20 Exceptional Bed and Breakfasts Across America

Bed and breakfast. The mere mention of those three words usually elicits one of two responses. Enthusiasm from those who genuinely love sharing their morning with complete strangers after sleeping on a bed of dubious quality. And eye-rolling from those who don't. But those in the latter category might rethink that position after reading about these 20 places across the country that go outside the usual B&B script. From accommodations that don't require you to hang out with folks you don't know (but still give you delicious morning meals), to inns that offer a chance to pretend you're Elvis or Marilyn — and pretty much everything in between — here are 20 bed and breakfasts that break the tired old mold.

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Comfort, Texas
Sometimes B&Bs evoke images of Victorian furniture and flocked wallpaper, but Camp Comfort is not that. With suites, cabins, and even an Airstream available to rent, this bed and breakfast, about an hour outside San Antonio, keeps things modern and hip with its decor and organic come-when-you-want breakfasts. There's a "social hall" in the site's former bowling alley where guests can commune over coffee, cookies, and board games, a Cypress Creek swimming hole mere steps from the property, and roaring fire pits at night — for which guests can purchase s'mores kits with proceeds going to the local library. The nearby town of Comfort, offers plenty of antique shopping, restaurants, wineries, and nearly 100 historic buildings for history buffs.

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Big Island, Hawaii
Like your B&B experience with a side of ocean? Located on a 30-acre tropical estate 1,400 feet up Mount Hualālai, this inn offers panoramic ocean views, accommodations appointed in "an inviting style of Polynesian elegance," and a gourmet, farm-to-table breakfast that features seasonal local fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Visitors can sip 100% Kona coffee while sitting in a gazebo overlooking the estate's 4,000+ coffee trees, and there's a pool, hot tub, and plenty of space to find a quiet nook to yourself.

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Mills River, North Carolina
This seven-guest room inn begins each day with a gourmet, three-course breakfast, but it's the inn's incredibly verdant grounds that are the real star here. Six acres in western North Carolina's foothills offer hiking, birdwatching, and a chance to commune with nature. Or just sit in one of the many Adirondack chairs or porch rockers and enjoy the peace and quiet. Nearby is the Biltmore Estate, DuPont State Forest, the quaint towns of Hendersonville and Brevard, and Asheville is only about a half-hour drive away.

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Lake Erie
This property offers eight inn rooms, three cottages, and a beach house on the southern shore of Lake Erie. But there's a whole lot more than that, including a full-production winery, farm-to-table restaurant, and a luxury spa that offers 11 types of facials and a massage package that includes wine and cheese. Its well-rested and well-fed visitors can catch the sunset from the inn's multi-tiered patios or from a walk on the beach.

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Huntly, Virginia
This inn once served as a Wells Fargo stagecoach stop in the 1860s, and today it continues its hospitable history with "lavishly appointed" rooms and suites, a spa, gourmet breakfasts, and its Wine Spectator award-winning Houndstooth restaurant — all in the gorgeous setting of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 2018, it earned TripAdvisor's "Certificate of Excellence," which is given to accommodations that earn consistently glowing reviews from patrons.

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North Conway, New Hampshire
Nestled in New Hampshire's White Mountains, 1785 consistently earns rave reviews for its panoramas, with Country Magazine saying it's "so picturesque it belongs on a Christmas card," and Frommer's Travel Guide saying it offers "one of the top 15 views in the world from a hotel or inn." If vistas alone aren't enough for you, the Colonial-style inn also offers a pub, swimming pool, and crackling fireplace. And the homemade breakfasts? One TripAdvisor reviewer noted that, "Each morning the breakfast choices left us excited about the next day's surprises."

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Poland, Maine
Another lakefront inn that offers plenty of opportunities to get up close and personal with nature, Wolf Cove knows that the divine lies in the details, offering soft twill sheets, micro-fleece blankets, luxury Turkish towels, pillowtop mattresses, and other small amenities that travelers love. So much so that it has nearly across-the-board 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor. There's also a nearby beach, the inn offers kayaks and canoes for free, and it's even dog-friendly.

