New hotels in Johns Island

We track one confirmed hotel project on Johns Island: Jubilee, a 75-key wellness hotel from Charlestowne Hotels anchoring a 13-acre, 140-key mixed-use "coastal revival" development approved by Charleston City Council, targeted for 2028. It's the first hotel of its kind on a largely rural barrier island that today has virtually no lodging of its own, despite sitting between downtown Charleston and the Kiawah and Seabrook Island resort communities: most visitors to the area currently stay 30 to 45 minutes away rather than on the island itself.

What to do

For a weekend

Johns Island rewards a slower pace than downtown Charleston, and two days are enough to see its best-known landmarks without rushing. Start at the Angel Oak, a live oak tree estimated at 300 to 400 years old and the island's single most-visited site: its canopy spreads well over 17,000 square feet, and the small city-run park around it is free to visit, usually busiest in the late morning. From there, head south toward Beachwalker Park at the island's tip near Kiawah, regularly ranked among the country's top public beaches for its wide, gently sloping sand and calmer surf than more exposed stretches of coast. In the afternoon, Bohicket Marina, tucked between Seabrook and Kiawah Islands, is worth a stop for its waterfront restaurants, boat rentals and inshore fishing charters: a working marina rather than a manufactured resort strip, with shrimp boats docking alongside the pleasure craft. Round out the weekend with a round at Oak Point Golf Course on Betsy Kerrison Parkway, a well-regarded Rees Jones design that plays through maritime forest and salt marsh, or simply drive the island's back roads past the produce stands and horse pastures that still define much of its interior.

For a longer stay

With more time, Wadmalaw Island (connected to Johns Island by a short causeway) makes for an easy half-day trip built around its small cluster of working farms, wineries and distilleries, a scene that has grown steadily as Charleston-area visitors look for something quieter than the historic district. Golfers and beach-club travelers should budget at least a day for Kiawah Island itself, whose Ocean Course has hosted major championship golf, and for Seabrook Island's quieter beach-and-equestrian community next door, both are a short drive from Johns Island but function as their own semi-private resort areas rather than open public destinations. Downtown Charleston's historic district, about 20 minutes north by car, is an easy day trip for cobblestone streets, antebellum architecture, the City Market and the restaurant scene that has drawn national attention for well over a decade. Paddlers and kayakers can put in at several points along the Stono and Kiawah Rivers, which wrap around much of the island's marshland, for a slower look at the barrier-island ecosystem that Jubilee's own "coastal revival" concept is built to sit within rather than replace.

Charleston's tourism growth, and where Johns Island fits

Charleston has spent much of the past decade near the top of readers' polls for best U.S. cities to visit, and that growth has pushed well beyond the historic peninsula into the surrounding barrier islands: Kiawah Island's Ocean Course hosted the 2021 PGA Championship, and both Kiawah and Seabrook have expanded their private resort and residential footprints considerably since. Johns Island, geographically wedged between downtown Charleston and those two resort islands, has been a strange gap in that growth: a place visitors drive across on Maybank Highway or Bohicket Road on the way to somewhere else, rather than a destination in its own right. Its agricultural land (much of it still in active use for produce, ornamental plants and horses) has kept large parts of the island genuinely rural even as Charleston's population and tourist numbers have climbed steadily on either side of it. Jubilee is a direct bet that this gap represents unmet demand rather than a lack of interest: a hotel and town center positioned to capture visitors who want easy access to Kiawah's golf and Charleston's history without staying inside either.

Jubilee and the island's first hotel

A 13-acre town center, not just a hotel

Jubilee is best understood as a mixed-use development that happens to include a hotel, rather than a hotel with amenities attached. Charlestowne Hotels, the Charleston-based hospitality company developing and managing the project, won Charleston City Council approval for a 13-acre, 140-key plan combining Jubilee's 75 hotel rooms with 65 independent short-term-rental cottages and roughly 15,500 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space, laid out as a walkable town center rather than a single building. The developer describes the concept as a "coastal revival" for an island that, as it stands, has essentially no hotel rooms and only a scattering of short-term rentals, meaning the overwhelming majority of visitors to the Johns Island area currently base themselves in Charleston, Kiawah or Seabrook and drive in. Plans for the hotel itself include a saltwater pool, a fitness studio and dining built around what the developer calls nourishing, Lowcountry-inspired cuisine, feeding into the same wellness positioning as the project's cottages and public spaces.

