Looking for a Florida Bed & Breakfast Getaway?
Where to Find the Best Inns in Historic St. Augustine
Sep 21, 2008
Barely two decades ago, if an oyster shell was tossed in St. Augustine, it might hit the ancient brick roads that lattice the old district with a distinct clunk. But today it would more likely smack a bed and breakfast or an inn.
The bed and breakfast and boutique hotel scene is thriving in St. Augustine. Where once there were but a handful of B&Bs in the late 80s and early 90s, there now flourish more than 30 inns and B&Bs.
Steeped in Minorcan heritage, the nation’s first city was founded by Spaniard Pedro Menendez de Avilés in 1565. The Spanish influence lives on today in the city’s people, architecture and cuisine. Centuries later, railroad tycoon Henry Morrison Flagler would make his inimitable mark on the coastal community building stately churches, elegant Victorian homes, and grand hotels. Flagler’s 540-room Ponce de Leon Hotel opened in 1888 and was emblematic of the Gilded Age, filled each season to overflowing with well-heeled guests.
Tradition, culture, beaches, cuisine, and a rich history draw visitors to St. Augustine. The luxury lodgings turn first timers into repeat visitors.
The Best of the Best
The Inn on Charlotte (52 Charlotte Street, 904-829-3849)
Built in 1918 and restored in 2003, this lovely Inn is the epitome of Southern comfort with large porches and a plush parlor that invites a sit-down afternoon chat. Each of the 8 well-appointed guest rooms features private baths, cable television and WiFi. Two rooms share a verandah where guests can enjoy a morning coffee or enjoy a romantic night cap.
Owner Lynne Fairfield serves a two-course gourmet breakfast daily in the dining room. A sample breakfast may include fresh berries in season followed by a piquant breakfast wrap served with grits seasoned with chipotle pepper in adobo. Afternoon refreshments may include Southern pecans, sweet grapes, and hot-out-of-the oven chocolate chip cookies served with red or white wine.
Room rates range from $129 to $289 and vary depending on whether bookings are midweek, weekend, and in season or off season.
Casa de Solana (21 Aviles Street, 1-888-796-0980, 904-824-3555)
A year ago, this Inn at the heart of the old city was badly in need of rescue repair and TLC. New owners Jeffrey Sonia and Luis Castro took on the task and have transformed a bland property into one of the loveliest. Nestled behind a walled courtyard lush with tropical flowers and banana trees, the 10-room Inn is one of St. Augustine’s oldest residences built between 1803 and 1821 by Don Manuel Solana.
The Inn is an excellent example of Spanish Colonial architecture with its beamed ceilings, balconies and doors opening into the courtyard, but also reflects English style with its high ceilings and doors opening into the street. This old world charmer covers an entire city block.
In restoring the Inn, Sonia and Castro chose beautiful furnishings, paintings, wall coverings and accents that reproduce the taste and style of the home’s former glory decorating throughout from a color palette representative of the Colonial period. Seven of the rooms feature fireplaces and many have spacious whirlpool baths.
Guests enjoy homemade breakfast daily in the refined dining room as well as evening socials. Fresh-baked cookies sweeten an afternoon in the garden.
The Inn also offers an experience for guests who would like to test their sea legs. The SeaClusion, a 38-foot motor yacht, sleeps one to four guests, providing all the amenities afforded landlubbers.
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