Postcard & Brochure circa 1960s
 
Charleston-West, South Carolina -- 1540 Savannah Hwy (U.S. 17)
 

The Restaurant at what became the Charleston-West complex opened as a stand-alone unit in about 1953. Using an early standardized design based on plans by architects Rufus Nims and Carl Koch its adjacent and small 38 room Motor Lodge was added five years later -- the facility was ultra-modern for its time!

The Motor Lodge's swimming pool featured a "musical" fountain and an unusual below-the-water viewing window. Note too that the pool had both high and low diving boards!
 
 
 
 
 
STUNNING BEAUTY ... LUXURIOUS COMFORT ... for the DISCRIMINATING
 

While you are visiting Charleston treat yourself to the very best in accommodations: HOWARD JOHNSON'S MOTOR LODGE, featuring 24-hour complete hotel service.

Our musical pool can be seen through the huge picture window of your room ... It is one of the largest, most elaborately equipped pools in the South. Our underwater observation windows offer unique opportunities for underwater photography. And there is a baby pool, too!

Adjoining the Lodge there is of course our HOWARD JOHNSON'S RESTAURANT, open from 6 A.M. to 11 P.M. serving you with perfectly prepared meals daily.
 
 
 
 
• Your choice of single room, connecting rooms, or executive suite •
• Weather conditioned and sound proofed •
• Private room balcony or patio •
• Big-screen television, radio and high fidelity music •
• 24 hour room telephone service •
• Championship swimming pool equipped with high diving board •
• Children's play area and baby pool •
• Parking directly by your door •
• One day laundry service •
• Howard Johnson's Restaurant •
 
 
 
 
 
Partial View of Executive Suite
 
 
 
 
Sleeping Area of Typical Guest Room
 
 
 
Rest in consummate comfort in a year-round weather conditioned, sound proofed room of unusually spacious proportions. Feast your eyes on interiors that reflect the composite talents of the world's finest architects, designers, and interior decorators.
 
 
 
 
Photograph courtesy of Phil Edwards
 
Lasting as a Howard Johnson's complex until 1977, Charleston's first HoJo's was converted into a Best Western. At least for the first several years after its conversion, the facility remained mostly intact. However by the late 1980s a fifty room addition was constructed and the Gate Lodge and Restaurant were demolished. Still later, a Sleep Inn was built adjacent to and on part of the property that had once belonged to the Howard Johnson's.
 
Photographs courtesy of Bob Venditti
 
Note the disguised original guest buildings