Whitehall Bed & Breakfast

Whitehall Bed & Breakfast is more like a museum than a B&B -- every room is absolutely decked out floor to ceiling with elaborate antiques, offering guests a unique (albeit fragile) setting in which to rest their weary heads. Avid collectors and gracious owners, Bill and Betty Murphy take shopping trips to Louisiana and Mississippi several times a year seeking out Deep South plantation-style pieces to showcase at Whitehall. The couple quite obviously believes in a more-is-more approach when it comes to decorating.The nearly 200-year-old Colonial-style structure features a captivating history: In addition to being a former private residence, it has also served as a Civil War Union hospital, a school and an apartment building. The two fussy but spacious four-room guest suites offer views of the Ohio River, massive canopied beds, antebellum furnishings and cable television. There's even a working fountain in one of the sitting rooms. Behind the house, the slightly wild garden offers a relaxing spot to sit back and watch the barges go by.In keeping with the opulent setting, the three-course breakfast is nothing short of sheer gourmet decadence. During our stay, we received blueberry muffins, refreshing fruit compote with mango sorbet, perfectly cooked-to-order Angus beef filet with barnaise sauce and a poached egg atop portobello mushroom-bacon hash, and a feather-light slice of frozen Key lime pie -- yes, all for breakfast! I would have been thrilled with this entire three-course meal as a dinner. Check your cholesterol at the door and know going in that you probably won't need to eat again for the rest of the day.The room rate is $150 per night. Make sure to bring cash or a check; Bill and Betty don't accept credit cards.