My picks for the top 5 unique bed and breakfasts in the southcentral United States.
1. Treehouse Cottages
© Treehouse Cottages
The rooms here are more in step with traditional bed and breakfasts, although no meals are served. Each cottage includes a private deck, a fireplace, a kitchen area and a Jacuzzi bath.
2. Jailer's Inn Bed and Breakfast
Bardstown, KentuckyDating back to about 1819, this building has 30-inch thick stone walls and iron bars on the windows. It was used for housing prisoners until 1987. One of the six rooms (the Jail Cell) features two bunk beds used by inmates -- although guests probably prefer the more luxurious waterbed.
3. A Rosemark Haven
Bardstown, KentuckyAmong the seven guest rooms at this bed and breakfast are the Stiles Master Suite, which occupies the entire second floor of the former slave quarters and has a private entrance, and the Dane Room, which has a 20-foot hearth and occupies the ground floor of the slave quarters. The restored 1830s home features a three-story, oval spiral staircase, 12- and 13-foot ceilings, wide plank yellow poplar and ash floors, antiques, and a fireplace in every room. A second site is available.
4. St. Bernard Abbey
Cullman, AlabamaGuest rooms for men are air-conditioned with a common bathroom; women and couples have air-conditioning and a private bathroom. Guests eat with the monks; dinner is a formal monastic meal. Offerings are made on a free-will basis.
5. Castle on the Green
Gatlinburg, TennesseeGatlinburg may seem an unlikely place to find a castle, but Castle on the Green is there, just off the 7th fairway of the Bent Creek Golf Course. The nine bedrooms are said to mirror the tastes of various European monarchs, and The Dungeon replaces weapons of torture with a sauna and fireplace. Other amenities include billiards, bumper pool and an outdoor spa, with three pools and tennis nearby in the Village of Cobbly Nob resort complex. This 7,500-square-foot mansion in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains is available for rent in its entirety.
