King's Daughter's Inn

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4 N.C. Hotels that Include Breakfast in the Room Rates

When I visit a hotel property for my "Pack Your Bags" features, I don't like to bombard my Instagram feed with too many photos at one time. I feel that sometimes less is best, and it's really hard for me because you all know how much I love hotels. I sometimes want to IG the "you know what" out of everything I see or experience. We've discussed this topic before in an IG post last year, and many people have many different views on the subject of how many photos one should post in one day. 

However, after going through my IG feed, I am finding that there is a common theme of what I post when I do share photos. I think you all know that I enjoy food, and when breakfast is included in a hotel's room rate then I think that is a great perk and worth sharing the experience, if it is a good one. There is also something nice about walking to the lobby, ordering breakfast, and only having to leave a tip. If you have a great breakfast then you're off to a really good start to your day.

This was a good start for me at the King's Daughter's Inn in Durham, N.C. 

@HinessightBlog IG Account from July 2012
The Inn's famous chocolate chip waffles

The Fearrington House Inn in Pittsboro, N.C. is known for its food. Breakfast is included in the room rate and it's even a culinary experience at 9 a.m. Just say yes to the blueberry pancakes!

@HinesSightBlog IG Account May 2014

The Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, N.C. is home to the Southern mountain breakfast. Each day of the week, the Inn serves something different to its guest. We caught a day when cheese grits, bacon, eggs, and biscuits were on the menu.

HinesSight  Blog IG account May 2012


Breakfast is also included in the room rate at The Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill, N.C.  OK. I have to admit that I ordered room service when staying there because I was too lazy to get dressed to go downstairs that particular morning, but breakfast would have been included in the room rate if I had eaten in the restaurant.  However, I  must admit that this was the most reasonable room service breakfast menu that I had ever experienced in a hotel. The entire bill was less than $30 including tip.

@HinesSightBlog IG account February 2013

As you know, I travel to a lot of luxury hotels and anytime breakfast is included in the room rate, it's a great perk.  It's also a savings to your vacation. Breakfast in a luxury hotel can run as much $45 to $60 for two adults and two children, depending on where you are staying.

HinesSight Tip: When searching for hotel room rates, always check to see if breakfast is included. If it is not, then search to see if there is a Bed and Breakfast package at the hotel. Typically, the bed and breakfast rates are not that much more than a regular room rate. It's worth the upgrade because breakfast in a luxury hotel restaurant will typically cost more than what is reflected in the room price difference. Also, hotels will sometimes offer family packages where kids get breakfast free.

This was the case at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park when I secured a bed and breakfast rate when I passed through Asheville for the night. This was my son's made-to-order chocolate chip pancakes in Roux, the main restaurant in the hotel.

LeighPHines IG account April 2013

Roux has a breakfast buffet, and breakfast can be included in some packages. 

I don't always eat like a queen for breakfast when I travel. Sometimes, I just grab coffee and yogurt. But, yogurt is just not as fun to photograph and put on Instagram.

Join us for IGTravelThursday this week.







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4 N.C. Hotels that Include Breakfast in the Room Rates
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Pack Your Bags: We’re Heading to the King’s Daughters Inn in Durham, N.C.

As the dog days of summer came upon us, I was in desperate need of a “parent-cation.”  You can’t find that word in the dictionary, but a good definition is “I want to think of my children fondly while away at a gorgeous inn and not have any parental responsibility, i.e., breaking up fights over who gets to sit in the crack of the sofa, guiding little feet back to bed at 3 a.m., or making breakfast, even if that does involve just heating up an organic toaster pastry.”

Our last “parent-cation” was 160 days ago in Charlotte, where we drove three hours one way to get away from our children.  This time we drove a short 30 minutes to Durham, North Carolina, to the best-kept sophisticated secret in the Triangle area … The King’s Daughters Inn, a luxury Four-Diamond award-winning boutique bed and breakfast.

King's Daughters Inn in Durham, NC

Will and I loved packing our overnight bag and having an effortless car ride to our destination near the campus of Duke University, an area that we’ve never really explored.  Durham is quickly becoming a mecca for foodies and is getting the reputation of having some of the best restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, as well as North Carolina.  The King’s Daughters Inn is only steps away from some of the best restaurants and from the area’s thriving cultural arts scene in the revitalized Downtown District.  It’s definitely an urban retreat in the heart of the action.





The King’s Daughters Inn is also rich with history.  Built in the 1920s with funds donated by the Duke family, the King’s Daughters Home provided dormitory-style housing for single, elderly women.  The aging, rundown facility closed its doors in 2006, and innkeepers Colin and Deanna Crossman undertook an extensive green renovation to turn this 17,000-square-foot building into the 17-room luxurious inn that welcomes guests today.

The renovations are magnificent. The inn is so elegant, and no two rooms are alike, but yet they all complement each other.


The Tyree Room at King's Daughters Inn

We stayed in the Tyree room, which is lush in décor with rich peach accents, a large walk-in-closet, a good-size bathroom with the best water pressure I’ve ever seen in a historic property. It is also equipped with its own iPad, which is actually complimentary for every room, not just ours. 



Bed and breakfasts usually have an informal feeling about them, as if you are staying with family.  In a huge home like this, the Crossmans create intimacy by keeping all of the unoccupied rooms open for guests to explore.  It feels open and gives guests the feelings of staying with a friend, who just happens to own a mansion.  You also can have a simple afternoon tea in the parlor or on the porch.



Deanna joked with me and said keeping the doors open enables guests to pick a favorite room for their next visit.  I really liked our room and its location on the second floor, but the room next door did take my breath away.  It was occupied when we arrived, but the guests staying must have been early risers and out the door long before checkout.  I got a peek of the Moss Room on my way to breakfast, and I think it could be my favorite room.  Rates for this room, overlooking Duke’s East Campus and historic Trinity Park, start at $225, depending on the season.


Will and I were the last to arrive to breakfast before service stopped at 10 a.m.  I love the late breakfast time that the inn has for weekend guests.  I like bed and breakfasts a lot, but I don’t always love having to run down to breakfast by 9 a.m. or earlier.  I think we made it by 9:30 a.m. and were greeted with smiles, coffee, and homemade goodies.

The inn specialty is chocolate chip waffles.  Need I say more?
Chocolate Chip Waffles are a King's Daughter's Inn speciality
I honestly did not expect a breakfast this good. I think I was thinking “continental” with cereal, yogurt, and a few pastries, which would have been fine, but this breakfast menu was a gourmet showstopper.   You can have as much or as little to eat as you want. I was full all day.



The King’s Daughters Inn is the perfect place to stay while visiting Duke University, or on business.  The inn offers many packages throughout the season, including a babymoon package for those parents-to-be who will one day need a “parent-cation” just like us. Truthfully, I think I’m starting a trend, and the inn needs the Hines-Sight Blog “Parent-cation” package. 



After a luxurious night at the inn, you do go back home the next day as a rested, better parent.  Even the daily argument of who gets to sit in the sofa crack didn’t bother me as much after my night at the King’s Daughters Inn.

Will you vote for the "parent-cation" package?

Want to Go:
King's Daughters Inn
AAA Four-Diamond Award and Select Registry Inn
204 N Buchanan Blvd
Durham, NC




I was a media guest of the King's Daughters Inn, and I thank the inn for sponsoring this "Pack Your Bags" segment.
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Pack Your Bags: We’re Heading to the King’s Daughters Inn in Durham, N.C.
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