Napoleon’s Retreat Bed & Breakfast

Napoleon’s Retreat stands on Lafayette Avenue in Lafayette Square, a block or two from Lafayette Park and about a mile from downtown St. Louis. The house is a nineteenth-century one in a neighbourhood that holds the largest collection of Victorian-era houses in the country, and it has been letting rooms to visitors for many years.

It is now offered as a whole-house rental rather than as a room-by-room bed and breakfast, which suits a family or a group travelling together. The house has three bedrooms, each with its own full bathroom – some with a shower, some with a jacuzzi tub – along with a formal dining room, a living room parlour and a full kitchen fitted for actual cooking rather than for show. Central air conditioning and fast wi-fi are provided.

The position is the other half of the appeal. Shops and restaurants are two blocks away, and the Arch, the convention centre, Busch Stadium, the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Anheuser-Busch brewery all sit within about a mile.

From here Cherokee Antique Row is a short drive south, which makes the house a practical base for a group intending to spend a day among the antique shops and an evening somewhere else entirely.

Booking arrangements for whole-house rentals change more often than for hotels, so it is worth confirming current availability directly with the owners.