Thomas Jefferson's daughter once looked around the table at Monticello and realized that she was hostess to fifty guests. Virginia hospitality required that anyone who needed a meal or a place to sleep not only be accommodated, but be given the best of the best.

You can no longer knock on the door of Monticello and expect a warm, fluffy bed for the night, but the Charlottesville area abounds with elegant inns... some of them among the oldest surviving houses in Central Virginia.

Perhaps the oldest home-turned-inn in the Charlottesville area is Prospect Hill Plantation Inn. Early settler Roger Thompson built a log cabin on the property around 1699. As his fortunes -- and his family -- grew, he constructed a grand house around 1732. Prospect Hill has been greeting guests since the late 1870s and is today a luxury inn, with 13 rooms and suites. You can even opt to stay in the original log cabin.

The Silver Thatch Inn also got its start as a log cabin, although under very different circumstances. The oldest parts of the building date to 1780, when Hessian (German) mercenaries were brought to Charlottesville as prisoners-of-war after their capture by American forces during the Revolution. The property expanded and expanded over the years, living many different lives as a boys' school, a tobacco farm, a melon farm, a dairy farm and home to a longtime Dean of the University of Virginia. Today it features seven guest rooms, three dining rooms, and an authentic English pub.

Overlooking the Rivanna River, Clifton Inn boasts the most direct link to Thomas Jefferson. It was built around 1699 by Thomas Mann Randolph, husband of Jefferson's daughter, Martha. The Randolph marriage was a troubled one, and Martha eventually went to live full time with her father at Monticello, five miles away. The Clifton Inn was nearly destroyed by fire in 2003, but since reopening in 2005 has won rave reviews and multiple hospitality awards.

No matter what your architectural preference or budget, Charlottesville undoubtedly has an inn for you. Stay tuned to CharlottesvilleWelcomeBook.com for ongoing coverage of great Charlottesville inns and B&Bs, and everything else our region has to offer.
--by Heather Michon
December 3, 2010