Where to stay in St. Augustine?
 

Planning a short trip to St. Augustine in the fall -- probably November. Will it be better to stay in the historic district or near the beach?

Thanks!

We like to stay in Crescent Beach, which is about an 8 minute drive to St Augustine. There are hotel and condo rentals in that area.
In St.Augustine itself, there's all sorts of bed and breakfasts, modest-price hotels, and the Casa Monica Hotel, which is upscale. It just depends on what you're looking for.

ttt

Hi Jayne!! :)
I would definitely stay in the historic area. We stayed at Harborside Inn, in town (southern end) across from the Bay. It was just ok, a clean mom and pop w/pool and very minimal free breakfast. I do think there are better places and we wouldn't stay there next time.

There's really no "better" in terms of choices. It depends on what you like. Do you prefer to be at or very close to the beach? Or do you prefer to be at or in the tourist-oriented (but very charming) historic area?

The beach attractions are the same as any Florida beach anywhere. The attractions in the historic district are to me much more appealing. There are tons of B&B's in St Augustine, and several hotels and motels as well. Some have been named already.

I just like a decent motel with a good location in the historic district when I go there. My choice is the Monterey Inn, which faces the bay and is across the street from the old fort. It's a family-run place that keeps good rooms (though they are not fancy) and has all the normal amentities.

For B&B accommodations, I think the best one is the newly renovated Augustin Inn in the historic district. It is in a converted historic home and has charming rooms and a good breakfast. It has the advantage of its own private parking area, which is unusual for St Augustine.

There is also the Casablanca Inn, popular because it has a rocking-chair front porch facing the bay. Many others would be good choices. Good luck.

Wow, thanks so much for you replies I think the historic area sounds right for us. Is November a busy time? Will I have trouble getting reservations?

Normally November isn't a busy time, but weekends can be busy. Avoid the weekend of October 28-29-30, when the town is filled with people going to the annual Florida-Georgia college football game in Jacksonville. (you know, the one they call the "world's greatest outdoor cocktail party" because of all the tailgate parties that go on).

Other than that, you'll generally find the weekdays to be less crowded than the weekends, and if you go there without a reservation you might have to search a bit. St Augustine isn't the kind of town where you want to drive around in search of a hotel or B&B. I'd advise you to make some kind of reservation as soon as your plans are reasonably firm. Good luck.

We stayed at the St. George Inn over Memorial Day Weekend. It is also across from the Fort and in the historic district. Since it was our first trip, I'm glad we stayed in the historic district as we could leave the car behind and walk everywhere...return to our room to change and go back out.

I think on our next trip we might try the beach since we are familiar with St. Augustine now. Be sure you take a tour of Flagler College (which was originally one of Floridas first grand old hotels), one of my favorites.

The St. George Inn was nice, clean rooms, friendly staff. Not a B&B but a nice Inn.

TS

Our family of four stayed several years ago in a rental cottage at the beach that was part of the St Francis Inn. The two bedroom cottage was just off the beach and was very nice. You could drive to the Inn in the historic district, park and have a free breakfast there, then walk or use their bikes to tour the historic buildings. I don't know if the same arrangement is still available, but it sure worked well for us...

When you go, check out the Jesterville Grille / Toy Store on the square. Very cute, five and dime type toy store with a soda-fountain serving melt in your mouth pies and cookies. The kind you dream about later, yum.

(Jayne, pls email me, mine are being returned!?)

Hi ellen,

Thanks for the tip on the Jersterville Grille. We will check it out. I am going to be posting more questions as our trip approaches. The info so far has been very helpful. We are leaning towards the Monterrey for lodging because the rates are low and it looks nice and isn't just another chain.

ellen, I think you might have me confused with the other Jayne. I don't have your email address. :)

Jayne1973, the monterey is a great choice as it's right in the middle of everything and within walking distance to most of the attractions in the historic area.

And yup,i'm looking for Jayne11159 (never was good with numbers... ;) oohhh jayne1159...!)

You might want to give Casa Monica a peek. Sometimes they have really good specials and I would think Nov is off season. It's beautiful and within walking distance to everything. We stayed in March, over spring break, a couple of years ago and the rate was $129 night.

rrr

Ha! rollinrollin said it for me!
If you can afford it, that would be the place to stay! Gorgeous building and rooms and you are right in the middle of the Historic area, no need for a car. Last week we had lunch there, the Sunday buffet was very popular with the guests!

Just a final note from me on this subject: The Monterey Inn is a place where I've stayed at least once or twice every year for the past 20 years. It's always the same -- never fancy, but nice clean rooms. Some rooms have microwave and/or fridge.

Casa Monica is as high on the upper crust as you can get in St Augustine and is definitely plush. If the rates are great, you might want to give it a try. It's not located on the bay, which is a bit of a minus, but it's only a couple of blocks from there.

All the suggestions you've been given are good ones. You just need to pick one and go with it. And by the way, the Monterey Inn is one of those old-fashioned low-rise motels with only two levels and no elevators. But they have free coffee in the lobby every morning, and they've been known to pay for your breakfast at the Mary's restaurant, which adjoins the motel complex. They also have a great honeymoon suite with an adjoining second-level sitting area overlooking the bay. All in all, the best deal for the money if you don't mind the possibility of climbing one flight of stairs when the ground level rooms are full. Good luck.