Great location; bring earplugs
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 12/1/08
After reading reviews online, I was not surprised to discover that our standard-rate room had only a blocked view of the waterfront, but that was not a big deal to my party. (If it is to yours, shell out the extra money for a designated room with a view and make a fuss if you don't get what you paid for.) The Inn is conveniently located near Waterfront Park and all the best Charleston shopping and dining. Rooms are clean and spacious, especially the bathrooms (although the HVAC, at least in our room, was a bit temperamental--bring slippers for the icy bathroom floor!). Free in-room breakfast was a great service, as were the various receptions throughout the day (wine/cheese at 5; cookies/milk at 9; coffee/tea/candy all day). The employees were exceptionally friendly and attentive.
Really the only thing keeping this rating from being 5 stars was the surprising amount of "ambient" noise-- although our room was tucked away on a corner, we heard a lot of conversation (not yelling or anything, just normal voices) from the room next door, and some kind of frequent machinery humming (I guess we were right above the laundry room? At any rate, I've experienced better soundproofing). Although there's not as much the hotel can do about this, the early-morning garbage pickup outside was also a rather unpleasant wake-up call! Light sleepers should probably bring earplugs and request a room on a higher floor.
I hope this doesn't scare anyone away because the Harbourview is a really lovely hotel in a great location, and I would certainly stay there again and recommend it to friends. But the handful of negative reviews online seem to be the product of unrealistic expectations, so it's good for people to know what they might encounter.