It just depends on which direction you turn when you go up the stairs at the side entrance, tucked between Soby's and Soby's On the Side in downtown Greenville. Go to the right, and you enter the residence, but go to the left and you are in the heart of dinner party central.

Gina Boulware, director of marketing at Soby's, said the apartment was an opportunity to provide something new to the area.

"So it just worked out to be really unique," she added.

The apartment suite (living room, two beds, two baths) will run you $400 per night.

Dinner in the apartment begins at $80 per person for four courses, plus hors d'ouvres upon arrival. The dining room table can seat up to 24.

The apartment was conceived in a moment of novelty; nobody knew what to do with the extra space above Soby's on the Side.

The apartment has hosted everybody from Hillary Clinton to Kurt Russell to NHL Hall of Famer Don Edwards to members of the Egyptian military. But regular folks can still use it, too.

Like its clients, the decór is an eclectic mix, best described as shabby chic. "I wanted to give the apartment a lofty feel," says Nathan Fowler of Fowler Interiors, the company responsible for the décor. "Yet cozy at the same time."

Original brick walls peep out from sophisticated and finely finished paint. Modern glass art complements framed historic pieces and works by local artists. The goal was to create a comfortable, personal feel.

The best part of the whole space, according to Boulware?

"It's like being in somebody's home," she said, "but you don't have to cook or clean up."