This aging gem was opened in 1851 by enterprising innkeeper Mary Marshall, making it the city’s oldest hotel. In the Civil War it served as a hospital, while Joel Chandler Harris, author of the famous “Uncle Remus” stories (of Br’er Rabbit and company), lived here in the late 1860s. The budget Petite Queen Rooms are small as you’d expect, old and a little worn, but the location in the heart of the historic district cannot be beat and the wine reception is usually a sociable event. If you can afford it, the Broughton Balcony Rooms are the best in the hotel and a real treat, opening out onto the spacious, wrought-iron veranda.