Harbour Club

I was a +1 for a dinner event here last night, and spent the evening enjoying the atmosphere, friendly service, and amazing food. Appetizers consisted of fried oysters with a dipping sauce, crab cake, and fried goat cheese. My entrée was the seared duck with bread pudding side, as well as sautéed veggies and a fig compote that was to die for (a bit of the fig with the bread pudding and you’re in heaven). To end the meal, I couldn’t resist the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, which was decorated to perfection and adorned with two juicy raspberries. I found room for every last bite. A couple of glasses of wine and a dessert wine helped to wash it all down and complete the experience. I’ve seen some bad reviews about the buffet on here, and understandably it’s hard to perfect a buffet, but this dinner off of the menu was nothing short of awesome and I would recommend this experience to anyone who is able to grab a seat with a member of the club. As a history buff, I also enjoyed learning about the 200+ year history of the building, both on their website and inside the restaurant.

Had our Christmas lunch there on Friday ¹²⁄₁₈ and have to say the «buffet» was at best cafeteria food. The service was great, the 3^rd floor room was nice, except for peeling paint on the walls. The waiter with all gold teeth was a bit shocking, considering this was supposed to be a classy place. Will never go there again. Yuck.

I attended a May wedding reception at the Harbour Club in Charleston. It is located on a cute little street in downtown Charleston that was walk-​able from the ceremony location and many other establishments downtown.
The cocktail hour was on the lovely, sun-​filled deck that offered some wonderful views of Charleston. The reception was downstairs in a smaller ballroom, that could use some updated décor. The combination of the drop ceilings, dark pillars/​molding, and old framed paintings hung on the walls did not scream elegant to me. The chairs were comfortable, though they didn’t do anything aesthetically to the room. The bride did a lovely job decorating the room to suit her style, but overall, it is not the most appealing slat to start with.
The dinner was served buffet style, and the buffet was set up in the room adjacent to the ballroom, with the main bar situated in the lobby in-​between the two rooms. This set-​up caused for some traffic jams during the dinner service. With the bar situated in the lobby, many of the guests seemed to congregate there, rather than hanging out in the ballroom and on the dance floor. I felt like this separated the group and took people away from where the main party should have been taking place. There were only about 90 – 100 people in attendance at the wedding, so I am not sure how small the party would have to be for the bar to be able to fit inside the ballroom. Something to inquire about if you are a shopping bride-​to-​be.
The food was just OK. I don’t remember being impressed or overly disappointed in anything. The menu was pretty typical, carving stations, pasta, roasted potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls. Meh.
We did not stay at the Harbour Club because it was over $ 400 per night, like most of the other over-​priced hotels in downtown Charleston.

We visit Charleston quite regularly and take full advantage of our guest privileges at the Harbour Club for both quiet business luncheons and Sunday brunch with the family. The lunch buffet is always impressive and makes for a great alternative to a busy downtown venue when conducting an interview or having a discussion. Brunch is amazing! A wonderful spread with omelette chef and carved beef and a decadent selection of deserts. The staff is most accommodating and always treats us like family. All of this in an historic venue less than half a block walk from the pineapple fountain. We love coming here even more than going to our home club.

Club Corp experience here and not a bad thing to say — bar staff, host, waitstaff, etc. are all attentive and authentic — we brought our 4-​year old and they were very accommodating. The table side prep of the lobster tails was great and the dessert (flambais) was also tasty! It was truly a LOT of food and a great value as a club corp member… We will definitely be back!!! Was interesting listening to some of the diners talk though (one woman spoke of how she appreciates the tourists paying the luxury tourist tax as she personally reaps the benefits as a Charleston resident). Lol. I just kept sipping my vino — she eventually got muffled.

Great breakfast at the club this morning. Can’t beat a $ 4 buffet that includes omelet bar. The staff is great! Wonderful members’ perk!

This was our 1^st club corp. dining experience outside of our club at home. After reading the last 2 reviews I was skeptical. We ended up loving our experience! The only thing I could complain about was, there was a weird smell when we 1^st walked in, and, there was no ambient music playing (wasn’t working that day) so, u felt like u had to whisper and that everyone could hear you chewing! Other then that, it’s clean, the staff is super friendly. I asked the server what was «popular» to eat and she suggested the rack of lamb… Holy cow was that delicious! We also got the cheese tray Appetizer, the wedge salads and both were great. They gave us a complimentary crostini w/​olives. They bring a basket of white bread and a walnut/​raisin. This is weird, but I did not like the butter. The Long Island ice teas were superb as was the apple martins! Between our appetizer and entrée, they gave us a small scoop of a berry sorbet to cleanse the palette. We ended with coffee and a slice of delicious chocolate cake. But that rack of lamb I’ll be dreaming about for awhile!

The food was institutional in preparation and taste, much like a mediocre hotel restaurant (and yet very pricey). The service was friendly and attentive but our waitress didn’t know much about the preparation of the entrees or the drink selection. The beer and wine was served a tad cooler than room temperature. And the ambience was a little tired. In a town like Charleston with so many choices, not sure why you would come here given a choice.

I like to make a habit of visiting Club Corp clubs when I travel. Comparing them to each other I have to say this one ranked equal in terms of service. All people we interacted with were super pleasant, made us feel welcome as visitors, and engaged us in conversation about our trip. We sat on the lounge side of the club which was actually the busiest I’ve ever seen a Club Corp property. There were tables for dining, a bar, and several nice furniture arrangements that made conversation and socialising easy. The food however, when compared to my home club and others that I have visited, was disappointing. Really, this was the only food that I did not like in all of Charleston. We only had appetisers, but I found the crab cake greasy, not helped by the onion straws on top, and the soup of the day (white bean) to be rather lacking of flavour. Also, while most of Charleston is freezing cold from air conditioners turned up super high, this place actually felt humid inside. The place is located in a nice quiet part of downtown within walking distance of other bars which were rather busy by the time we left the Club.