the Spring.

I went to Savannah with friends last spring. We loved it. We had fantastic meals at Local Eleven Ten, and the Old Pink House. Alligator Soul was good, too, but I liked the other two better.

Thanks Sueb20, now trying to decide if I want my BD dinner at Local Eleven Ten or the Old Pink House? We will eat at both, but which for my actual BD??

Local Eleven Ten is a little ways out of downtown -- we had no clue where it was, assumed it was more central, and ended up practically running down the streets of Savannah to make our reservation on time. (We should have taken a taxi.) Old Pink House was more central and I will say, more unique and our waiter was just awesome.

Olde Pink House is great for a celebration.

Talked to DD's about going to Jekyll Island, and they're not sure if they want to make the 90 minute trip each way...."let's wait and see what we're doing." I wanted to reserve the rental car in advance. Am going to get on line and read about the Olde Pink House. ;)

Some great lunch places in SAV are Gryphon Tea Room run by SCAD and Starland Cafe in midtown. The Grey and Florence are also open for lunch. Have not had good experiences with Florence, but have loved dinners at the Grey.