8 Best Hotels in Southwest Georgia, Georgia

Located in nearby Americus, this ornate jewel of a hotel has garnered awards from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Built in 1892, it's a monument to Victorian architecture and remains one of the South's best showcases of American heritage. The grand hotel lobby boasts a three-story open atrium, original woodwork, and carefully preserved marble floors. The rooms, decorated in period decor, have soaring 12-foot ceilings and old-world charm, yet have been updated with modern conveniences like flat-screen TVs, microwaves, and refrigerators. The circular Bridal Suite takes up an entire floor of the hotel's tallest tower. Just below, the Carter Presidential Suite offers sweeping views of downtown Americus.

Accommodations at this sprawling resort range from fairly basic motel-style guest rooms at the Mountain Creek Inn to fully furnished two- to four-bedroom luxury cottages and villas, all of them with lovely panoramic vistas and verdant woodland garden settings. The gem of the resort is the four-diamond Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens with its comfortable hotel-style rooms, outdoor pool, on-site restaurant, and the award-winning spa, which offers a full range of services. A 10-mile paved biking and hiking trail meanders through the property. There's great fishing in 13 stocked ponds and an adventure zipline course, and the golf courses are famously impressive. Various meal and recreation packages are available. Your room key gains you access to the property's famous gardens from dawn until dusk.

One mile from Callaway Gardens and near downtown Pine Mountain, this lavish inn occupies a high-style Queen Anne Victorian dating to 1895. A favorite perch in this period-decorated house is the wraparound porch, decked out with rockers, swings, and wicker chairs. Hardwood floors, 12-foot ceilings, and decorative molding are among the beautifully preserved original details. In addition to the four guest rooms there are two family-friendly cottages.

In downtown Warm Springs, this historic hotel has plenty of character—the guest rooms have oak furniture and 12-foot ceilings with crown molding. Prices are even cheaper if you opt not to have breakfast, though this means you'll miss out on a full-service Southern breakfast with cheese grits. The Tuscawilla Soda Company off the lobby is a treat to visit—it was the town's original drugstore and soda fountain, often frequented by FDR himself. Unlike many B&Bs, children are welcome here and some rooms are even pet friendly.

On the site of a vast 1860s complex of warehouses, factories, mills, and a Confederate arsenal, this hotel is a key component of the Columbus Convention and Trade Center just across the street. The rooms and public areas are modern—the lobby has huge skylights that allow natural light to pour in onto the marble floors and the original brickwork of its cotton-mill origins. Rooms are simple but tasteful, and many overlook the Riverwalk Park. With a terrific location between Broadway's Victorian district and the Riverwalk, and a Houlihan's restaurant, the Marriott is a focal point of the city's downtown revival.

Each spacious room of this inn, set in a century-old furniture store above an antiques mall, is decorated to reflect the aesthetics of a particular decade between the 1920s and the 1980s. The street-side rooms have a view across Main Street, where brother-to-the-president Billy Carter's old gas station still sits, along with the railroad depot from which President Carter ran his bid for the White House. Book well in advance as it's the only inn in Plains and a true small-town experience.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this B&B includes a main house and separate cottages, and offers a glimpse of old Columbus's elegance—with four-poster mahogany beds, hardwood floors, and period antiques. The luxurious Golden Suite has a fireplace, separate sitting room, Jacuzzi tub, and private balcony, and occupies half of the second floor of the main house. The inn's two Victorian cottages offer fireplaces, separate parlors, and fully equipped kitchens. Each stay includes a continental breakfast and afternoon wine and cheese reception. The inn has recently added an expansive courtyard and offers occasional live music and other events for guests and the community.