Fourteen rooms inside the oldest large tabby structure still in use in the Lowcountry, directly above the Beaufort River, the rare Bay Street address with a working dock and a serious kitchen on the ground floor.
"The address is the entire argument. Fourteen rooms, a tabby façade older than the United States, a Bay Street balcony directly above the Beaufort River, and a kitchen worth crossing the state for. Book a waterfront room or do not bother."
Anchorage 1770 sits at the address that gives it its name. The structure was built in 1770 by John Gordon, an English merchant and one of the wealthier planters in colonial Beaufort, and it survives as the oldest large tabby house still in continuous use in the Lowcountry. Tabby is the local lime, oyster shell and water composite, and the inn's two-foot exterior walls are the genuine material rather than a later imitation. The building was a private residence until the 1980s, ran as the Rhett House's quieter sister property for a decade, and reopened in 2017 as a fourteen-room boutique inn after a careful restoration that resurfaced the original heart pine floors and reopened the river-facing balconies.
The rooms are split across three floors of the main house and a discreet rear annex. Categories run from the smaller garden view rooms at the back, through the larger water view category facing east toward the river, to a small set of full waterfront rooms with private balconies on Bay Street. The interior design pulls in a low-country palette of soft greys, pale blues and natural linen, the antiques are individual rather than coordinated, and most rooms hold a clawfoot tub. There are no televisions in the public rooms by design, the WiFi is fast, and most categories include a king bed and a small writing desk.
The ground floor restaurant is the property's other operating asset. The kitchen runs a cook-to-order breakfast included with every stay (four hot options plus a buffet), and dinner runs Wednesday through Saturday on a short modern Lowcountry menu that has built a reputation well beyond the inn's own room nights. The bar program leans toward Carolina spirits and a tight wine list focused on the Cape Fear region. There is a small private dining alcove that books out for proposal dinners more often than the front desk advertises.
The Anchorage's working dock is the property's hidden lever. The inn maintains its own small fleet of bicycles, can call up kayaks and stand-up paddleboards on twenty minutes' notice, and partners with a local skipper for half-day Sea Island charters. Service is led by a long-tenured general manager who knows every regular by name, and the front-of-house team is small enough to read by midweek of any stay. Anchorage 1770 is the cleanest Bay Street option for a couples weekend in Beaufort and the default booking when the river view matters more than square footage.
For a quieter Lowcountry honeymoon, the Anchorage's waterfront category is the clear booking: a private Bay Street balcony, a clawfoot tub, and dinner downstairs without ever leaving the property. Pair four nights here with three at Sea Island or Kiawah for the cleanest Southern honeymoon route.
An anniversary at the Anchorage is the kind of weekend that quietly outperforms its price tag. The Saturday dinner sequence (a sunset cocktail on the balcony, dinner in the river-side dining room, a quick walk along the seawall) is the most reliable milestone weekend in the Lowcountry.
The Anchorage's private dining alcove was effectively built for the question. Book the alcove four weeks ahead, ask the front desk for the river-balcony walk after dessert, and the inn will quietly stage the wine, the chairs, and the timing. The answer is almost never about the hotel, but if you are asking here, you have not picked the wrong stage.
1103 Bay Street
Beaufort, SC 29902
United States
Directly on the Beaufort River seawall, two blocks from the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park
14 rooms across three floors and a rear annex
Garden view from $269/night
Water view from $388/night
Waterfront balcony rooms from $488/night
Captain's Suite to $688/night
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Building dates 1770; reopened as inn 2017 after restoration
Cook-to-order breakfast included
On-site restaurant (dinner Wed-Sat)
River-facing balconies
Working dock and small boat fleet
Complimentary bicycles
Complimentary WiFi throughout
From $269/night. Waterfront balcony rooms book three to four months ahead for the Beaufort Water Festival in July, Film Festival in February, and Memorial Day through Labor Day weekends.
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