Best Jacksonville Hotels

If you’re looking to beach it, there’s no better place than the PVI, a perennial winner of the coveted AAA Five Diamond award. This historic inn was built in 1928 and has been expanded and renovated over the years; it’s now a complex that stretches along a half-mile of pristine beachfront just south of Jacksonville Beach. PVI has one of the top resort tennis centers in the country, two 18-hole golf courses and a recently completed 30,000-sq.-ft. spa. There are “lodges” along the beachfront—multi-unit buildings with balconies overlooking the beach and the Atlantic, but we prefer staying in the original historic inn building across Ponte Vedra Blvd. from the beach. The historic inn is all traditional Florida luxe—there’s a big lounge area with wood floors, a fireplace, cozy seating areas and a library with books and games. The rooms are big and beautiful with heavy carved wood furnishings, marble baths and a wet bar. Some of the staff here are third generation, as are some of the guests. The dining rooms—especially the Seafoam Dining Room and Seahorse Grill—are elegant and excellent, serving traditional steak-and-seafood fare. If you want to relax at the beachside pool, swim in the ocean a bit, maybe get in some golf and tennis, you’ll love PVI. It’s a great place for kids, too: there are children activities, children pools, raft/surfboard rentals plus snack bars and a restaurant beachside. It’s a pretty easy drive into downtown from Ponte Vedra and historic St. Augustine is only 25 miles to the south.

Family friendly, this has everything you expect from the Ritz: high-thread-count linens, spa, two pools, tennis, acres of marble—and it sits on a mile and a half of otherwise undeveloped beach. The rooms are large, with private ocean-view or beachfront balconies, so you can have breakfast as the sun comes up or cocktails as the sun goes downs—or both. The fine dining restaurant, Salt, is outstanding. While the standard menu—steaks, chops and seafood—stays safely inside the box, the chef offers daily specials that can range from locally caught fish to antelope. One of its signatures is the huge selection of special salt varieties—Himalayan Pink, Cyprus Black Lava and, our favorite, Kona Sea Salt (mixed with ground Kona coffee beans). You’ll be amazed at the nuanced flavor one of these can add to a dish. If you’re there for a special occasion, let them know. They’ll come up with some way to surprise you. What’s not a surprise is the service, which is Ritz perfect. There’s a robust children’s program along with a menu of adult and family activities—surfing, bicycling, golf—available to keep you busy.

This newer oceanfront resort in the heart of Atlantic Beach mixes a beachside location and proximity to the city with an urban loft feel. The interiors are contemporary—wooden floors, clean lines, architectural accents—and the dining New American. Designed to appeal to a more urban ethic, it’s kid-friendly nonetheless, with the Sea Turtle Kids Club offering indoor and outdoor activities. While the other beach resorts on our list are somewhat isolated, One Ocean is in downtown Atlantic Beach, meaning you can walk to restaurants like Sliders or Mezza Luna. That also means it can get a bit noisy at times, so if you’re looking for away-from-it-all, this is away-from-most-but-not-all. Be aware that the room rates don’t include a $25 per night resort fee and that parking—always at a premium in crowded downtown Atlantic Beach—is additional.

You can experience a little bit of Old Jacksonville close to downtown at the Riverdale Inn. The three-story frame mansion was built in 1901 in the New England vernacular Shingle Style and would look right at home in Newport, Cape Cod or Cape May. Dozens of these graceful homes lined Riverside Avenue at the turn of the last century, but only two—including Riverdale Inn—have survived. Solid plaster walls and durable heart pine floors are accented with crown molding, wainscoting, dormers and other architectural details. The Windsor Suite on the top floor is the largest of the 10 rooms (8 are within the hotel), occupying half of the third story, and has both a walk-in shower and Jacuzzi tub—a perfect retreat for two. If you have kids in your party, the mansion’s carriage house contains two adjoining rooms with a small refrigerator and microwave. The location is close to all of the downtown attractions—the Landing, stadium and museums—and a half block from the St. Johns River.

It’s only open to guests six months out of the year (October to March) but the House on Cherry Street has garnered a national reputation, having been featured in Southern Living and The New York Times. There are just two rooms and both have windows looking out onto the St. Johns River and are furnished with antiques and Oriental carpets over heart pine floors. There’s a garden out back, a grand piano you’re welcome to play in the living room and afternoon tea every afternoon. The hosts, Victoria and Robert, sensibly close the place during the middle of winter and the hottest part of the summer, but the rest of the year, it’s a nice roost near the downtown attractions.

If you want to stay on Amelia Island but are looking for an alternative to the Plantation and the Ritz Carlton, the Hampton Inn Amelia Island is just a block from the beach and only a couple of miles from downtown Fernandina Beach. Inside, it’s a Hampton—bright, clean rooms, free breakfast, free Internet. Outside, you’ll be able to walk to the beach if you like and the north side attractions—Fort Clinch, the Zoo—are a short drive away.