Not that we needed more reasons to love Kiawah Island and Charleston, SC, but Travel + Leisure gave us a few with their recent honors of the area.
Travel + Leisure Magazine
Travel + Leisure is a travel magazine based in New York City. Its 4.8 million subscribers look forward to the release of their World’s Best Awards yearly. These lists include top cities, islands, hotels, airports, rental cars, cruise lines, spas, etc. This year, Kiawah Island made the list as one of The Top 10 Islands in the United States. Charleston also topped the lists at #1 for The Top 15 Cities in the United States and #2 on The Top Cities in the World. According to Travel + Leisure’s website, a survey was developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure and a digital marketing firm. The surveys were made available at tlworldsbest.com from November 7, 2016, to March 6, 2017. Readers were invited to participate and cast their votes through the magazine, tablet editions, newsletters, social media, and the website. The digital marketing firm was tasked with maintaining and monitoring the data as well as keeping the survey’s website secure.
Best Cities to Visit: Charleston
Charleston landed at #1 for the 5th year in a row on The Top 15 Cities in the United States list. Our beloved city beat out other cities like Savannah, Georgia, New Orleans, Louisiana, Nashville, Tennessee and Honolulu, Hawaii, just to name a few. Charleston also landed the #2 spot for The World’s Top 15 Cities. It was only 1 of 2 U.S. cities to make the list. A few other cities mentioned were San Meguel de Allende, Mexico, Chiang Mai, Thailand and Florence, Italy. To win these awards is no easy feat as the magazine asks people to vote on different highlights of the city like sights, landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping and value. Charleston definitely tops the list based on its unique shopping, vast history, Lowcountry feel and one-of-a-kind restaurants on every corner. We recommend for locals and visitors alike to view this awesome video the Charleston Visitors Bureau released in response to the awards.
Best Islands in the U.S.: Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island came in at #9 on The Top 10 Islands of the Continental U.S. Travel + Leisure asked voters to base their votes on natural attractions, beaches, activities, sights, food, people, friendliness and value. It is no surprise that Kiawah Island made the list with its picturesque beaches, sights, friendly faces and fabulous restaurants. Other islands on the list include Hilton Head, South Carolina, The Golden Isles, Georgia (Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, Sea Island and St. Simons Island) and the Florida Keys, Florida.
Come Stay with Us
Akers Ellis Real Estate and Rentals is very proud to claim both Charleston and Kiawah Island. While we sell real estate all over Charleston, our vacation rentals are strictly on Kiawah Island. Many of our guests stay on Kiawah and make day trips to Charleston to see the city. If you want to experience the best of both worlds, give us a call at 888.909.8110 or check out our website to see all of our villas, cottages and homes available to buy or rent. Lastly, we want to thank everyone that participated in bringing our cherished area to the World’s Best lists!