7 Affordable Southern Destinations For A Luxurious-Feeling Escape

NinaTravel2025-07-152830

Everyone’s definition of luxury is different. For some, it’s caviar and champagne, and for others, it’s a quiet place away from the sound of cars. According to a 2025Virtuoso Travel Trend Report, today’s luxury travelers are seeking out trips with personalized touches, wellness experiences, and adventurous activities.

The desire to disconnect and get away from the noise of our screens is also a shared one, and places that provide an environment to digitally detox and get back to a quiet mind are also on the rise. Emerging, unsung destinations are more appealing to travelers in favor of over-crowded social media hyped cities, too.

Finding Luxury in the More Affordable

Today, "luxury" is looking like less jam-packed itineraries and more like leisurely days spent doing less, not more. It’s saying goodbye to bland beige hotels, and bringing back whimsical, artistically designed boutique stays that reflect a sense of place. It’s not about high-priced white-table dining, but about locally-owned restaurants run by chefs who aren’t afraid to get creative with local ingredients.

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Whether you’re planning a romantic getaway, or a friends trip full of activities, the South is full of second-city stays that are actually destinations that feel secretly luxurious.

Pensacola, Florida

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Speakeasies, sailboats, and Spanish Revival charm

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Sunset sails aboard a luxe Condor racing trimaran with Condor Sailing costing less than $100 per person. Tickets to the Pensacola Museum of Art are just $12, and spa treatments at the beachfront Aqua Spa at Beach Club Resort include steam room and saltwater pool access.

Pair that with fresh Gulf seafood, wood-fired pizzas, and charcuterie from local restaurants Angelena’s, Agapi Bistro & Garden, and the Wine Bar on Palafox, and you’re set for a weekend that feels boutique on a budget.

Where To Stay

Lily Hall and Celestine Bed & Breakfast both deliver boutique charm and thoughtful extras. Lily Hall includes typewriters and record players in every room, and has two on-site food and drink offerings, Sister Hen (a moody speakeasy) and Brother Fox (a Spanish-style restaurant). Celestine offers personalized touches like welcome mocktails and the option to take a cooking class.

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Our Guide to Pensacola

Marble Falls, Texas

Jeff R Clow/Getty Images

Luxury domed villas and private plunge pools in Texas wine country

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Restaurants, vineyards, and lake fun are all under a 30-minute drive away. But if you don’t want to spend time in the car, you can pack your own prepped food to cook it fresh on the villa grills so you never have to leave the property.

Where To Stay

Missing Hotel is glamping, but elevated—literally, the personal villas and domes overlook rolling Texas hill country you can enjoy from your own private plunge pool. The dog-friendly property is designed to feel all-inclusive and you may never want to leave with on site activities like wandering the meditation labyrinth, petting the resident Highland cows, playing outdoor games, and hiking the miles of trails.

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Our Guide to Marble Falls

Boone, North Carolina

Cameron Reynolds

A beer flight to wash down the popular charcuterie board at Lost Province Brewing Co.

Modern lodges and creative Southern food in the High Country

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

This college town has grown into a hub for inventive Appalachian dining fueled by local high country farms and young culinary talent. Foodies should book a table at Vidalia, The Local, and Beacon Butcher Bar.

When you’re not fueling the body on fresh, seasonal food, you can rest and reset with hot-cold therapy at River Birch Nordic Sauna or attend a full body-and-mind wellness retreat at The Art of Living Retreat Center.

Where To Stay

Check into The Horton, Boone’s centrally located historic boutique hotel and rooftop lounge which includes breakfast with locally roasted coffee, welcome chocolates, and a guest pass to Boone’s downtown business neighbors.

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The Lovill House Inn feels less urban while still being a 10-minute walk from downtown. The restored 1875 home, cabin, and barn are renovated for luxurious stays on 11 mountain acres. Best of all, Lovill House runs on solar.

For a modern vintage aesthetic and a taste of the local terroir, book Rhode’s Motor Lodge, a reimagined 1950s motel with an onsite restaurant, Over Yonder, run by local chefs crafting modern dishes rooted in Appalachian flavor.

