The Best Places to Stay and Do in Crestview

Soaring windows, brick fireplaces, and balconies stacked on balconies give this boutique resort the feel of a grand estate that wandered into the Florida Panhandle pines. Camp Creek Inn holds a Forbes Four Star and earns it with a lazy river, two zero-entry pools, an 18-hole course, and pickleball courts, all wrapped in a palette of warm wood and cream that makes checkout feel optional.

Every room at this 67-room boutique inn on the Gulf comes with its own beachfront porch or balcony, which tells you something about how seriously the place takes the view. Designed by David Rockwell, it sits on a wide stretch of Santa Rosa Beach where the dunes are still largely intact. Kayaking, hiking, and biking keep restless guests busy. The fresh-baked cookies at turndown feel less like a cliché and more like an argument for staying an extra night.

Striped umbrellas line a private stretch of Gulf sand outside this boutique hotel, which sits in the heart of Rosemary Beach, a planned community along the Florida Panhandle that went all-in on whitewashed Old World architecture. The town is compact and walkable, the kind of place where golf carts outnumber cars and everyone's linen is freshly pressed. The Pearl is the only hotel in it, so the choice is remarkably straightforward.