Best New Hotel 2024
Words by COLLEEN ANN MCNALLY
Photography by ALLISON REVELLE
Produced by MORRIGAN MAZA, GOOD CULTURE CREATIVE
BEFORE THE FLAGSHIP HOTEL BARDO opened its doors at 700 Drayton St. in early 2024, anyone following the hotel’s social media already knew it was sure to make a splash.
Savannahian Manu Bansal recalls feeling “mind blown” when he first saw the renderings.
He is quick to admit he is biased, however, as Dhruv Khanna, the hotel’s general manager, and Pritpal Singh, partner and COO at the development firm, Left Lane, are some of Bansal’s closest friends.
“I was just thinking to myself, ‘They are building something very, very cool and this is something that Savannah was missing,’” Bansal says. “A full, resort-like space where you can spend your whole day at the restaurants, the pool, all the different experiences. I knew they were onto something, I just didn’t know how big the scope was until I finally saw it finished.”
His first look at the revamped, circa-1889 mansion on Forsyth Park came during the hotel’s opening party this past February. As a founding member of Club Bardo, the hotel’s private member club, Bansal was wowed by how the visions in those early renderings became reality before his eyes.
“Everyone is dressed impeccably for this party, right? Everyone is dressed to the nines, wearing their Prada, Gucci and Chanel and all their finest gear. I’m also wearing my nice shoes and clothes that I feel good in,” he says. “Then, I saw the pool for the first time. I immediately took my shoes off, and I went into the pool. … I lost my shoes in the process, because I forgot where I took them off so I was just walking barefoot, half soaking from my knees down, just ridiculous, and I loved every part of it. That is my first Bardo memory.” A big splash, indeed.
In the months since, Bansal drops by the resort almost daily. He is partial to how the color green is used throughout the interiors — a nod to the city’s verdant parks and iconic tree canopy just outside the doors. He also enjoys the second-story Club Bardo atmosphere, from its room dressed entirely in shades of pinks to the chic lamps that complete the ambience.
“I love looking at the design and the detail they went into for the smallest things. I see it all around the world when we travel and stay at some nice properties. It’s the same feeling,” says Bansal, who lived in India and New York before moving to Savannah in 2015 with his partner, the jeweler, designer and co-owner of 13 Secrets Jewelry Gallery (Runner-Up Best Fine Jewelry), Chad Crawford (Runner-Up Best Jewelry Designer). “I always would say to myself, ‘Why can’t Savannah have this?’ And Bardo made it happen to that level.”
And while Bansal may be biased, he is certainly not alone. In its first year, a bevy of luxury travel and design experts from Condé Nast Traveler, Elle, Forbes, Robb Report and Travel + Leisure — to name a few — have taken note of Bardo’s debut. Kelly Ripa even raved about her visit — and the pastries courtesy of the hotel’s head pastry chef, Kate Sigel — on live television.
Yet, whether Bansal is dropping by for his morning coffee, a quick bite at Bar Bibi or lingering late in the Green Room for another espresso martini nightcap (with only one bean — if you know, you know), he says nothing tops the people he sees on the property. “Chad and I are very social. We love meeting new people, but we also love hanging out with our friends. Since we joined the club, it’s very casual and easy to see people in a fabulous setting without planning.”
Soon, Left Lane plans to expand the Bardo brand to more cities, and with it, that club spirit and playful sense of hospitality and modern luxury that keep regulars coming back.
“We saw the hotel evolve, and we felt like we were part of the process. Whenever we go there, it feels so familiar, like home,” Bansal says. “They genuinely worked hard to create something that people would love. They succeeded on all fronts, and now it’s our turn to return the favor to them … so they can be here for a long time.”
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