Last Updated on January 21, 2024 by Marybeth
The perfect blend is both, of course. Happily busy: playing in the surf, kayaking, hiking or fishing at the local state parks, restaurant meals, live music venue visits, shopping, perusing museums and galleries. Total relaxation: At Island Cottage Inn you will find yourself nestling into the tranquil setting with a literal and figurative sigh of relief as you walk through your door. Wellness travel is one of the top travel trends for 2023 and we are so here for it. Actually, we were there. At Island Cottage Inn, for a restorative zero weekend.
You may have heard of a zero day – it’s a hiker’s term. A zero day is when the hiker doesn’t log any miles toward the goal of the end of the trail. Instead they shower, rest, find food, maybe do some yoga. For us, after a year of Titanic proportions in the busy category, we were so bright-eyed with happiness and relief at booking this serene spot that, upon arrival, we may have looked a little unhinged. Zero weekend, hello!
More and more travelers are expressing a desire – a need – to simply unwind. Logging off their socials, lingering over a meal. Days of restful idleness. A nothing-cation! I saw a recent survey where over 90% of the respondents said they’re not going to adhere to strict itineraries for their next trip, and in fact, they plan to spend a large portion of their vacation doing absolutely nothing. These travelers are choosing destinations where the main criteria are just warm weather and relaxation.
Your criteria can be a mix of all the above, and your congenial hosts at Island Cottage Inn can help you with their insider info, as locals, for where to go and what to do. Chat with them, or leaf through your in-room Welcome Guide listing their neighborhood favorites for food, categorized as either It’s All About the View, or Foodie Faves. Take your wellness commitment to the next level with the massage packages exclusive to Island Cottage Inn guests from Ocean Bliss Day Spa. Have your complimentary breakfast at Island Cottage Inn’s on-site cafe – we took turns choosing either the delicious healthy banana bread or the melt in your mouth gluten-free muffins, both homemade. You can order a packed lunch ahead of time for a beach afternoon or a day exploring. The Island Cottage Inn Cafe’s design is so fun, comfortable and convivial, you’ll want to take home tips and pics for sprucing up your gathering spaces.
At Island Cottage Inn – TripAdvisor’s #1 hotel in Flagler! – light-filled, calming, contemporary rooms are tucked away, some set beyond a courtyard with a bubbling pond and a charming footbridge (a delightful spot to sit with your book or a glass of wine) and others have large French doors with garden views. Choose a poolside room with peek-a-boo ocean views, or a second floor room with soaring ceilings, some with ocean views and some with balconies. Each room has its own demeanor, but they all share a creative flair, serenity, and a mindset for sustainability. Yes, I did just say a room has a mindset. Rooms do have personalities, and these at Island Cottage Inn will welcome you like an old (well-dressed!) friend.
The Island Cottage Inn property had good bones but was in need of a custom reboot, which it received in full and reopened with a sparkling-new feel at the beginning of 2022. The owners were the primary designers, giving each room a top-to-bottom overhaul. Their vision was inspired by their thoughts for a little backstory to inform their goals: “‘Gertrude Stein Goes to the Beach,’ – sort of an elevated boho with a hint of the south of France, with a hint of vintage,” the owners told us when we had a chance to sit down last fall and have a long chat about the whys and hows of this exceptional Inn. Read more – you’ll find fun facts and a “kind of terrifying unexpected obstacle” included – here.
You’ll also find which suites have become the owners’ favorites. Each suite has its own above-mentioned personality and size, which enables you to choose the perfect suite for your vacation needs. Some rooms are pet friendly! You’ll find everything from a spacious honeymoon suite, a suite with a separate living room and bedroom, a French writer’s Garrett-type with a petite balcony, a cozy tucked-away “this is all we need” room with the prettiest wall color I’ve ever seen, to mention a few. (Planning on incorporating that wall color here at our little home base right now!) Browse through the lovely photos and what each room includes, here.
Hand-picked, sustainable amenities at Island Cottage Inn speak of quiet luxury (ahh those thick white spa bathrobes) and care for minimizing impact on the environment.
