Monmouth Plantation

Hotel description

It’s refreshing every so often to come across a hotel without a concept or a philosophy. Monmouth Plantation isn’t about some kind of hospitality revolution — it’s about hospitality, pure and simple, the old-fashioned Southern kind, just a couple of hours up the river from New Orleans in Natchez, Mississippi, a classic Southern town with antebellum charm to spare.

Thirty rooms and suites are spread throughout Monmouth’s original 1818-vintage Greek Revival plantation house and a smattering of other buildings around the 26-acre property: the carriage house, the old servants’ quarters, cottages scattered amid ponds, gardens, woods. There’s not a bad room in the place, in contrast to some hotels, where a token historic building stands in front of a modern building full of bland identical rooms — it’s just a matter of space and privacy, whether you prefer the communal atmosphere of the main house, or the seclusion of one of the cottages.

A full and lavish Southern breakfast is complimentary, and in the evenings a five-course meal is served in the Monmouth Plantation dining room. It’s not the only game in town, though; for those lacking a working knowledge of Natchez, it’s a city of about twenty thousand, with more than a few worthy dining options, from basic BBQ to upscale contemporary Southern.

How to get there:

Monmouth Plantation is approximately a 1 1/2 hour drive from Baton Rouge.