Savannah has always understood theater. The city reveals itself through curtains of live oak, iron balconies, hidden gardens, river fog, church bells, polished mahogany bars and squares that feel composed rather than planned. What Richard C. Kessler has done on the western edge of River Street does not compete with that drama. It gives it a new stage.
Plant Riverside District, set inside and around the restored 1912 Riverside Power Plant, is one of the most consequential hospitality projects in the modern South. Across 4.5 riverfront acres, Kessler turned an industrial relic into a district of hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, music venues, galleries, shops and public art, adding a quarter-mile of new Riverwalk and reopening a stretch of waterfront that had been closed to the public for a century. The result is a rare thing in luxury travel: a self-contained destination that still sends you outward into the city.
For Pursuitist, this is the Savannah weekend to plan now. Stay on the river, eat across the district, listen to live music, walk the squares, browse the boutiques and let the city unfold in layers. Kessler has made Plant Riverside feel less like a hotel development and more like a living argument for what Southern luxury can be: generous, cultured, eccentric, public-facing and deeply rooted in place.
The Hotelier Who Came Home
Kessler’s story is Southern business folklore. Hired by Cecil Day in 1970, he helped launch Days Inn of America three months later and was running the company as chairman and CEO by age 29. In 1980, before America had a name for the boutique hotel, he opened the Mulberry Inn in Savannah and proved travelers would happily pay for character.
After Days Inn sold in 1984, Kessler founded The Kessler Enterprise and built his art-filled Grand Bohemian portfolio across the South. In 2010, seven Kessler properties became founding hotels of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, a partnership struck with Bill Marriott himself.
Plant Riverside is the homecoming. Kessler was born in Savannah and raised in nearby Effingham County, and he has called the $375 million district his career legacy and gift to his hometown. It shows in the details. The riverfront park at its heart holds the city’s first monument to Martin Luther King Jr., a bust Kessler personally commissioned and unveiled with the King family’s blessing.
Where to Stay: JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District
The 419-room JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District is the anchor, but it is really three distinct hotel experiences joined by one riverfront idea.
Power Plant: The headline act, with preserved industrial architecture, Generator Hall, fossils, massive crystals and the famous 135-foot chrome dinosaur suspended inside the lobby. Best for design buffs and drama, with the quickest route to Electric Moon and Stone & Webster.
Three Muses: Softer and more romantic, with European polish, marble, chic boutiques and direct access to the Myrtle & Rose Rooftop Garden. Best for couples and a quieter return after dinner.
Atlantic: A contemporary maritime mood, closest in spirit to the river and the district’s music culture. It places you beside District Live, the Gretsch exhibition and the rooftop Compass Pool Lounge, the district’s finest warm-weather amenity.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: The best room here is not about square footage or a view alone. It is about temperament. Choose the building that matches the mood of your weekend: industrial grandeur, romantic polish or contemporary riverfront ease.
Friday Afternoon: Arrive on the River
Check in, then resist the instinct to leave immediately for the historic squares. Plant Riverside deserves a first pass on its own terms. Start in Generator Hall, where the restored power plant becomes part lobby, part cabinet of curiosities. The preserved brick, steel trusses and industrial bones give the space immense authority. The fossils, minerals and natural-history displays gathered beneath the chrome dinosaur give it Kessler’s signature sense of wonder.
Next, step outside onto the riverwalk. This is the true genius of the project. Savannah’s riverfront has always had spectacle, but here the view feels newly choreographed. Container ships a thousand feet long slide past with improbable silence, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge frames the western sky, and the district’s plazas, fountains and Martin Luther King, Jr. Park pull locals and visitors into the same current.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: Begin with the building before the bars. Grab an espresso at Turbine Market + Café, download the free MarineTraffic app and watch the giant ships roll in. Once you understand the bones of the old power plant, the rest of the weekend has context.
Friday Evening: Steak, Smoke and a Rooftop Finish
Dinner should be at Stone & Webster Chophouse, named for the original architects of the power plant. The restaurant gives Plant Riverside its polished evening anchor, offering prime steaks, coastal seafood and a serious wine list in a room that respects the plant’s history without turning it into theme-park nostalgia.
The insider move is The Smokestack, a private dining experience set directly inside one of the plant’s original smokestacks. Pursuitist has dined there, and it remains one of the most exclusive and memorable tables in the American South. Reserve well ahead.
After dinner, go up. Electric Moon Skytop Lounge is the district’s high-energy rooftop, with open-air river views, creative cocktails, live music, the Moon Deck and a literal slide that tells you this is not a city interested in being too solemn about its pleasures. For something gentler, choose Myrtle & Rose, a manicured rooftop garden serving botanical cocktails and shareable plates in a more intimate setting.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: Stone & Webster gives the night structure. Electric Moon gives it lift. Myrtle & Rose gives it grace.
Saturday Morning: Breakfast, Art and the Kessler Imagination
Fuel up at Turbine Market + Café with a proper plate of Georgia shrimp and grits before exploring the property in daylight. Make time for the Gretsch exhibition in the Atlantic building, a permanent display of guitars, drums and memorabilia from the storied instrument maker founded in 1883, presented through a partnership among The Kessler Collection, Georgia Southern University and Gretsch. It makes sense in a district built around performance. Check the weekend lineup at District Live before the good shows sell out.
Next, leave the river briefly for the SCAD Museum of Art. Occupying a remarkable former railroad complex that incorporates the oldest surviving antebellum railroad depot in the country, it gives Savannah’s creative present the same weight the squares give its past. Exhibitions rotate quarterly; check hours and admission before going.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: Savannah’s art scene is not decorative filler. SCAD changed the city’s cultural metabolism, and Plant Riverside belongs to that same story of brilliant adaptive reuse.
