Fun with Friends in the Southeast

The Lakehouse Inn at Sledd Creek

Gilbertsville, KY

A late-1950s Kentucky Lake motor lodge reborn as a warm, spotless boutique inn where two resort pools, gas and wood firepits, and a lawn full of cornhole and washers turn strangers into porch-swing friends. It feels less like a place you check into and more like a lake house the whole neighborhood was invited to.

Bardstown Motor Lodge

Bardstown, KY

The 1959 Bardstown Parkview, restored with a farm-to-table restaurant, fire pit courtyard, and swim club pool. A retro rec room survives intact and the original bones underneath earned every year since.

Mother Earth Motor Lodge

Kinston, NC

A 1963 frame revived by the founder of a local brewery that made this neighborhood worth visiting, with a year-round pool and mini golf on the grounds. One block from the taproom.

The Longleaf Hotel

Raleigh, NC

A Sixties Travelodge discovered beneath stucco, stripped to its bones, and restored as the most specific stay in downtown Raleigh. Longleaf pine wallpaper in every room, strong morning coffee, and free parking.

The Roost Ocean Springs

Ocean Springs, MS

Rooms on a covered gallery veranda overlooking a heated pool in a restored 1894 Southern building. The Wilbur speakeasy and Maringouin restaurant on-site.

Nobleton Hotel

Fort Lauderdale, FL

A tidy, personally run beach hideaway on a quiet residential block, with kitchenette rooms and a palm-shaded pool a short walk from the sand. It trades resort scale for the feel of a friend's low-key beach place, the kind of stay guests come back to year after year.

Royal Palms Motel

Tybee Island, GA

Tybee's retro surf stop sits a block from the sand, with balconied rooms wrapped around a fountain courtyard and a big pool at the center. Come for the beach out the door and the hands-on owners, an easy island base with everything you need and none of the fluff.