Thunderbird Inn

When planning our latest vacation, I wanted to try to support smaller, independent lodging establishments vs. the big hotel chains.

One of the first places I found was the restored Thunderbird Inn near the historic district in Savannah, GA. The web site made the place look great!

In doing my homework, I also found several good reviews of the place online, so I booked a room for a night with the intention of staying another night if we liked it.

We spotted the retro motel, built in 1964, and parked next to the office and went to check in.

The office seemed to be scented with bubblegum, which complimented the kitschy decor nicely.

There were some old postcards of the inn framed on the walls.

We soon had our key card and headed to our room.

The room was clean and surprisingly boutique-like, complete with a white down comforter, which was fine by me.

There was some very nice art (I'm assuming local) displayed on the walls.

I loved the funky toiletry products provided in the bathroom, fitting to the theme of the motel.

There was a mini fridge, ironing board and coffee maker in the room.

Right after loading our things in we headed back to the office to secure a second night in our room.

Each time we went outside there seemed to be guests sitting in patio chairs in front of their rooms which lent even more to the vintage feel.

Once when my husband went out to the car to get some items and clicked the remote to lock the doors, I heard a lady exclaim "Oh, hon, you don't need to lock your car here!"

The next morning we went to the office to partake in one of the offerings we had seen on the web site, Krispy Kreme donuts. We sat in the brightly-colored molded plastic chairs and enjoyed coffee and OJ with our donuts.

Even though our vacation officially began a day before we arrived in Savannah, staying at the Thunderbird felt like the true start of our holiday.

If I were visiting Savannah again, I would definitely stay at the Thunderbird. I can't imagine anyone else could be "the hippest hotel in Savannah."

Thunderbird Inn

611 West Oglethorpe Avenue

Savannah, GA 31401