The house itself is in wonderful condition considering its 109 year age, and its conversion to a B&B provides what I think is a good balance of modern convenience and old-style living. We had the 'Turret Suite' during our stay.

For those who have never stayed at a B&B before, they are quite a bit different from the more familiar hotels. In the case of Springhill, for example, there is no check-in desk or receptionist. After making reservations, you need to call in on your actual arrival date when you're enroute from the airport (or train station, or wherever you arrived in town at) and let the manager know when you'll be here. She will meet you with keys and instructions, and you can also pay in advance if you wish (recommended, as it makes checkout much easier).

Breakfast here is simple and nourishing. Each morning, you'll find a basket outside your room door containing a variety of yogurt, fruit, packaged oatmeal, and juices. Coffee and teas, the latter both herbal and regular, are already in the room and are complimentary as is the breakfast basket.

If you have special dietary needs, just let the manager know and she will do her best to accommodate you.

The suites include a kitchenette with a stove, refrigerator, microwave, automatic dishwasher, and toaster. You will find a large variety of plates, glasses, cookware and flatware in the cupboards and drawers, and two types of detergent in the under-sink cabinets.

For the Internet-deprived, the suites include a wonderfully fast hardline DSL connection. Wireless is not available due to the fact that the house's construction plays hob with the signal quality. I didn't see this as a disadvantage at all. Quite the contrary! Hardline is more inherently secure than any wireless.

I had no trouble at all accessing our home LAN via VPN, and web access also worked well.

The TV set is small, but it has a very wide range of stations courtesy of the local cable company.

The owner and staff are very friendly, and the house itself remains decently quiet even with a full load of guests. The air conditioning and comfort accessories are more than adequate to cope even with Florida's infamous summer heat.

As to what you will NOT find here: Concierge, laundry service (except for the room towels), bed made for you daily (that's up to you, but fresh bed linens and towels are available on request), exercise room, on-site restaurant, or any of the other (often overpriced) "amenities" that usually come with hotels/motels.

One other thing you will not find here is telephones in the room. Keep your cellphone with you.

What we DID find here was a stay that's more peaceful than any hotel we've been in to date, even five-star places. Ambient noise is practically nonexistent. I would say the worst you'd have to deal with might be the occasional train (the tracks are a mile or so away), a few fire department runs (a main arterial street, Cervantes Ave., is a block or so away), or the local mockingbird and dove population greeting the new day each morning.

If you value such things, and want to save quite a bit over local hotel rates, then by all means pick Springhill.

Happy travels.