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Denver
It's not every B&B that offers the opportunity to stay in a castle, but this accommodation in the heart of urban Denver does. Constructed in 1889 of rusticated lava stone — a combination of quartz, mica, and feldspar that literally sparkles — the inn includes elaborate details both inside and out. It's been operating as a bed and breakfast for 30 years, and features guest rooms and jacuzzi suites appointed in tasteful Victorian decor, and the proprietors serve a gourmet breakfast and afternoon tea and treats each day. It also offers bicycle rentals on which to explore the Mile High City.

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Touchet, Washington
The Cameo, located near Walla Walla, is one of those B&Bs that offers not just tasteful rooms and a gourmet breakfast, but an onsite spa and acclaimed restaurant. But this inn goes even further, with a theater room, library, waterfall swimming pool and hot tub, fire pit, hospitality room, and limo service. The inn also regularly offers specials that get its guests out into the nearby wine region, with guided tours and immersion experiences like "blend your own bottle of wine."

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Fernandina Beach, Florida
Fairbanks House offers multiple types of accommodations, from guest rooms to suites to cottages, on an "eco-friendly, landscaped, smoke-free acre featuring Adirondack chairs, native plants, soaring oaks, fifty-foot magnolias, fragrant jasmine arbors and a butterfly garden." There's also an onsite pool, gourmet breakfasts, complimentary bikes, evening cocktails and social hour, and games and reading materials. It also offers packages for holidays, girls' getaways, and romance, and TripAdvisor reviewers love it: Nearly 98% of its reviews are four and five stars.

Glen Ellen, California
Beltane Ranch is a Sonoma Valley winery that also houses a farm and "ranch house" inn built in 1892. Guests enjoy private entrances, daily chef-prepared breakfasts, and are free to explore the site's 105 acres of gardens, orchards, vineyards, and ranch. The B&B's chef will even prepare a picnic and/or cheese and charcuterie board to enjoy on adventures around the property or from each room's outdoor porch. Many of the inn's culinary offerings come straight from the fruits, veggies, olive oil, and herbs grown on the property.

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Los Alamos, California
If you like a little camp with your B&B experience, this one is for you. Victorian on the outside — meaning, you know, it actually looks like your standard bed and breakfast — things get decidedly more fun on the inside with themed rooms. These include a 1950s-themed suite, complete with neon, diner-style lighting and a 1956 convertible Cadillac from which guests can watch a "drive-in" movie. There are also Gypsy, Roman, Egyptian, and pirate suite themes that feature details such as "hidden bathrooms, spiral staircases, a 750 pound cannon coffee table, an Egyptian sarcophagus, a 1,500 pound solid stone door, swaying sea lanterns, a chariot," and more.

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New Plymouth, Ohio
This castle is a bit less legit than other historical B&Bs on this list — it broke ground in 1994 — but that doesn't mean it's not worth a visit. The inn's original owners were self-described Anglophiles, and they "imbued Ravenwood with the English charm they experienced on their many travels throughout the British Isles." To that end, it has lovely themed rooms — Rapunzel's Tower, the Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth suites, for example — and cabins. And, while its breakfasts and dinners are not necessarily Anglo-inspired cuisine, it does have the Raven's Roost Pub, which is decidedly English-feeling. But the real differentiation from other B&Bs comes in its focus on gaming — guests can choose from one of nearly 180 board games in its gaming library, or join in on other gaming events that happen throughout the year.

North Wildwood, New Jersey
Proprietors Sheila and Rick Brown offer modern amenities at Summer Nites, but in an atmosphere that lets guests feel like they've been transported to the 1950s. There's the Elvis Suite, "Life's a Beach" Room, Marilyn Room, and other '50s rooms with themes of TV, music, and movies. Guests love it — out of 101 reviews on TripAdvisor, 100 are five stars (the other is four stars) — and visitors note that there are jukeboxes, pinball machines, an antique Coke machine, and the proprietor often serves milkshakes and root beer floats to guests who hang out in the afternoon. Breakfasts include fresh-baked bread and fresh fruit, and the innkeeper serves it all in a poodle skirt.

