Charlotte doesn’t make the top of most vacation lists, but it’s a friendly city with a lot of business, a frequent work destination, and an area the locals seem to enjoy living in. Weather is fairly neutral, as things go in the South, with lots of sun year round. Map view here.
Uptown Hotels
- *Aloft Charlotte City Center: where I typically stay, as it’s very convenient to the office. It’s just short of terrible, understaffed, views of parking lots, bad food, inexplicably loud heating/aircon units that turn on at random.
- **The Dunhill Hotel: the historic option – built in 1920, this property was converted to residential apartments in the Depression, and reopened (perhaps in the 80s?) after a long period of abandonment. It’s not as elegant as billed – a bit run down, fairly generic in the rooms. The service was very friendly, they’re proud of their elaborate cocktail menu, and the dinner I had was fine. Restaurant does not get a lot of traffic. Acceptable option, but not a standout.
- **Element Charlotte Uptown: My favorite hotel in Charlotte right now. It’s new, and it’s right by the Whole Foods. The materials are very cheap, though generally look good – enjoy it before things start to look tattered.
- Grand Bohemian Hotel Charlotte is the fancy place to stay, has a reportedly good restaurant, and a rooftop bar with great views.
- *Kimpton Tryon Park Hotel is quite new. For the price, it’s not a compelling option, not particularly differentiated for rooms and amenities.
- *Residence Inn by Marriott Charlotte City Center is slightly better than the Aloft, but only slightly. Grim breakfast, big rooms, sad vibe.
- *SpringHill Suites by Marriott Charlotte City Center: a mirror image of the Residence Inn. Maybe slightly less sad.
Uptown Food & Entertainment
- **Angelines: the fancy breakfast option – a hip/urban setting, never-ending coffee, and large portions. Haven’t had dinner, but it comes recommended.
- **La Belle Helene: This is an especially pretty space, with high ceilings and lovely finishes. It’s fairly expensive, kind of “French-ish,” California cuisine options.
- *Cowbell Burger & Whiskey Bar: Cowbell is a pretty typical bar, with a really long menu of fried food. Honestly it wasn’t great, but I give the staff props for serving a very large table all at the same time.
- **Famous Toastery: a popular place for huge breakfasts with just about every option you can think of. Not fancy, but the servers are friendly.
- **Fin & Fino: a hip seafood-forward place with a good wine and cocktail selection. Very popular. Extremely loud. More of a place for a celebratory group, not a romantic date.
- **Johnny Burrito is a Charlotte institution, a take-away burrito place. It was delicious, not quite a California burrito, but close enough!
- **Mimosa Grill has a fairly broad menu and good wine/cocktails. It’s a large space, on the nicer side, good for client meetings.
- *Nuvole TwentyTwo: a top floor bar with expansive views and a small outdoor area. It’s trying very hard to be cool, to an off-putting degree.
- **Rooster’s Wood-fired Kitchen Uptown: grilled meat and sides. Tasty and well-executed. Location is a bit tricky to find, up a level inside a mall.
- **Truist Field is a very nice, very accessible minor league stadium right in Uptown that draws a big crowd – not to watch the game, but to socialize and drink beer.
- **Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar: fried chicken in lots of different configurations. A bit of an odd space – large and pretty, but a bit too sparse from a furnishings perspective.
Dilworth District
Dilworth is Charlotte’s first planned suburb, built in the 1890s. It’s not horribly far from downtown – a 30 minute walk – and has later additions that were designed by the Olmsted Brothers. It’s home to a good collection of stately historic homes. I gave it a try for some variety, and while it’s a bit far out for a work trip, it was nice to experience some variety.
- **Dilworth Neighborhood Grille is fine, a sports bar with a very long list of pub food.
- The **Morehead Inn is rather cute, a historic property with classic B&B style. Big bedrooms, canopied beds, lots of parlors to relax in. It’s a bit out of the way, but not terribly so. Excellent breakfast.
South End
The urban, mixed use South End is known for its nightlife, with a number of craft breweries, hipster restaurants, boutique shopping, and relatively walkable streets.
- **Hellenic Greek Kitchen & Bar: This was not bad at all – above average cocktails, decent food, good service.
- **Puttery: I hate miniature golf so this was definitely not my place. But points for being enormous, clearly popular, good drinks, appeared well managed and good at crowds.
- **La Superica: rather good, fancy Mexican. Ingredients are high quality, staff well trained. The space is huge and industrial, and lines can get long, call ahead for a table.
- **Sycamore: A big rooftop beer hall – lots of sports stuff, good for crowds.
- **Vana: a fancy bar with high end cocktails, indoor-outdoor spaces, and wood fired pizzas and veggies. Fun and attracts a big after-work crowd.
Outside of Town
- **Brewers At 4001 Yancey: I’ve been here twice now – fried food, an impressively long beer list, not the best service, manages crowds well. (To be fair this isn’t that far outside of town, but with traffic it feels far.)
- The **Whitewater Center is very impressive – a training center turned events venue, with concerts, all sorts of sports (hiking, biking, rafting, ropes courses, etc.). It’s a fun place to experience.
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