Best Western St. Augustine Beach Inn

Best Western St. Augustine Beach Inn is a low, ranch-style motel in a semi-residential/semi-commercial area. The hotel's exterior is Spanish-style blend of orange, yellow, and peach, with clay tiled roofs and brick steps. The hotel's 2015 renovations brightened up the lobby considerably -- swapping black-and-red tiled floors, maroon and black leather seating, and Roman-style lamps with light marble flooring, demure blue and gray furnishings, and watercolors. The renovated look is much lighter and more casual than the oddly formal old lobby. Beyond the lobby is the breakfast area and an adjoining dining room, then the outdoor pool deck, which has a rectangular pool, hot tub, and some thatch-covered seating.

Set about a block and half away from the beach, the Best Western Seaside Inn-St. Augustine Beach is aptly named. In a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood, the motel is within a few blocks of several restaurants and bars. The University of St. Augustine is about a 10-minute drive away, while downtown St. Augustine is about a 15- to 20-minute drive. The hotel is about a hour's drive from the Daytona Beach airport, and a little more than an hour from the Jacksonville airport.

This Best Western's 2015 renovations upgraded the rooms quite a bit, doing away with old carpeting, beige and brown walls, and worse-for-wear furnishings and replacing them with sleek wood-finish floors, cool blue and gray walls, and pale gray wood-grain laminate furnishings. Some rooms have sofa beds and reading chairs with ottomans. The sink area outside the bathroom is spacious, but the shower and toilet area could use a few extra inches; bathrooms have granite counters and shower/tub combinations. All rooms and suites have flat-screen TVs, microwaves, mini-fridges, and coffeemakers. The hotel also has a two-bedroom suite with a full kitchen, which could be useful for families. 

The hotel's free breakfast buffet offers a basic range of food options. There's an outdoor patio with a pool and hot tub surrounded by some lounge chairs and one bamboo umbrella. With the beach a block and a half away, though, the pool is often quiet. The hotel also offers free Wi-Fi and parking, though the parking lot is a bit small. There are also laundry facilities and a small business center.