10 favorite inns

By HERBERT L. HILLER

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001

The big resorts lure guests with their multiple swimming pools, golf courses, tennis courts and variety of restaurants. But for many vacationers, the feel of small places is more attractive. Here is a sampling of some of Florida's top small hotels and B&Bs.

Note: The number in parentheses after each listing refers to one of the seven regions shown on the accompanying state map on this page.

Freelance writer Herb Hiller, who lives in North Florida, is a longtime writer about the state's inns.

The Gardens Hotel

526 Angela St.

Key West, FL 33040

Toll-free 1-800-526-2664; (305) 294-2661

E-mail: reservations@gardenshotel.com

Web: www.gardenshotel.com

Forget about the devil in the details. Instead, think of the angel of caring that created lush gardens around a pool and filled 17 cottage units with Asian vase lamps and furniture of rare yew. Bach plays in arboretumlike breakfast rooms where cereals are organic, cheeses select and croissants as puffy as cherubs. (6)

Grove Isle Club & Resort

4 Grove Isle Drive

Coconut Grove, FL 33133

Toll-free 1-800-884-7683; (305) 858-8300

E-mail: reservations@groveisle.com

Web: www.groveisle.com

This dainty hotel on an island of towering condos pampers guests in large, bilevel, sumptuously textured suites with terra cotta tile floors, travertine table tops, Navajo-style area rugs, faucets that cascade water and all lighting on dimmers. Balconies overlook Biscayne Bay; so, too, the canopied tables in the gardens for a la carte breakfasts. (6)

The Pillars at New River Sound

111 N Birch Road

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304

Toll-free 1-800-800-7666; (954) 467-9639

E-mail: reservations@pillarshotel.com

Web: www.pillarshotel.com

Think Venice in the Caribbean at this two-story townhouse with pool, a block from the beach on the Intracoastal Waterway. Italian music floods airy public spaces done in olive green and burnt orange, with topiary trees and fluted columns. Guest rooms have planter's chairs, bedcovers in botanical prints and framed palms with their Latin names. (6)

White Orchid Inn

1104 S Oceanshore Blvd.

Flagler Beach, FL 32136

(904) 439-4944

E-mail: info@whiteorchidinn.com

Web: www.whiteorchidinn.com

Guests see how this large 1945 house with annex and pool on a shore road defines otherwise nondescript Flagler Beach. Its authentic deco character shows in glass block, curved walls, a bamboo bar and a gift shop of streamlined artifacts. The innkeepers (former restaurateurs from the Hamptons) are passionate about breakfasts. (2)

St. Francis Inn

279 St. George St.

St. Augustine, FL 32084

Toll-free 1-800-824-6062; (904) 824-6068

E-mail: innceasd@aug.com

Web: www.stfrancisinn.com

The dour look is banished at this refurbished, vine-covered house. Built of plank and coquina in 1845, it is newly redeemed, with a bricked pool patio, four-poster beds and comfy wingback chairs on carpeted floors that squeak intimately with age. Dickensian breakfasts might include piggy pudding, tomato pie and flaky blueberry cobbler. (2)

Elizabeth Pointe Lodge

98 S Fletcher Ave.

Amelia Island, FL 32034

Toll-free 1-800-772-3359; (904) 277-4851

E-mail: info@elizabethpointelodge.com

Web: www.elizabethpointelodge.com

Families love this shingled oceanfront lodge that, though almost new, looks weathered by a century of offshore winds. High parlor walls of books and games seem to mellow kids into their best behavior. Families can use a kitchen to prepare their own foods, though a full breakfast comes with the rates. Regional and seafaring art details large guest rooms. (2)

Hotel Escalante

290 Fifth Ave. S

Naples, FL 34102

Toll-free 1-877-485-3466; (941) 659-3466

E-mail: hotelesc@earthlink.net

Web: www.hotelescalante.com

The landscaping teems. All else is understated: the low scale, the earthy colors and textures, the matter-of-fact luxury. Behind the walled perimeter, 71 guest rooms seem to be silent chambers, the linens silken; showers are virtual waterfalls. Breakfast is served in the library, beside the pool and pergola. (7)

The Lark Inn

37438 Meridian Ave.

Dade City, FL 33525

(352) 521-3289

E-mail: bobandjo@thelarkinn.com

Web: www.thelarkinn.com

Mansions around the South have contributed to a master builder's restoration. Colors are bold, rooms themed -- one bejeweled in an echo of imperial India, one in formal stripes, another comically hayseed blue -- and all have hillsides of bed pillows. Breakfasts in this inn shame dinners elsewhere. (5)

Palmer Place Bed & Breakfast Inn

P.O. Box 507

625 W Palmer Mill Road

Monticello, FL 32345-1332

(850) 997-5519

E-mail: eleanor@palmerplace.com

Web: www.palmerplace.com

This antebellum mansion on 10 garden acres 26 miles east of Tallahassee is an exceptional value. It is within walking distance of Monticello's historic downtown. Its broad halls and five spacious guest rooms, in Williamsburg colors, are filled with exceptional 19th century antiques. A full breakfast is served, plus afternoon wine and cheese on a sun-bathed porch. (1)

Henderson Park Inn

2700 Scenic Highway 98 E

Destin, FL 32541

Booking agent 1-800-336-4853, inn (850) 654-0400

E-mail: innkeeper@hendersonparkinn.com

Web: www.hendersonparkinn.com

Beside the beach at road's end, this three-story, shingled, Cape May-style hotel built in 1992 evokes the coastal Panhandle of a century ago. Reproduction antiques fill 36 luxurious guest rooms accented with fringed lamps and romantically nautical art. A complimentary full breakfast is served in an intimate restaurant. Swimming pool. (1)

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