Best Hotels For Fall Foliage Sightseeing

Fall is one of my favorite times to travel.  Getting outdoors doesn’t require a first-aid kit stocked with water and Benadryl and the scenery can be breathtaking.

Looking for a little fall travel inspiration?  Book a weekend at one of these hotels for a fall getaway and enjoy some of the greatest views of fall foliage.

3 Hotels For A Fall Vacation

Castlemaine Inn

Castlemaine Inn – Bar Harbor, Maine

Wake up on a crisp autumn morning in a New England bed and breakfast, spend the day driving through Arcadia National Park, and end with a quiet evening in front of your suite’s fireplace.  Add a knit scarf and leather boots and you have the perfect building blocks for a fall getaway at Castlemaine Inn in Bar Harbor.

St. Regis Aspen Resort – Aspen, Colorado

If you prefer decadent luxury over comfortable charm, the St. Regis may be provide a better backdrop to your fall fantasies.  Be pampered with butler services and spa treatments.  Listed on the 2010 Condé Nast Traveler Gold List, the St. Regis sits at the foot of the Aspen Mountain.  Bring your camera and your favorite book.

Glacier Park Lodge – East Glacier Park, Montana

Want to get away from it all this fall?  You can’t get much more away than the Glacier Park Lodge.  Built in 1912, this hotel provides easy access to Glacier National Park, and not much else.  But what the Lodge is (purposefully) lacking in modern technology, it makes up for with rustic charm and sweeping views.  Leave the blackberry at home and let yourself get back to basics for a weekend in this over-sized log cabin.

Photos courtesy of banspy on Flickr, Castlemaine Inn

On my quest to ferret out the most economically priced accommodations (read “cheap”) as I backpacked through Mexico, I’ve stayed in hostels, hotels, B&B’s and inns that have ranged from utterly disgusting to marginal to amazing finds. In the central Mexican town of Queretaro I discovered one of the latter. Casa San Gallito was represented as a hostel but from the moment I set foot on the property it became a home away from home.

Mixed sex doem

If you weren’t looking specifically for this hostel it would be easy to miss. The unassuming entrance is just an open doorway in a long row of flat-facade colonial buildings, with only a placard sign set in the center of the doorway to advertise what is within, but step around the sign and into a lovely open courtyard dotted with tables, chairs and potted plants. Beyond the courtyard are more common areas, including the best kitchen I have ever seen in a hostel, where breakfast (which is included in the room rate) is served every morning, and a full living room with couches, bean bag chairs, TV, library, and computer. Unlike other hostels, which often provide minuscule common areas, the living room at Casa San Gallito Hostel was large enough to accommodate Read More »

When I backpacked around the world for six months in 2007 I stayed in scores of hotels, motels, hostels, and B&B’s ranging from five star resorts to real dumps, but my goal was always to find the best value for the money. The Windsor Hotel Bed and Breakfast in Christchurch, New Zealand was one of my very best finds and to this day is one of my favorite places.

The Windsor Hotel Bed and Breakfast

From the moment I stepped through the front door, every effort was made to ensure my stay was pleasant and comfortable. The hotel manager began with a personal tour of the entire facility. The Windsor is a cross between a traditional hotel and a hostel. The  guest rooms are lined up along one side of the long hallways, while separate washbasin, shower, bath, and toilet rooms line the opposite side of the halls. Sharing bathrooms can sometimes be uncomfortable, if not downright onerous, but in this case the  facilities were separate – some rooms contained toilets, others had only washbasins, while still others held only showers – and there were so many separate rooms that I never felt as if I was sharing. The rooms themselves are furnished with comfortable beds, Read More »

During a recent family trip to Seaside, Florida, (one of my all-time favorite places) to visit the white sandy beaches in the Panhandle, I happened by Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley. A SPECTACULAR building from the street, and apparently, even more spectacular on the inside. The Bed & Breakfast is adorned in Vera Bradley style; each room is decorated in the pattern of a different Vera Bradley signature fabric.

Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley

As it is qualified as a bed & breakfast (few and far between at the beach in north Florida), complimentary continental breakfast is available, but some reviews I found indicate, you may have a better breakfast at a nearby restaurant. (I HIGHLY suggest the Great Southern Cafe in the town square of Seaside. Order the gouda cheese grits and beignets – you will NOT be disappointed.) Staying in a bed & breakfast normally qualifies you for extra special touches, and rumor has it that they give you your own Vera Bradley bag as a welcome gift. Considering their bags are in the $50 range, that’s a pretty special take-home gift.

Some of the rooms will sleep more than two people, but having two young children myself, I would be too worried of their clumsy feet and elbows around the stylish decorations to bring them along for the visit. If you’re a romantic, or are looking for a romantic seaside getaway, the Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley, should be a contender for your stay.

Because I ‘happened’ by the Inn and had heard about it being in Seaside, I thought I’d stop in to check it out unannounced, but unfortunately, it was locked and not open to the public. Reservations can be made through Cottage Rental Agency, but in my opinion, it’s very difficult to make an online reservation or find the per-night rate. Each room is listed separately, so unless you want to check each room for each length-of-stay, I’d suggest calling them directly to make a reservation. The one reservation I found was about $240/night for a fall weekend stay, and considering the location in Seaside, that is a fairly reasonable price.

Grand Victorian entrance at Inn by the Sea

Inn by the Sea, Vera Bradley, Room 7, Palm

38 Seaside Ave
Santa Rosa Beach, FL‎
800.277.8696‎

Room view photo courtesy of Cottage Rental Agency