City: Williamsburg, VA

Category: Accommodations

Telephone: (757) 253-0398, (800) 722-1169

Address: 922 Jamestown Rd.

Description: Across the street from the College of William and Mary and within a 10-minute walk of Merchants Square, this stately brick home in the style of an 18th-century plantation manor house is decorated throughout with antiques, books, a magnificent pewter collection, other Americana, and—how did you guess?—a host of wonderful samplers that innkeeper Ike Sisane has collected.Excellence is a hallmark of the Sampler, and it has been noted as having the “Best Breakfast” by Arrington’s Bed & Breakfast Journal, featured on CBS TV, and singled out for accolades by former Gov. George Allen. A wealth of authentic colonial details includes a “keeping room,” graceful wooden staircases, and pegged hardwood planked floors. A welcome non-colonial touch is central air-conditioning. Four of the guest accommodations offer fireplaces. King-size, rice-carved four-poster beds are available, and Thomasville furnishings, a private bath, and a comfortable sitting area with wing chairs or daybed are features of every guest room. Two, two-room suites open to a rooftop garden overlooking the gardens and woods below. Television with premium cable is offered in each room. The morning meal at the Sampler has been dubbed the “Skip Lunch” breakfast. A hearty meal including fresh muffins and “the best waffles in the USA”—a German guest’s comment—is served fireside. Beautiful grounds at the rear invite a stroll just downhill from a replica of Colonial Williamsburg’s 18th-century Coke-Garrett Carriage House. Or you can work off that breakfast in the fitness center in the carriage house. Off-street parking is provided at this nonsmoking house. Children 13 and older are welcome. No pets, please. The Sampler accepts MasterCard and Visa.