Here is what a stay at Bayfront Marin House in St. Augustine looks like from behind the camera.
I collaborate with hotels and resorts on photo and video work, and this stay was hosted. What follows is my experience and the media that came out of it, not a rated review.
The inn
Bayfront Marin House sits on Avenida Menendez, directly across from Matanzas Bay and a block from the Bridge of Lions. The original section of the house dates to the 1790s and still has coquina walls; the rest has grown around it into a two-story clapboard inn with wraparound porches, a landscaped courtyard and rocking chairs that face the water. Dolphins in the bay and the lighthouse across it are part of the view from the porch.
It is a bed and breakfast in the classic sense, with a full Southern breakfast in the morning and a happy hour with appetizers in the evening, but each room has its own private entrance and its own thermostat, so it never feels like sharing a house with strangers.
The room
Every room is individually designed and named for a piece of the city's history. Ours felt closer to a small luxury hotel than a traditional B and B: a tall bed, dark wood, a seating area and a shower that deserves its own frame in the gallery. We shot it in the afternoon with the shutters half open and again after dark with the lamps on. For a family stay it worked well; most of the other guests were couples, and it is easy to see why.
Walking the old city
The reason to stay on the bayfront is that everything is on foot. Aviles Street, one of the oldest streets in America, is a few minutes away and lined with galleries and small shops. St. George Street and the Castillo de San Marcos are a short walk north. For dinner we went to Forgotten Tonic, one of the better restaurants in town and close enough that nobody had to think about the car.
Worth knowing
- Ask for a bay-facing room. The porch view is the point.
- Breakfast is included and substantial. Skip the coffee-shop stop.
- Parking is tight in the historic district. Park once at the inn and walk.
- It suits families as well as couples, but book early for weekends in season.
If you want to be in the heart of old St. Augustine with the water outside the window, Bayfront Marin House is a good one.
Photography by Blake Wisz, August 2024. See more travel photography.