Where to stay in Savannah for St. Patrick's Day

The parade steps off on March 17 at Abercorn and Gwinnett at 10:15 in the morning, works its way along Broughton, East Broad and Bay, up Bull Street, and finishes at Harris. That route is the single most useful fact for planning a St. Patrick's Day trip, because it tells you what the roads inside the Historic District are going to be doing all morning. Once you know that, choosing a house gets simple: either you park once and walk everywhere, or you base yourself east of town and come in before the barricades go up.

For a group of six or fewer, the honest answer is that both work, and the second one is usually cheaper and quieter at 2am. Here's how we'd point people, with the real homes.

A group of six, three bedrooms, no fuss

Newly Renovated Savannah Home, 15 Min to Beach, is where most small groups should start, even though it has four bedrooms rather than three. It sits halfway between downtown and Tybee, in a quiet residential stretch, with off-street parking for three cars: two on the driveway, one on the street. That parking is worth more than it sounds during parade week. The dining room seats six with a breakfast nook for four, and the backyard is fully fenced. It has hosted a lot of groups, and the reviews bear that out.

If your group is genuinely six and you'd rather not pay for a fourth bedroom, look at Coastal Home w Spa Midway to Savannah & Tybee, which sits on over an acre about ten minutes from downtown and fifteen from North Tybee Beach. The master suite has a private screened balcony over the marsh, and there's a spa in the yard. After a day standing on Bay Street, the spa does more for a group than another square foot of living room.

One thing to know about the island-side houses generally: the roads out there don't have sidewalks, so you'll be driving or calling a car for everything. That's fine, but it shapes the trip. Nobody is strolling home from River Street.

If you want to walk to the parade and walk home

Then you want the Historic District, and you want it for one reason: Bull Street, Broughton and Bay are all on the route, which means the parade comes to your block rather than you going to it.

Large 1882 Estate with 8BR, Near Forsyth Park, Parking is an 1882 Italianate property one block from Forsyth Park: a four-storey main house, a garden apartment with its own door off the sidewalk, and a carriage house above a one-car garage. Eight bedrooms across three separate entrances and three kitchens, which is why it suits groups of sixteen rather than six. But it's worth knowing about even if you're four people, because of what sits on your doorstep. The Greening of the Fountain happens in Forsyth Park in early March, and the free DOT trolley picks up a block away and runs every fifteen minutes into the Historic District.

Street parking in front is metered, free after 5pm and all day Saturday and Sunday, with one spot in the garage. Pets, parties and events are not allowed, and the city's noise ordinance runs from 8pm to 8am, which is enforced more earnestly in March than you might expect. This is a house for people who want to be in the middle of the week and go to bed in a quiet room with original woodwork around them.

For a downtown group closer to a dozen, Downtown Savannah Estate for 12 Guests in 2 Units splits across two units with free parking, and Renovated Dog Friendly Duplex Near Food & Fun! does the same thing for ten and takes dogs.

The case for basing east of the city

Downtown Savannah to Tybee Island is about eighteen miles and roughly half an hour on a normal day. On parade morning it is not a normal day, and the heaviest traffic on that single road runs between ten and noon, which is precisely when the parade is moving. So the island-side strategy only works if you drive in early, park once, and stay in town until the afternoon thins out.

Do that, and the houses east of the city start to look very good. Dogs Welcome! Coastal Oasis Pool near Beach & City is a single-level four-bedroom on Wilmington Island with a saltwater pool, an air hockey table in the game room, and room for four cars in the driveway. The pool is maintained year-round but not heated, which in mid-March means it's for looking at rather than swimming in.

Downtown Savannah Oasis w Heated Pool & Spa solves that. Its saltwater pool is heated from October through April for a nightly fee, and the hot tub runs all year. Four bedrooms, three of them with king beds, parking for four cars, and a backyard with loungers, a barbecue area and an ice maker in the kitchen, which matters more than it should when nine people come back thirsty. Worth knowing before you book: there's a sporting gun club nearby that's active during the day. Most guests find it background noise. If you have someone who'll be bothered, book elsewhere.

Tybee runs its own Heritage Parade on the Saturday before, in the middle of the afternoon, which is a gentler way to do the week if the downtown crowds aren't the appeal.

Picking between them

• Six people, want to cook, don't mind driving: Newly Renovated Savannah Home, three cars off-street, fenced yard.
• Six to ten, want water and a game room: Coastal Oasis on Wilmington Island, single level, four cars.
• Nine, want the hot tub working in March: Downtown Savannah Oasis, heated pool October to April.
• Ten and a dog, downtown: Renovated Dog Friendly Duplex, free parking.
• Twelve to sixteen, walking distance to the route: Downtown Savannah Estate or the 1882 Estate by Forsyth Park.
• Eighteen or more: Large Home & Modern Airstream Camper Sleeps 21!, a 3,500-plus square foot house on an acre with an Airstream parked alongside it.

What to sort out before you book

St. Patrick's Day week is the one time of year when a Savannah booking needs a conversation rather than a click. Three things decide the trip.

Parking. If you're staying downtown, count your cars first and the bedrooms second. The 1882 Estate has one garage spot and metered street parking; the island houses have driveways that take three or four. Groups who arrive in three cars and booked a one-spot house spend their weekend feeding meters and watching the street-sweeping schedule.

House rules. Several of our homes sit in residential neighbourhoods where parties and events are not permitted, and a couple allow a celebration only with prior coordination and a venue fee. If your group is marking something, say so when you book rather than after you arrive. It's usually arrangeable. It is never arrangeable at 9pm on a Saturday.

Dogs. Most of the island-side houses take them, with a per-dog nightly fee. The downtown historic properties don't. One of the Wilmington Island homes has a yard that backs onto a pond with an open gate, so dogs need supervising there.

Book direct with us and there's a 10% saving on the booking, subject to your dates and the home. Then text us the week before. We'll tell you which streets to avoid on the morning of the 17th, where to leave the car, and what's on at River Street and City Market after the parade finishes on Bull Street.

Fifty-four homes across Savannah and Tybee, and the right one for your group depends almost entirely on how many of you are driving. Tell us that and the rest is easy.