Saturday Lunch: River-Level Savannah
For lunch, keep it casual and stay outside along the water. You are spoiled for choice.
District Seafood: The go-to riverwalk choice for fresh oysters, po’ boys and crispy hushpuppies in a Lowcountry mood.
District Smokehouse: The move for barbecue, with 14-hour pulled pork, brisket, Brunswick stew, local craft beer and craft sodas at an open-air bar built for watching port traffic roll by.
Riverside Biergarten: Bratwurst, Bavarian pretzels and locally brewed beer at river level, with Riverside Sushi and Riverside Burger steps away for lighter appetites.
Savannah Tequila Company: The livelier alternative, with Northern Mexican flavors, street tacos, tableside guacamole, margaritas and a deep premium tequila and mezcal list.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: The best Plant Riverside lunch is not precious. Sit outside, order boldly, watch the river traffic and let the coastal breeze do half the work.
Saturday Afternoon: Squares, Shops and Savannah at Walking Pace
Savannah rewards wandering, but a 48-hour trip needs discipline. Move toward the historic district and build your afternoon around three elements: squares, shopping and one serious cultural stop. Telfair Museums is the classic choice, especially the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters for a deeply moving, layered encounter with the city’s architecture, privilege and the lives that made such houses possible.
For shopping, start at The Paris Market on Broughton Street, a whimsical European-style emporium in an 1873 landmark iron building where the moves are a custom perfume consultation and a slow browse through the antiques. Continue to Savannah Bee Company for honey tastings at the bar and a flight at the mead lounge next door. Back at Plant Riverside, stop by Byrd’s Famous Cookies for signature Southern flavors like key lime and Georgia peach, then browse Kessler Fine Jewelry, 13 Secrets Jewelry Gallery, The Edit and the district’s galleries.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: Savannah’s best shops feel personal and atmospheric. The right souvenir here is a small luxury with a distinct sense of place: a custom fragrance, local honey, a piece of art discovered rather than grabbed.
Saturday Evening: Rooftop Cocktails and Live Music
Return to the river before sunset. Grab a to-go drink for the walk; Savannah’s open-container rules allow one beverage in a 16-ounce plastic cup within the Historic District, no glass on the riverwalk, and any district bartender will pour yours to go.
For dinner, grab a table at Graffito, an open-kitchen Neapolitan pizzeria named for the massive mural by Atlanta street artist Greg Mike, or slip into Baobab Lounge for cocktails, small plates and African art and design influences in a more intimate room.
Afterward, head to District Live. This is where Plant Riverside stops being a hotel district and becomes a music town. The intimate concert hall holds just a few hundred people, putting you close enough to feel the performance rather than observe it. If the calendar is quiet, let the riverwalk be the nightcap.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: The ideal Saturday here relies on range. Moving between a historic garden square, an industrial-chic pizza parlor and a live rock show is modern Savannah distilled.
Sunday Morning: Brunch, Spa or One Last Walk
Sunday should be slow. Treat yourself to the weekend brunch at Myrtle & Rose, a refined three-course experience with live music in the rooftop garden, best reserved ahead. If you prefer a high-energy send-off, Electric Moon’s AMP’D Brunch offers a live DJ and a build-your-own Bloody Mary station. Both rooftops enforce adults-only policies, so confirm when reserving; families should claim a riverfront table at Turbine Market + Café instead.
Before checking out, schedule a treatment at the onsite Poseidon Spa or take one final, quiet stroll through Forsyth Park and the squares. The city is compact enough to reward a last loop, especially early, before the heat and crowds gather.
Pursuitist Take, Why We Love It: Do not over-schedule the final morning. Savannah’s luxury is partly atmospheric, and atmosphere needs time to breathe.
The Pursuitist Final Word
Plant Riverside District works because it understands Savannah as both memory and performance. Kessler did not simply add hotel rooms to the riverfront. He created a place where the lobby holds prehistoric fossils, dinner happens inside a historic smokestack, live music has a proper home and the Savannah River remains the grand director of it all.
For a first visit, stay here because it gives you access, energy and a clear center of gravity. For a return visit, stay here because it makes a familiar city feel entirely new. Kessler set out to build his hometown a gift. What he built is a reason to keep coming back.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best hotel building at Plant Riverside District?
The JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District has three buildings. Choose Power Plant for dramatic industrial architecture and museum-quality lobby exhibits, Three Muses for a romantic European boutique feel, or Atlantic for contemporary style near the music venues and rooftop pool.
Can you spend a full weekend at Plant Riverside District without a car?
Yes. Plant Riverside sits directly on River Street and is walkable to the historic squares, dining, museums and shopping. For destinations farther inland, rideshares and trolley tours are readily available, and the property offers onsite parking, valet and a house-car service subject to availability.
Where should you eat at Plant Riverside District?
Stone & Webster Chophouse is the premier choice for steaks and fine dining. For casual eats, try Savannah Tequila Company for Mexican, Graffito for Neapolitan pizza, District Smokehouse for barbecue, District Seafood for oysters and po’ boys, and Myrtle & Rose or Electric Moon for rooftop drinks and weekend brunch.
What should you do in Savannah beyond Plant Riverside?
Visit the SCAD Museum of Art, Telfair Museums, Forsyth Park and The Paris Market, and taste honey at Savannah Bee Company. Leave time simply to walk the squares. Savannah is best experienced at a measured pace.
