City: Williamsburg, VA

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (757) 220-8087, (800) 886-9715

Address: 1109 Jamestown Rd.

Description: This split-level brick home, located a mile beyond the William and Mary campus, sits on a landscaped acre that lends a country air to its central location. Romantic getaways are the specialty—the entire inn can be rented out for weddings, and owner Karen Watkins has six marriage commissioners in her Rolodex for those who want to say “I do” on the lush grounds. The house has four guest rooms, each with private bath, telephone, and flat panel TV with DVD and VHS capability and cable. All beds have luxury mattresses and fine linens. Plush bathrobes are provided to all guests. The Rhododendron Suite features a king-size bed and a sitting area in a sunny alcove overlooking the garden for which it is named. The Azalea Suite provides a plantation rice-carved, canopied queen-size bed and a private sitting room which can double as a second bedroom with a twin-size daybed. The Primrose Room has a queen-size bed, and as with the all the upstairs bedrooms, a working fireplace and a music system for CDs or an MP-3 player. The Library Room is a handy first-floor guest room that features the home’s original built-in bookshelves. Breakfasts are “elaborate”: eggs, meat, carbs, fresh fruit. We might have Bananas Foster crepe with baked eggs or poached pears with honey. “I’m a good cook,” Watkins says. Complimentary afternoon refreshments are served in the sunroom, overlooking the gardens when they are in bloom. In the winter months, the formal dining room is open to guests returning from a day of sightseeing. A designated refrigerator holds wine, sodas, and water for whenever guests need to slake their thirst. Hot tea, coffee, chips, biscotti, and fresh fruit are offered to nosh on throughout the day. Colonial Gardens hosts an average of 40 weddings a year, and prospective brides and grooms can view photographs of previous ceremonies on the home’s excellent Web site listed above. Children older than 12 are welcome, but no pets. This is a nonsmoking inn.