Savannah’s Enchanting Hamilton-Turner Inn

Exterior and hotel sign of the Hamilton-Turner Inn in Savannah, Georgia

Poised on mossy oak-canopied Lafayette Square, the Hamilton-Turner Inn brings gracious Southern hospitality to life. From its construction in 1873 for naval officer and prominent local figure Samuel Pugh Hamilton to the tales of the town’s eccentric high society spawned by John Berendt’s novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the property exemplifies Savannah’s entertaining culture. “The house is very welcoming,” says innkeeper Susie Ridder, who shares ownership of the Second Empire-style edifice with two business partners. “I feel like it’s a home and it’s alive, and that makes a big difference.”