For many years, Savannah and Charleston have been billed as rival sister cities. As the story went, both of them had colonial pedigrees — Charleston was founded in 1670, Savannah in 1733 — and airs of patrician gentility engendered by the mansions of their historic districts, but Savannah was the good-times girl compared with her more straight-laced older sibling. This storyline got a big boost in 1994 from the best-selling novel (and subsequent movie) “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” with a plot that spun on the eccentric high jinks of Savannah life behind closed doors.

Today, though, the two cities, which are only a little more than 100 miles apart, are often visited on the same trip and have increasingly come to resemble each other. Both have thriving economies — Savannah is now the busiest port on the East Coast after New York — two of the best and most unique restaurant scenes in the United States, and an ever-growing constellation of museums and attractions.

The popularity of this twin-city destination explains why their respective hotel portfolios continue to grow. Recent openings include the 41-room Spectator Hotel, an establishment where Jazz Age glamour meets the Old South, and the 145-room Kimpton Brice Hotel in Savannah, which aspires to a contemporary Brooklyn vibe.