Large beach resorts, with their flashy pools and cabana setups, can be wonderful, but sometimes a more intimate coastal getaway feels like the true luxury. Thankfully, the South is home to numerous seaside inns that have offered such quiet respite for decades—historic destinations where the scenery is lush, the amenities are top-tier, and the answer to “What’s streaming?” almost always refers to the tides. Here are a handful of our favorites.
Beaufort, South Carolina
Scenic Beaufort is straight out of a summer romance novel. Due to its occupation by Union troops during the Civil War, the town was spared the torch in Sherman’s “March to the Sea”—a boon for historic architecture appreciators today. Initially built in 1790, the Cuthbert House was meticulously restored earlier this year with a refreshed color palette to emphasize its waterfront views and ten updated quarters grouped into three categories—Federal, Victorian, and Lowcountry—allowing guests to experience the property’s uniquely American timeline.
Irvington, Virginia
The quiet village of Irvington is a place you’ll only find on purpose. Tucked into the state’s Northern Neck on a private peninsula off of Carter’s Creek, Tides Inn was built in 1947 and promoted in publications like the New Yorker with the tagline “Quiet Quality.” That remains a calling card, albeit one elevated by a 2020 renovation that added luxury updates to the property’s outdoor terrace (a prime spot for evening cocktails overlooking the water) and new suites. No visit is complete without getting out on the bay, a prospect Tides makes easy with in-house coffee cruises, sailing charters, kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards.
Cumberland Island, Georgia
If you’re looking for a true off-the-grid coastal sanctuary, the all-inclusive Greyfield Inn might be the place. Nineteenth-century industrialist Thomas Carnegie certainly thought so when he built the sole commercial establishment on the island in 1900 for his daughter. In 2018, the ferry-access-only estate unveiled its first renovation in four decades—upgrading the second-floor, nineteenth-century bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and adding central air to the dining room. While the real draw is the vast marshland outside its doors, the added creature comforts make a day of birding, fishing, or hiking all the more enticing.
Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
The story goes that Samuel G. Jones made his first million at age thirty-one after inventing the “stoker,” a machine designed to feed coal into locomotives. That was the kind of wealth that, by the 1950s, could afford a man a castle—or at least a grand estate he could call one. The Virginia tycoon built his seven-gabled, wood-shingled masterpiece on isolated Ocracoke, flying in on his private plane once a week to enjoy its vast porches and waterfront views. You too can appreciate those amenities via the original inn or the villas built next door in 1998, along with a pool and pool house added in 2000.
Boca Grande, Florida
There’s a reason Garden & Gun hosted its 2023 Society Gathering in Boca Grande, Florida. The Gasparilla Inn & Club (circa 1913) remains as much of a premier Gulf-front destination as it did when the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Henry Ford, and other twentieth-century celebrities and tycoons were regular guests. In 2021, Kemble Interiors refreshed its beach-chic look while maintaining the inn’s ultra-private mystique and Old Florida appeal.
St. Michael’s, Maryland
Any cinephile will likely recognize the stunning lawn at Maryland’s Inn at Perry Cabin, made famous in the 2005 film Wedding Crashers. But this historic retreat—which dates to 1816—is more than its rom-com bonafides. Naval officer Samuel Hambleton retired there, naming the property after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, under whom he’d served at the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. The inn, which got a seventy-eight-room refresh in 2017, is the definition of Eastern Shore elegance, complete with afternoon tea overlooking the Miles River.
Pawleys Island, South Carolina
The sleepier coastal cousin of Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island is where visitors treasure a rope hammock more than a bustling boardwalk. And you’ll find them swinging on the wide porches of this 1840s eight-guest-room affair. Originally built as a summer escape for Plowden Charles Jenrette Weston of Hagley Plantation in nearby Georgetown, it’s now run as a B&B by Corinne and Bruce Taylor, who purchased the property in 2010. The Atlantans decamp from the city each Memorial Day through Labor Day to run the inn, serving breakfast and lunch and encouraging guests to enjoy all the live-oak-surrounded property has to offer. As Charleston restaurateur Brooks Reitz recently wrote in his Substack, “It is more camp than a hotel.” That means bare feet are okay, and the most significant recent renovation was a coat of fresh paint.