Are you detecting a theme here for our visit? Lounge… loaf… nap. Yes, we did all those things in these truly calming spaces. You can see how everything here invites you to stop and sit awhile. For our nothing-cation, neither sightseeing nor zipping through waves on a skim board were a primary focus. But the sunny little surfer’s paradise of Flagler Beach beckoned and pulled me up off of my chaise!
We’ve seen Flagler Beach described as “the way Florida used to be,” and you will still experience the simple joys of a seaside vacation like when you were a kid. But Flagler Beach is also emerging as a destination for a new generation of nomads, travelers who are seeking places with new-guard foodie restaurants, shops with thoughtfully handcrafted goods by local makers, and where coffee bars with craft donuts are beginning to rival, in numbers of visitors and Instagram followers, the local beach bars.
PLAY
Check out some of the restaurants recommended by the Island Cottage Inn team, and us, starting with that ocean view:
As of our publication date High Tides at Snack Jack, which is located right on the beach, was working tirelessly to reopen after damage from Hurricane Ian. Check their Facebook Page for opening updates.
Tortuga’s Florida Kitchen & Bar
Not on the ocean but don’t miss these outstanding restaurants:
Back to Eden Vegan Vegetarian Café
Swillerbees Craft Donuts & Coffee
This quintessential surfer’s town wouldn’t be complete without at least two surf shops: you’ll find all your beach and surfing gear needs at Flagler Board Shack and Z Wave Surf Shop.
Filled with large selections of local art and local handcrafted items are The Florida Workshop, and The Pink Turtle Gift Shoppe. The Pink Turtle offers group art classes and private art classes. Stroll through a multitude of fun shops in Flagler – most are all in the stroll-able downtown, including County Rd. & Company, a lovely women’s clothing boutique.
Dining and shopping tend to be at the forefront of our plans, even on a slow paced, wellness-restoring vacation, and especially the dining part. “We travel to eat,” after all! I borrowed that from John T. Edge, author of The Potlikker Papers. Also by him: “Want to really get to know a city? Belly up to a great restaurant.” We did just that! But beyond just shopping and eating – also, the beach of course! – Flagler offers so much more for outdoor explorers. Highly recommended is this guided kayak eco tour by Ripple Effect Adventure Outfitters.
We also urge you to take a drive through nearby Bulow Creek State Park – we have truly never seen such intoxicating, almost mystical, beauty. Just a mere turn to the west, with the bright sunny beach at your back, you’ll suddenly be in a totally different realm. Slowly easing your way around twisty turns of a narrow road following the creek, the temperatures and the light will diminish under one of the largest remaining stands of southern live oak forest in Florida. Wildlife photographers, especially bird lovers, sing high praises for the plethora of subjects found here: river otters, white-tailed deer, barred owls, roseate spoonbills, gopher tortoises, and yes, alligators. Plan a hike here. The Bulow Woods Trail takes visitors to Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park. Plan a day, or a less ambitious ramble; more info on the various trails of Bulow Creek State Park at FloridaStateParks.org.
As always we took many photos around town. Leafing back through my stack I realize that most are of vintage cottages, cute colorful cottages, and small fixed-up cottages. Flagler Beach is also a town of gorgeous, well-designed spacious new homes thoughtfully placed among the old gals. The draw for me has always been old properties given new life. Here are some:
Flagler Beach tourism brochures from the 1930s through the 1960s called this little town “Your Holiday Headquarters,” and “Wonderful bathing beach extends for miles and miles,” and “The Peaceful Beach.” All of this still holds true today! My most favorite is this: “World’s Greatest Rest Place.” When I saw this at the Flagler Beach Historical Museum I was beaming as though I was the original town planner and I’d met my most heartfelt goal! We absolutely had our greatest (and ever so needed) rest here, at Island Cottage Inn.
Book your visit now at Island Cottage Inn and receive 15% off your stay! Book by February 28, 2023, for a stay before June 30, 2023. Use discount code BBB.
Instagram: @islandcottageinn
Facebook: IslandCottageInn
We received a complimentary stay at Island Cottage Inn, but all opinions are, as always, our own.
Flagler Beach is on Florida’s east coast, 35 miles south of St. Augustine, and 76 miles northeast of Orlando.
