Veranda independent inns

Set in an 1862 home on Cannon Street, this small Charleston inn keeps its verandas furnished for long afternoons in the shade a ritual the city seems designed for. Mornings bring a complimentary breakfast; evenings, wine and cheese. With just over a hundred reviews averaging 4.9, it reads as a place guests leave genuinely fond of.

A cluster of simple rooms and cottages along Webhannet Drive in Wells, Moody's trades on the unfussy pleasures of a Maine beach stay: ocean views, a veranda made for late-afternoon sitting, and laundry facilities for sandy towels and swimsuits. The mood is informal rather than polished, and guests reward it accordingly \u2014 a 4.7 average across 134 reviews.

Built in 1763 on Charleston's Broad Street, this is the kind of address where history is structural rather than decorative dash the ballroom-era proportions of the rooms and suites still hold. Guests drift between the veranda, a plush lounge, and a courtyard tucked out of sight of the street. At 4.8 stars across 275 reviews, it's a consistently well-regarded stay in the heart of the historic district.