Refresh your relationship at these stately nature-rich hotels in settings sure to remind you why you first fell in love. These five destinations are high on charm and ready to sweep you off your feet with their picturesque settings — be they rolling country vistas, colorful woods or peaceful ocean views. Each singular property satisfies that craving to disappear for a zesty romantic fall caper.
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Duck Key, Florida
Relish the pampering style of the oceanfront Hawks Cay Resort in the Florida Keys in Duck Key (mile marker 61). The quiet paradise offers a heavy adult-only footprint in an area called Oasis Cay, complete with its own bar and restaurant. Catering to rum-loving or rum-curious couples out there, the bar features Papa’s Pilar Rum — made down the road in Key West — and conducts tastings, a perfect addition to chillaxin’ by the adult-only pool in your private cabana.
Start your day with an ocean-facing private yoga class and bid the day adieu cuddling on a sunset cruise aboard a chartered boat just-for-two through resort partner Solé Watersports. And if you care to shake it up with some hoppin’ nightlife, Key West is little more than an hour away.
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Keswick, Virginia
Change up your surroundings to revive your love life by relaxing in Northern Virginia’s iconic horse country surrounded by rolling vineyards at the historic Keswick Hall, built in 1912. This Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star resort near Charlottesville neighbors Keswick Vineyards — a 400-acre estate that offers tours and tastings of their award-winning wine. A newly unveiled full-service spa incorporates advanced wellness tools for a full mind-body-soul, and an infinity pool affords sweeping mountain views. If staying together means playing together for you, pick up a racket and head to the European-style clay tennis courts or play a round of golf at Full Cry, an 18-hole course built by Peter Dye. The picturesque bucolic setting also permits endless hiking opportunities at the nearby Shenandoah National Park.
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Waynesville, North Carolina
For a mountaintop experience (literally), Asheville-area hidden gem The Swag offers a regal escape. Abutting the majestic Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Cataloochee Divide at 5,000 feet, this Relais and Chateaux property affords 50-mile views of four of the state’s highest mountain ranges. The inn is all-inclusive, and the award-winning restaurant sources straight from their expansive culinary garden — an idyllic place for a quiet conversation as you ramble through the produce as well as cutting garden. Expect an unforgettable time together under the stars at the outdoor hot tub or curl up with a book in the library with a crackling fireplace. With 17 unique rooms, the tiny luxurious inn oozes romance — something owners David and Annie Colquitt can attest to: They enjoyed their honeymoon at The Swag so thoroughly that they eventually purchased the restorative sanctuary.