Our Guide to Boone

Thomasville, Georgia

Robbie Caponetto

To cap off a day of exploring, stroll through neighborhoods filled with historic homes near downtown

Southern hospitality, old oaks in golden light, and Southern Victorian architecture

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Thomasville is full of Queen Anne and Victorian architecture and serves as a quiet weekend retreat for lovers of architecture, gardens, and good food. Tour the Pebble Hill Plantation (and its rose garden) or the Lapham-Patterson House.

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Browse the Thomasville walkable downtown collections of shops and boutiques and stop for a quiet, contemplative moment beneath one of the South’s oldest live oaks. Then, stop for cheese nibbles at Sweet Grass Cheese Shop or Farmer’s Daughter Vineyards tasting room, or head straight to dinner at Chop House on the Bricks for oysters topped with pimiento cheese, duck tacos, and lobster egg rolls.

Where To Stay

Great for a group looking for a design-driven getaway, The 1884 Paxton House Inn is where to base yourself. The restored historic landmark Victorian home has been tastefully renovated, and has a front porch you may never want to leave. If the house is too big for your needs, you can also book a Garden Cottage or the Carriage House.

Our Guide to Thomasville

Roanoke, Virginia

Robbie Caponetto

Art museums, mountain views, and antiquing

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Roanoke is a well-appointed mountain town that serves as the gateway to enjoying Virginia’s Blue Ridge. But it’s also where you’ll find great restaurants and boutique hotels that make a good home base for exploring.

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Spend the afternoon at the Taubman Museum of Art, a small-town museum with big-name artists. Cycle the Roanoke Valley Greenways or paw for antiques and treasures at Black Dog Salvage. Dinner at River & Rail is indulgent and locally sourced (think fresh trout and house charcuterie).

Where To Stay

Design lovers should stay at Firestation One, a boutique hotel in Roanoke’s old firehouse building. Rooms are renovated with Southern-meets-scandinavian style furniture, which you can browse and purchase for yourself in the floor-level showroom while enjoying Nordic nibbles from the onsite Scandinavian bar, Stock Bistro & Bar.

Or, book a room with a view of the mountains at Liberty Trust Hotel, a former bank building where you can spend each evening enjoying happy hour from within the bank vault.

Our Guide to Roanoke

Bradenton Gulf Islands, Florida

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White sand beaches, retro beach culture, and fresh Gulf eats

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Where neighboring islands like Lido Key and Longboat Key can be pricey due in part to the presence of properties like Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, Anna Maria Island and its Bradenton beaches have the same white sandy shores without the staggering nightly rates.

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Sunset cruises and dolphin spotting tours start at just $50 per person. Fresh Gulf seafood at Cortez Historic Fishing Village isn’t candle-on-the-table fine dining, but it is the freshest, unfussiest locally caught seafood you can get.

Where To Stay

Mello on the Beach, a boutique remodeled vintage motel on Anna Maria Island, hovers around $200 per night and rooms come with a kitchen, pool, and a 1-minute walk to the ocean. The renovated motel leans into a Palm Beach-esque midcentury modern aesthetic and feels modern and design-forward.

Travelers Rest, South Carolina

Swamp Rabbit Trail.

European-style cycle culture and Appalachian fine dining

Why It Feels Luxurious on a Budget

Bring your own bike and take advantage of the Domestique Package, which includes bike service and pre-designed routes, like a tasty ride to a local bakery and back.

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Travelers Rest is perfectly located between Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC, both foodie hubs for fine Appalachian dining and outdoor recreation, like hiking and paddling. Hotel Domestique’s Restaurant 17 serving locally grown dishes, is also highly praised.

Where To Stay

Hotel Domestique is a luxury, European-influenced boutique stay created by cyclist George Hincapie. The Tuscan-style villa is in Blue Ridge foothills, and serves as a home base for avid road cyclists wanting to experience the mountains on two wheels. With exposed wood beams, sweeping mountain views, and a saltwater pool, this stay feels like a Tuscan retreat without the 10-hour flight.

Our Guide to Travelers Rest

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