Natchez, Mississippi
This B&B has been in the same family for 140 years, and has antebellum origins. What sets it apart other than its unique history, however, are the regular "Soirée Musicale" concerts, which feature live piano entertainment and complimentary wine. For those who'd rather skip the concert, there is the inn's Antebellum Billiard Hall, built in the style of a Greek temple around 1850. Finally, for history buffs, the bed and breakfast is filled with artifacts, from books to antiques to maps and portraits of the Stone family's past generations and other early Natchez ancestors.

Manitou Springs, Colorado
If wellness is a focus, SunMountain is the B&B for you. Billed as "a creative sanctuary for wellness," it offers a variety of experiences, farm-to-table culinary events, and more. Rooms are available in two historic homes, and there are 6 acres of terraced gardens and biodynamic farms interlaced with walking and meditation trails and stunning views of the Rockies. Or join one of the many retreats or living art happenings, which focus on wellness activities such as yoga, hiking, hot mineral baths, and other healing therapies. All meals are vegetarian and organic, and the kitchen staff focuses on incorporating sustainability into its dishes. If you need a break from all that wellness-focused activity, not to mention a physical challenge, you can always climb the nearby Manitou Springs Incline.

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Salinas, California
Vision Quest promises it's the closest thing to Africa you'll get without leaving the U.S., and when you hear the roars and calls of nearby wildlife mere yards from your themed, canvas-walled "glamping" suite, you might be inclined to agree. Guests can even "enhance the experience" with packages such as the Elephant Bedtime or Big Cat Feeding tours. And even if you don't catch the pachyderms at bedtime, you'll be having breakfast with them in the morning, as Vision Quest coincides its daily breakfasts with feeding time for the elephants. TripAdvisor reviews are more than 93% four and five stars, and guest comments include phrases like "beyond amazing," "awesome experience," and "not to be missed."

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Tucson, Arizona
Less like a bed and breakfast and more like a bed-and-all-your meals destination, White Stallion does indeed cook three meals each day for its guests so they can engage in the ranch's many activities, including rock climbing, hiking, horseback riding, shooting, biking, live entertainment, and weekly rodeos. But you don't have to be on the move the entire time — there's also a spa, heated pool, movie theater, bar, and petting zoo on the premises, in addition to tons of other stuff to do. Finally, if you're looking for something a little more life-changing, White Stallion offers workshops and clinics like "Animal Communication Dream Retreat" and "RIDE YOUR LIFE: a Transformational Horse-Led Retreat."

Granville, Ohio
This B&B is located on 15 tranquil acres near the historic town of Granville, east of Columbus, squarely in the area's equestrian and alpaca countryside. The property offers plenty of peace and quiet, as well as packages that take inspiration from its hiking trails, stocked fishing pond, bocce ball court, target range, and more. Just want to chill out inside somewhere? The inn's Trem Pell Studio Spa offers services including aromatherapy, hot river stone therapy, Swedish and deep tissue massage, and reflexology — a minute's walk from its guest rooms. If that's not enough to entice you, consider this astounding detail: Out of 798 TripAdvisor reviews, a full 796 are rated at the highest possible five-stars (and there's nothing below four stars).

Leavenworth, Washington
Some B&Bs you stay at because of the activities and amenities they offer, and some you stay at because they're jaw-droppingly gorgeous. File Abendblume — which translates to "evening flower" — under the latter (although the former isn't too shabby, either). The inn itself fits right in with the Bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth, offering "authentic Old-World charm" with flower-packed balconies, alpine wood finishes, and other architectural and natural details that will make you feel like you've stepped onto the set of "The Sound of Music." The inn serves breakfast in a traditional Austrian dining room, with offerings like aebleskivers — a Danish, doughnut hole-like snack — with apple syrup and French press coffee. The views will make you want to go out and explore the area, which you can do via hikes, wine tastings, river rafting, farmers markets, and more.

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