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Many of the lodging selections here revolve around extended-stay options: resorts, condos, and time-shares that allow for a week or more in simple efficiencies, as well as fully furnished homes. There are also cabins, such as the ones that rest between the dunes at Grayton Beach. In any case, these are great for families and get-togethers, allowing you to do your own housekeeping and cooking, and explore the area without tour guides.
Local visitors' bureaus often act as clearinghouses for these types of properties, and you can also search online for vacation rentals. On the coast, but especially inland, the choices seem geared more toward mom-and-pop motels in addition to the usual line of chain hotels. During the summer and over holiday weekends, always reserve ahead for top properties.
This urban-chic hotel provides the tree-lined downtown district with a bit of trendy fun courtesy of loft-style rooms with bright, minimalist decor. The hotel encourages travelers to get social in the w xyz bar, which buzzes after dark, or around the pool table in the re:mix lounge. Guest rooms are on the small side but have great amenities for the techie—a plug-and-play connectivity station and complimentary Wi-Fi—as well as bathrooms with rain shower heads.
Back-to-nature enthusiasts love these two-bedroom, tin-roofed duplexes—each named after a different species of tree and each sleeping up to six—set among the state park's sand pines and scrub oaks, a five-minute walk from the beach via a private boardwalk. Although the cabins are basic, they do have central heat and air-conditioning and full-size kitchens. Gas fireplaces, barbecue grills, and screen porches are homey touches.
Right on the Gulf, this hotel offers incredible views at one of the beach's most affordable prices. It also offers award-winning cuisine at H20 Restaurant, buzzing nightlife at Latitudes Beach Bar, and a number of beach and family-friendly amenities, including a grab-and-go deli for taking food to the beach and two- and three-bedroom suites facing the Gulf. Off-season, you can enjoy the heated indoor pool.
If you like your inns small, warm, and cozy, with the bay on one side and a short two-block walk to the downtown historic area on the other, this is the one for you. Each room is named for a prominent historical figure and has antiques and period pieces tied to the city’s storied past. The recently remodeled hotel also has a Bridal Suite and 24-hour business center.
This hotel offers a bit of style in a central location—amid the Downtown action but within a reasonable distance of the beaches—for a great price. The staff is friendly, the rooms and lobby have a hip, retro-modern feel to them, and the patio has a cool, throwback fountain to congregate around before heading Downtown to dine or shop.
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