It will be awhile before Prince Charles opens his Bed and Breakfast at Llwynywormwood Estate in Wales. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t live like royalty: There are plenty of Bed and Breakfasts ‘castles’ that will treat you like a king (or queen) when you stay there!
Standing tall in Sidney, Ohio, the Great Stone Castle Bed and Breakfast is literally that; a great sprawling Victorian mansion with 18" thick Bedford Indiana limestone walls, a big wrap around porch and three turrets! Inside, this century-old B&B is finished in rare hardwoods brought in from faraway lands by ship and steel rails. Add 100 year-old oak trees and two acres of lawn and garden, and the Great Stone Castle is truly a regal place to rest your lordly head. The first floor is home to ballroom, banquet, and turret rooms perfect for weddings, receptions, parties, and corporate off-site meetings. The second floor hosts the B&B suites. For those requiring the upper crust of luxurious treatments, private baths, Victorian furniture, and fireplaces are available.
Built in 1889, Denver’s Castle Marne is a turretted stone testament to elegant days gone by. In fact, much of the interior is faithful to Castle Marne’s glory days. Take the dining room: Adorned with its original cherry paneling and Lincrusta wallpaper from England, the dining room greets you every morning with fresh baked breads and muffins, coffee, tea, juices and a gourmet breakfast with fresh seasonal fruits; all served on china and linen. Meanwhile, “The Parlor of the Castle Marne has been restored back to its original splendor, boasting the famous Dolphin carvings on the massive mahogany fireplace,” says Castle Marne’s website. “The turret always has a puzzle to be finished and a quiet getaway from the day’s hustle and bustle. Take your shoes off and relax as you would at home, because our house is your house.” Maybe so, but don’t leave your scepter lying around!
What good is a castle without a moat, or at least an imposing view over waterfront property? Well, at the Spicer Castle Bed & Breakfast Inn in Spicer, Minnesota, you won’t have to settle for less. Designed as an Tudor fishing lodge on the shore of Green Lake, Spicer Castle was built by John Spicer in 1895; the grandfather of the current innkeeper. He called it Medayto Cottage, but local fishermen took to calling the landmark Spicer’s Castle. Eventually it turned up in maps as Spicer Castle, and so the fishing lodge has been named for decades since. Spicer Castle’s rooms are tastefully decorated with period furniture, and the B&B also offers Murder Mystery Dinners and dinner cruises on Green Lake.
If you prefer a castle in the European chateau style, then pay a visit to Manresa Castle in Port Townsend, Washington. Built by Charles Eisenbeis in 1892 – a local mayor and business magnate with investments in a bakery, brick works, lumber mill, brewery, bank and a hotel -- Manresa Castle is a 30-room mansion complete with its own turret (of course). Built of 12" thick brick from Eisenbeis' own brick works, Manresa features slate roofs, tiled fireplaces and finely crafted woodwork made by German artisans. The rooms are elegantly decorated; Room 302 even has a sitting room in the turret! Add the Castle Key Restaurant -- which Best Places Northwest has called "The Finest Dining Room on the Olympic Peninsula" – and Manresa Castle is truly fit for all visiting B&B royalty.
Prefer wood? Then Hoquiam's Castle Bed & Breakfast in Hoquiam, Washington will be more to your taste. Yet another vast Victorian manor complete with its own turret, Hoquiam’s Castle B&B features five splendid period-furnished and decorated rooms. “The 10,000 square foot home, on three floors, proudly displays the original craftsmanship of extensive wood paneling, ceilings, columns and floors,” says Hoquiam Castle’s website. “Cut crystal chandeliers, Tiffany-style lamps, leaded and stained glass windows are but a part of the beautiful antique furnishings, which enhance the Castle.” Wow; do you feel the need to wear a crown coming on?
Back in the northeastern United States, Belhurst Castle is an authentic Victorian stone mansion complete with turret, 14 elegant period rooms, and an excellent history to boot. Before Belhurst was built, William Henry Bucke, lived on the site as a recluse under the name ‘Henry Hall’. Dying of a blood infection in 1836, “it was [subsequently] learned that William Henry Bucke had been treasurer of the famed Covent Garden Theater in London,” says Belhurst Castle’s website. “He had embezzled theater funds, married his stepmother, fled to the United States and assumed the name Henry Hall in an effort to avoid capture!” Hall’s house was eventually demolished, with the present Belhurst Castle being built in the 1880s. Today, you can revel in its carved cherry, chestnut and rich mahogany, mosaic-tiled fireplaces and beamed cathedral ceilings! Truly, a B&B fit for the upper class!
Great Stone Castle
429 N Ohio Ave
Sidney, OH 45365-2374
Phone: (937) 498-4728
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/ohio/greatstonecastle.htm
Castle Marne
1572 Race St
Denver, CO 80206-1308
Toll-free: (800) 926-2763
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/colorado/castlemarnealuxuryurban.htm
Spicer Castle Inn
11600 Indian Beach Rd
PO Box 307
Spicer, MN 56288-9694
Toll-free: (800) 821-6675
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/minnesota/880430-2564.htm
Manresa Castle
7th & Sheridan
PO Box 564
Port Townsend, WA 98368
Toll-free: (800)732-1281
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/washington/manresacastle.htm
Hoquiam's Castle B & B
515 Chenault Ave
Hoquiam, WA 98550
Phone: (360) 533-2005
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/washington/hoquiamscastle.htm
Belhurst Castle
4069 Route 14 South, PO Box 609
Geneva, NY 14456
Phone: (315) 781-0201
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/new_york/belhurstcastle.htm
About American Historic Inns and iLoveInns.com
American Historic Inns, Inc. founded in 1981, runs www.iLoveInns.com a top bed & breakfast and country inns directory listing 19,500 properties. Also, it is the leading publisher of bed & breakfast guidebooks, with more than 2.5 million bed & breakfast guide books sold.
Many of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. To learn more about the guidebook as well as additional Inns of interest, go to www.iloveinns.com.
Note: For photos or interviews, please contact Barbara Naylon at 949-497-2232, ext. 305.
