Lighthouse Inn B&B

A five-room cottage B&B in a 1910 Tybee Island home, walking distance to the beach and the Tybee Island Light Station. The Lighthouse Inn is the rare Tybee lodging that's neither a beach-house rental nor a high-rise, but a small clapboard cottage with a screened porch and a Lowcountry-breakfast kitchen.

It is the small-inn answer to Tybee — close to the beach, close to the lighthouse, owner-run.

The setting

Tybee Island is a small barrier island twenty minutes east of downtown Savannah, off Highway 80 over the marshes. The Lighthouse Inn sits on Meddin Drive, two blocks from North Beach (the quieter, lighthouse-side beach) and a short walk from the Tybee Island Light Station and Fort Pulaski's monument. The drive into Savannah is twenty minutes; the airport is forty.

Tybee is small enough that nothing on the island is more than ten minutes from anything else. North Beach is the quieter, family-friendly side; the south end has the boardwalk and the pier.

The building

A 1910 clapboard Tybee cottage with a screened porch — the local "shotgun cottage" tradition, simple, weather-shed, with the proportions of a working summer house. The interior keeps original heart-pine floors and beadboard ceilings. Public rooms are a small sitting room, the breakfast room, and the screened porch (the actual living room of the property). Materials are clapboard, painted wood, and the occasional wicker chair.

The rooms

Five rooms across the main cottage and a converted outbuilding. Each has a private bath, a queen or king bed, and an individual character. Beds are queens or kings; bathrooms are tile, well-kept. From-rates open around $215 including a full hot breakfast. Wi-Fi is fine; cell service is normal.

Food & drink

There's no restaurant. A full hot Lowcountry breakfast is served daily. For dinner, Tybee's restaurants are within a short walk or drive: The Crab Shack on the marshes, Sundae Cafe, Coco's Sunset Grille, A-J's Dockside Restaurant, and the long-running Tybee Island Social Club. Sting Ray's is the late-night seafood. The hosts will book.

On the property

A screened porch, a small garden, and the breakfast room. There's no pool, no spa, no gym. The beach and the lighthouse are short walks.

• Full hot breakfast included
• Screened porch
• Walking distance to North Beach and the Tybee Island Light Station
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Travelers doing Tybee for the beach and the lighthouse who want a small inn
• Couples on a long weekend who'd rather a B&B than a beach-house rental
• Architecture readers who'll appreciate the 1910 cottage tradition
• Anyone for whom "no high-rise" is a feature

Who it's not for

• Families with young kids who want full beach-resort amenities
• Travelers needing a pool, gym, or full restaurant on-site
• Pet owners (verify policy with the host)

Nearby

The Tybee Island Light Station — the iconic black-and-white striped lighthouse — is a short walk for the climb and the small museum. North Beach is two blocks for the quieter beach side. The South Beach Pier and the Tybee Island Marine Science Center are at the other end of the island, a five-minute drive. Fort Pulaski National Monument is fifteen minutes back toward Savannah, on Cockspur Island. For dinner: The Crab Shack, A-J's Dockside, Sundae Cafe, and the late-night seafood at Sting Ray's.