Tybee Island Inn
Four rooms in an 1890s coastal cottage — across from Tybee's lighthouse, family-owned.
The Tybee Island Inn is four rooms in a 1890s coastal cottage across from Tybee's lighthouse on the north end of the island. Family-owned, owner-operated, deliberately small. It's a B&B in the proper sense — the building itself is the main attraction, the breakfast is real, and the operation runs on the kind of one-or-two-people-running-the-whole-thing scale that you don't find at hotels.
Tybee Island is the closest beach to Savannah — twenty miles east on Highway 80 — and the kind of working-coastal-town that hasn't been redeveloped into a resort strip. The inn fits that scale.
The setting
On Meddin Drive on the north end of Tybee Island, across the street from Tybee Light Station (the 1736 lighthouse, the third-oldest in continuous operation in the country). The walk to North Beach (the quieter sand beach at the north end) is two minutes. The walk to the central Tybee strip — Tybrisa Street, the Pier and Pavilion, the restaurant strip — is a fifteen-minute walk or a short drive.
The drive from Savannah is twenty minutes east on Highway 80; from Savannah-Hilton Head airport (SAV), forty-five minutes.
The building
An 1890s wood-frame coastal cottage — clapboard siding, peaked roof, a small front porch facing the lighthouse. The interior is refined-Americana of the practical Lowcountry coastal kind — plank floors, white-painted wainscoting, period-appropriate furnishings, a small parlor with a sitting area. The building is small enough that public spaces are essentially the parlor and the porch.
Owner-operated, gradual renovation, period bones intact.
The rooms
Four rooms across the cottage. Categories climb from compact rooms (around $245) up through slightly larger rooms with the better lighthouse-and-beach exposures. Beds are queens, linens are good, bathrooms are functional and updated.
It's a small operation; rooms book out in season.
Food & drink
There's no on-site restaurant. A continental breakfast is included in the parlor. For dinner, the drive (or longer walk) into Tybee's central strip reaches the island's restaurants — Crab Shack, North Beach Bar & Grill, the Sundae Cafe, AJ's Dockside.
On the property
A small B&B with the basics.
- Continental breakfast included
- Walking distance to North Beach and Tybee Lighthouse
- Bicycles for guest use
- Open year-round
Who it's for
- Couples doing a quiet long weekend on Tybee
- Travelers using Tybee as a beach base while exploring Savannah
- Repeat Tybee visitors who've cycled through the rentals and want a small inn
- Anyone who'd rather have a four-room cottage than a beach-condo
Who it's not for
- Travelers seeking a full hotel amenity stack
- Anyone who wants to walk to the central strip's restaurants and bars
- Light packers — the small operation means you're driving for most meals
Nearby
Tybee Light Station is across the street — climb the 178 steps for the view across the island and the Atlantic. North Beach (the quieter sand beach) is two minutes' walk. The Tybee Marine Science Center is at the central pier. Drive into the central strip for restaurants, the Tybee Pier and Pavilion, and Tybrisa Street's beach access. Drive twenty minutes back into Savannah for downtown — the historic district squares, Forsyth Park, the riverfront, and the city's restaurants. Drive longer for Hilton Head (an hour north), Hunting Island State Park (ninety minutes), or the Sea Islands and Beaufort.
