Beach Motels in the Southeast

Casa Limonada

Sarasota, FL

A tiny sun-yellow beach hideaway rebuilt from the ground up, where every room comes with a wagon of beach gear and the sand is one block across the street. Evenings drift toward the firepit and the hammocks, and the whole place feels more like a friend's beach cottage than a hotel.

Driftwood Inn

Mexico Beach, FL

Gulf-front ownership since 1970, rebuilt twice, with the birdhouses surviving both times. Every room has a private balcony facing the water.

Driftwood Motel

Bay St. Louis, MS

A 1961 horseshoe frame restored in 2024 with an orange and baby blue palette, a poolside movie setup, and a self-serve cocktail station. Brought back from derelict in two years.

Elita Hotel

Fort Lauderdale, FL

A designer stay two blocks off the sand, built around a courtyard pool so wrapped in tropical planting it feels like a private garden. The scale stays small and personal, the kind of place where the front desk learns your name by the second morning.

Lost Inn Paradise

Cocoa Beach, FL

Rooms opening to exterior patios or balconies, with kayaks for the lagoon launching from the dock. Atlantic beach across the street, freshwater access out back.

Sunset Inn & Cottages

Treasure Island, FL

A meticulously kept beach inn where genuine mid-century bones meet full-tilt Space Age interiors, atomic shapes and color against crisp white linens. Evenings gather in a courtyard strung with warm lights, a few steps from a quiet Gulf beach known for its sunsets.

Nobleton Hotel

Fort Lauderdale, FL

A tidy, personally run beach hideaway on a quiet residential block, with kitchenette rooms and a palm-shaded pool a short walk from the sand. It trades resort scale for the feel of a friend's low-key beach place, the kind of stay guests come back to year after year.

Royal Palms Motel

Tybee Island, GA

Tybee's retro surf stop sits a block from the sand, with balconied rooms wrapped around a fountain courtyard and a big pool at the center. Come for the beach out the door and the hands-on owners, an easy island base with everything you need and none of the fluff.