Accommodations
Like most American cities, Jacksonville offers a plethora of options when it comes to places to stay. As of this printing, the city has over 26,000 rooms for visitors to choose from, with over 15,000 of them located in inns, hotels, and B&Bs, and another 11,000 in the in-town and beach resorts.
The more interesting hotels seem to cluster around certain areas—Downtown, Riverside/Avondale, and the Beaches. That being said, finding the exact one that both suits your needs and tickles your fancy can be challenging. So, instead of giving you a useless, encyclopedic listing of all of the hotels out there, we’ve done exactly what we’ve promised and cherry-picked only the most interesting places to rest your head while giving you a good cross section of amenities, property personalities, and prices.
Jacksonville’s lodging scene is evolving all of the time, and I am sure that there are some fine options that have either opened since this printing or somehow slipped past our radar. With that in mind, feel free to use these neighborhoods and suggestions as a jumping-off place to seek out new discoveries of your own. If you find that a property that interests you is booked during your dates, don’t hesitate to ask the innkeeper, especially at the independently owned inns and B&Bs, for a suggestion of a similar or potentially undiscovered property.
The area near Airport Road off I-95 is seeing a fair amount of new hotel development and has thus been nicknamed Hotel Road. As the name suggests, this road leads into and out of Jacksonville International Airport. This may be where you will find the best values through chain hotels, if value and familiarity are your priority. However, be prepared to feel removed from the action.
Another hotel hub for business travelers is the Southpoint area where I-95 and J. Turner Butler Boulevard converge. While Southpoint is centrally located and makes a fairly convenient base camp for the Beaches, Downtown, and the St. Johns Town Center shopping area, it does not win us over in terms of charm or walkability. Neither these nor the airport hotels are bad hotels; they are just not what we look for when we talk about “Insider” destinations. We want your experience of Jacksonville to be memorable on many levels, starting with a room that you’ll talk about for years to come.
1. Dickert House
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (904) 387-4762
Address: 1804 Copeland St.
Description: Betty Dickert is proud of her huge 1914 home just off the St. Johns River and wants her guests to enjoy it as much as possible, often inviting them to join her for a cup of tea in the kitchen. Choose from one of three suites in the main house. Each includes a sitting room and private bath, a full hot breakfast in the dining room, and room amenities like cable TV, VCRs, high-speed Internet, and telephones. Guests can also rent the carriage house, which is wheelchair accessible. Dickert also owns an apartment building across the street, which she rents as four furnished two-bedroom suites with a sitting room and full kitchen. These are excellent for extended stays. This inn allows children of all ages as well as small pets.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1844 Cherry St.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 2114 Oak St.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1521 Riverside Ave.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1718 Osceola St.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 185 Fourth Ave. South
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 11 North 19th Ave.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 1201 Riverplace Blvd.
9. Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (904) 588-1234
Address: 225 East Coastline Dr.
Description: Located on the St. Johns River’s Northbank, adjacent to the Jacksonville Landing and within walking distance to London Bridge English Pub and Downtown nightlife, the Hyatt is a newly renovated 966-room property with a heated rooftop swimming pool and fantastic views of Downtown and the river. Rooms feature Hyatt Grand Beds, iHome Stereos with iPod docks, deluxe bathrooms with Portico bath products, and wireless Internet. The hotel also offers valet parking, a 24-hour StayFit gym and sauna, and boasts proximity to 47 world-class golf courses, the Jacksonville Landing, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, and the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 245 West Water St.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 4420 Mary Brigh Dr.
13. Wingate By Wyndham Jacksonville
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (904) 281-2600, (800) 228-1000
Address: 4681 Lenoir Ave. South
Description: Business guests abound here, but families will enjoy all the amenities including a complimentary hot breakfast buffet daily, and the manager’s receptions Monday through Thursday evenings. The Wingate has 102 comfortable, oversized guest rooms, each with its own separate work area, free high speed Internet access, free local calls, free faxes, copies, and printing in the 24-hour business center, newspaper, Moen revolution showerheads, upgraded towels, top-of-the-line mattresses and linens, coffeemaker, iron/board, and safe.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 200 Ponte Vedra Blvd.
City: Jacksonville, FL
Category: Accommodations
Address: 607 Ponte Vedra Blvd.