Hotels in Natchez

If you want to live like a Southern plantation owner, book a room at one of the area's plantation inns. Dunleith Historic Inn, 84 Homochitto St. (tel. 800/433-2445 or 601/446-8500; www.dunleith.com), is an august 1856 Greek Revival mansion that dominates a 40-acre spread. The 26 rooms are decorated in period style and offer high ceilings and bathrobes, along with amenities such as an outdoor swimming pool. Rates range from $135 to $240 double and include full breakfast; children 13 and under are not accepted. The much-acclaimed (and nonsmoking) Monmouth Plantation, 36 Melrose Ave. (tel. 800/828-4531 or 601/442-5852; www.monmouthplantation.com), has 30 lavish rooms in its 1818 mansion and modern, antiques-packed cottages nestled throughout the property's wooded and meticulously landscaped 26 acres. Several rooms offer canopy beds and/or Jacuzzi tubs. Rates range from $195 to $395 double and include full breakfast and evening canapés. Children 13 and under are not accepted.

More modest in scope but still elegant is the Natchez Eola Hotel, 110 N. Pearl (tel. 866/445-3652 or 601/445-6000; www.natchezeola.com), a four-story red-brick hotel built in 1927. Located in the heart of downtown, the property has a grand but dark lobby dominated by marble, chandeliers, and oversize floral arrangements. There's also a pleasant lounge and outdoor courtyard reminiscent of old New Orleans. Guest rooms are a bit more bright and cheerful, and contain all the basics travelers have come to expect. A bonus: All rooms have ceiling fans, important in the sweltering summer months, even on an air-conditioned property. Rates start at $121 double per night.

Natchez also has a wealth of wonderful bed-and-breakfast properties. Most are located in historic homes or bungalows and offer comfortable rooms and home-cooked breakfasts at reasonable rates. The inn owners are almost universally warm and gracious, eager to extend old-fashioned Southern hospitality to the thousands of tourists that are the backbone of Natchez's economy.