Perfect perch for a long weekend in Savannah: Plant Riverside District

Yes, there’s a chrome-dipped, life-size dinosaur installation gracing the JW Marriott lobby just steps from the Savannah’s new Plant Riverside District’s performance venues and eateries. Below: The new district overlooks the Savannah River. (Photos courtesy of Plant Riverside District)

Add contemporary glitz to historical grandeur by planning a long weekend in Savannah at the waterfront JW Marriott Plant Riverside District. Opened in late 2021, this snazzy spot on Georgia’s Savannah River immerses guests in culture and heritage. The district draws art and music lovers, architecture and history buffs, paleontology fans, and culinary travelers.

Savannah’s noted hotelier Richard Kessler, chairman and CEO of The Kessler Collection, brought his latest vision of luxury hotels to life here, focusing it on three themes: water, beauty and natural sciences. Juxtaposed against the hotel’s modern structural design is a free museum with art and historical objects. And the jaw-dropping centerpiece, a chrome-dipped, life-size dinosaur installation, graces the JW Marriott lobby.

The hotel’s location is just steps from the new district’s performance and food venues.

Kessler had eyed this aging, circa 1912, electric power plant nearly for a decade. He envisioned creating upscale accommodations and lighting its twin towers in his signature red and purple, like a phoenix in the night sky. Designers retained the plant’s architectural identity in bringing that vision to life. And Kessler honored its history by keeping plant in the hotel name.

That realized dream has enhanced Savannah’s reputation as America’s Most Romantic City. This newest destination adds to the city’s existing Kessler Collection’s sultry properties. Kessler’s hip Bohemian Savannah Riverfront is distinguished by its cool rooftop bar. And the stunning Mansion on Forsyth Park displays wow-factor, museum-quality art everywhere, another Kessler signature.

Kessler’s 13 luxury hotels include Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte (which opened in 2020) and the newest under construction in Greenville, South Carolina, slated to launch in fall 2022. (The Kessler Collection is a founding member of Marriott’s Autograph Collection now totaling 113 properties.)

At the Power Plant Building’s Generator Hall, we joined young visitors at a section of the plant wall left intact. This interactive learning spot demonstrates functionality. And kids love pulling knobs, pushing levers and turning handles. Overhead video screens, also interactive, highlight the construction transformation. Another thoughtful touch: The audio is delivered via overhead cones that target the listener without interrupting passersby.

But Generator Hall offers more than construction and functionality exhibits. Also here, amidst fossils of ancient creatures and geological antiquities, are hands-on paleontology activities for the young and the inquisitive. And if that’s not enough, massive geodes — some taller than the guests checking in — gleam with sparkling crystals in purples, teal and brown. Special lighting enhances their shimmer.

The complex has three unique accommodation options situated in three buildings: chic architecture in the Power Plant, romantic styling in the Three Muses, and contemporary maritime details in the Atlantic. Our suite in the latter had floor-to-ceiling windows where we watched in fascination the parade of cargo ships on the Savannah River by day and a full moon rising by night.

In all, there are 419 luxurious guest rooms and suites, bars and lounges, a pool, the Poseidon Spa, two fitness centers, and multiple meeting spaces.

The District brings a plethora of dining options to the waterside area, long popular with visitors. Baobab Lounge inside the JW Marriott features stunning African art and décor and African inspired cocktails and light bites. Also in the Power Plant Building is the upscale Stone & Webster Chophouse. Nearby are Byrd’s Famous Cookies (reception offered us complimentary key lime coolers at check-in); and the Compass Pool Lounge atop the Atlantic building, with a cool pool and cabanas vibe.

At street level there’s District Gelato, District Seafood, District Smokehouse and Graffito Pizza, as well as Riverside Biergarten; Riverside Sushi and Savannah Tequila Company.

Unique Spaces, Entertainment Galore

Head atop the Three Muses Building’s Myrtle & Rose Rooftop Garden for that river view in a romantic setting of fuchsia and greens amid music and cocktails. A Sunday Brunch is available.

To hit the dance floor, check out Electric Moon Skytop Lounge + The Moon Deck at the top level of the Power Plant Building. Our day outing here offered the chance to videotape our plunge down its slide, squeals included, to the level below.

The Atlantic Building accommodates large events with meeting rooms opening onto the long waterfront lobby. Inside hang striking portraits of notorious pirates; outside the nautical theme continues with a giant golden ship figurehead leaning toward the pull of the tides. She mimics the female figure known as a Neptune angel historically sprouting from large wooden ships’ bows.

The Atlantic is also home to a live music venue, District Live powered by Live Nation, the newest hotspot for concerts in Savannah. Here, we especially enjoyed an evening of songs by Savannah native Johnny Mercer who found success in Hollywood in the late 1930s penning such hits as “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses” (for which he won two of his four Academy Awards for Best Original Song).

The district grand opening featured the unveiling of the space, part of an impressive museum featuring the “Gretsch Sound.” On display are popular guitars used by well-known musicians, archival pieces, displays and photographs. The project is a partnership between the Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music at Georgia Southern University and The Kessler Collection.

The Plant Riverside District fountains between the Atlantic and JW Marriott buildings are custom choreographed for music and light shows staged to the timeless music of Bach as well as an original, international percussion piece written specifically for Plant Riverside District. We witnessed a rousing, foot-stomping set by The Equinox Orchestra one night, and on another, a sampling of the Streetmosphere Circus show with Cirque Divina. That’s an ongoing Friday and Saturday night performance. Wednesday through Saturday nights, there’s a resident magician. And of course live music.

For more on Savannah, go to VisitSavannah.com

Below, l-r, A romantic view awaits at Myrtle & Rose Rooftop Garden overlooking the Savannah River; the Grand Bohemian Gallery at Plant Riverside District; Graffito Pizza, with a bold graffiti mural by Atlanta-based street artist Greg Mike, is one of many eateries at Savannah's new Plant Riverside District; fossils and geodes are among the discoveries; African-inspired are and decor in the Baobab Lounge; a queen room at Three Muses, one of three luxury accommodation options.