Why the island has gone without a hotel until now

Johns Island's absence of hotel infrastructure is not an oversight so much as a reflection of what the island has historically been: a largely agricultural and residential community rather than a resort destination in its own right, even as Kiawah and Seabrook grew into two of the East Coast's best-known private resort islands a short drive away. Much of the island's interior is still working farmland (vegetable stands, ornamental plant nurseries and horse pastures sit within a few minutes of where Jubilee is planned) and zoning across the island has historically favored residential and agricultural use over commercial hospitality development, which helps explain why a barrier island this close to two resort communities and a major tourist city went so long without a hotel of any kind. That gap is exactly what Jubilee is designed to close, not by competing with Kiawah's golf resorts or Charleston's historic-district hotels, but by giving Johns Island a reason for visitors to stay put rather than simply pass through on the way to the beach. Building a genuine town center alongside the rooms, rather than just adding beds, is the more interesting bet here: the island has real natural draw already, from the Angel Oak to Beachwalker Park, but has never had a walkable base from which to enjoy it.

Which hotel for your trip

Wellness-focused travelers

Jubilee's saltwater pool, fitness studio and Lowcountry-inspired dining program are built specifically around a slower, recovery-oriented stay rather than a sightseeing base: the closest thing Johns Island will have to a dedicated wellness retreat once it opens in 2028.

Families and longer-stay visitors

The 65 short-term-rental cottages alongside Jubilee's 75 hotel rooms give families and groups a self-catering option within the same walkable development, closer to Beachwalker Park and the Angel Oak than a Charleston hotel room would be, without giving up access to the town center's restaurants and retail.

Golf and beach-club travelers

Anyone building a trip around Kiawah's Ocean Course or Seabrook's beach-and-equestrian scene will find Johns Island a logical, quieter base once Jubilee opens: close enough to both resort islands for an easy morning tee time, but positioned around its own restaurants and public spaces rather than a single resort's amenities.

Day-trippers from Charleston

Until Jubilee opens, Johns Island works best as a half-day or full-day trip from downtown Charleston, built around the Angel Oak, Beachwalker Park and Bohicket Marina rather than an overnight stay: the island's own lodging options remain limited to short-term rentals and the occasional bed-and-breakfast in the meantime. A car is essentially required either way: none of these sites are within easy walking distance of each other, and there's no meaningful public transit connecting them.

Best time to visit

Spring (March through May) and fall (October and November) bring the mildest weather and the lightest humidity, and are generally considered the best windows for time outdoors at Beachwalker Park, Angel Oak or on the water at Bohicket Marina. Summers are hot and humid, typical of the South Carolina Lowcountry, with regular afternoon thunderstorms; hurricane season officially runs from June through November, and it's worth checking storm forecasts before booking a late-summer or early-fall trip to the coast. Winters are mild by comparison, rarely dropping below freezing, which makes the island a viable year-round golf destination even if beach days thin out.

Getting there

Charleston International Airport, about 30 to 40 minutes away depending on traffic and which part of the island you're headed to, is the nearest major gateway. Johns Island connects to the Charleston peninsula via the James Island Connector and Maybank Highway, and to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands via Bohicket Road: there's no public transit to speak of, so a car remains the practical way to get around the island itself.

Frequently asked questions

Are there any new hotels tracked on Johns Island?

Yes: Jubilee, a 75-key wellness hotel with 65 short-term-rental cottages and a 13-acre walkable town center, is targeted to open in 2028, the first hotel of its kind for the island.

What is Jubilee?

A 140-key mixed-use development approved by Charleston City Council, combining a 75-room wellness hotel with 65 independent cottages and roughly 15,500 square feet of restaurant, retail and office space, developed and managed by Charlestowne Hotels.

What is the Angel Oak?

A live oak tree estimated at 300 to 400 years old, with a canopy spreading well over 17,000 square feet: Johns Island's best-known single landmark and a popular stop for visitors, housed in a small, free city-run park.

How far is Johns Island from downtown Charleston?

About 20 minutes by car via the James Island Connector and Maybank Highway.

Is Johns Island close to Kiawah and Seabrook Islands?

Yes, both resort communities are a short drive away via Bohicket Road, though they function as their own semi-private resort areas rather than being part of Johns Island itself.

What is the closest airport to Johns Island?

Charleston International Airport, about 30 to 40 minutes away depending on traffic.

When does Jubilee open?

Jubilee is targeted for a 2028 opening. It's a large mixed-use project (a 75-room hotel, 65 cottages and a town center's worth of restaurant, retail and office space) so that timeline could shift as construction progresses.

Is Wadmalaw Island part of Johns Island?

They're separate islands connected by a short causeway, but Wadmalaw's small cluster of farms, wineries and distilleries makes it a natural add-on to a Johns Island visit rather than a separate trip.