In a world where hotel brands and boutique inns are in a never-ending race to amp up the luxury, it’s the quirkier amenities that stand out. Sure, welcome cocktails are nice, but it’s when the concierge shares that there are in-house mah-jongg lessons or a menu devoted entirely to pillows that we get truly excited. We’re giving five stars to the following amenities at hotels around the South:
Press Here for Biscuits
In terms of Southern comfort food, there’s really nothing like the soul-soothing nibble of a fluffy biscuit. Of course, the hotter and fresher the better, and so the Alida Savannah introduced something brilliant: the Biscuit Button. The in-room dining experience can deliver a three-tiered tray of biscuits complete with petite containers of preserves and a hefty knob of butter that I believe my primary care provider might describe as a potential health risk. Or, guests can scan the QR code (not an actual button) between the hours of 5:00 and 9:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and rejoice at the arrival of a fried chicken biscuit topped with pickles. No surprise, Isabel Caravela, the property’s publicist, says, “While we’ve only recently introduced it, the response has been delightful.”
Aqua Man < Aqua Butler
In the last ten years, various iterations of butlers—sleep butlers, book butlers, limerick butlers (yes, you read that right)—have proliferated. But here’s a new one we can endorse: the Pool Butler. Like a pool boy, but better, St. Regis Longboat Key Resort’s Pool Butler offers everything from bathing suit refresh services to sunglass cleanings. Need a cocktail asap? Simply scan your cabana QR code and the butler comes running to hand you a Mai Tai while you’re soaking in cool waters. They can book you a dinner reservation or take your order for anything on the Vilebrequin Pool & Cabana Club menu.
A Library of One’s Own
Reading retreats are having a moment, but you don’t have to book a literary tour with a bunch of strangers to maximize your page turns. Hotel Emma in San Antonio’s Pearl District has a 3,700-volume library filled with first editions exclusively available to guests.
The collection comes courtesy of the novelist, cultural anthropologist, and Harvard fellow Sherry Kafka Wagner, and really plays into every bibliophile’s dreams. There’s a vintage card system guests can use to browse the two-story stacks before enjoying their reads within the stunning room or checked out for on-site enjoyment. In the afternoons, a bartender can fix cocktails to drink alongside the stories—because nothing says plot twist like a perfectly timed old-fashioned.
Borrow a Barbour
A visit to Primland, Virginia’s luxury mountain lodge in the southwestern Blue Ridge, requires showing up properly equipped. Primland understands that not having the right gear shouldn’t take away from the experiences of clay-shooting or cocktails in the field, so they’ve partnered with Britain’s most iconic waxed jacket brand to introduce the Barbour Borrowing Closet.
Guests can rent—or purchase from—a curated wardrobe featuring Barbour staples, including the Classic Beaufort Wax Jacket and Nimbus Boots for men and the Classic Beadnell Wax Jacket and Banbury Wellington Boots for women. To make the experience seamless, the resort’s concierge team can pre-select items and sizes ahead of arrival so everything is waiting in the room. It’s all designed to enhance Primland’s new Mountain Adventures with Barbour, which might include a private guided walk across the property’s scenic terrain alongside Primland’s resident naturalist.
Seeing Stars at Serenbe
Forty percent of Gen Z travelers supposedly consult zodiac readings to plan their trips, so it feels only fitting—cosmically speaking—that Serenbe, the historic farm community on the edge of Atlanta, is leaning all the way in with its new Astrological Counseling offering. Dr. Laura Tadd uses a guest’s exact time, date, and place of birth to construct a personalized natal chart mapping the planets’ positions at the moment they entered the world. From there, the insights get channeled into one of two tailored sessions: The Cosmos or Stellar Parenting. Whether you’re trying to decode a romantic situation or just figure out why your child acts like Mercury is perpetually in retrograde, the goal is the same—turning a little celestial curiosity into practical guidance.
Meet a Mermaid
One need only look at the enduring popularity of the mermaid shows at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park to appreciate the lasting appeal of Ariel and her underwater counterparts. The attraction first opened in 1947 and continues to delight audiences today in Spring Hill, Florida. For families seeking a more immersive mermaid experience, the Island Resort at Fort Walton Beach offers a magical encounter of its own. At the resort’s Grotto Pool, the resident mermaid, Misty, charms guests by posing for photos, signing autographs, and bringing the fantasy to life. Young visitors can even take home her book, The Missing Tiara, as a keepsake from their real-life mermaid adventure.
A Pup-fluencer Stay
Dog-friendly has truly ascended to new heights. What was once a grudging agreement to let a pooch stay in a hotel room has become a red carpet affair with more than just treats for furry travel companions. Case in point: Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead’s Pawfect Stay package.
Dogs don’t just get special Ripple Home Sleep Rounds to curl up in at Waldorf Astoria—they’re treated to a full-blown Wagboard, the hotel’s dog-friendly answer to a charcuterie spread. After polishing off the pupu platter (yes, really), four-legged guests can hit the town with a curated walking map of nearby pet-friendly spots, plus a branded tennis ball and Waldorf Astoria bandana for maximum canine cuteness.
Kinsey Gidick is a freelance writer based in Central Virginia. She previously served as editor in chief of Charleston City Paper in Charleston, South Carolina, and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, BBC, Atlas Obscura, and Anthony Bourdain’s Explore Parts Unknown, among others. When not writing, she spends her time traveling with her son and husband. Read her work at kinseygidick.com.
