Where to Stay in Stuart: Hotels, Inns and Rentals

The Downtown Base

If you want to walk to the Lyric Theatre and the St. Lucie River, start downtown. The Old Colorado Inn - Hotel in Stuart carries the highest rating in town at 4.8, with 380 reviews behind it. It sits on South Colorado Avenue, close enough to the historic core that you can leave the car parked. This is the choice for people who came for the riverfront, not the highway.

The other downtown option is Best Western Downtown Stuart, rated 4.2 from 1,350 reviews. It is on Southeast Federal Highway, which is the main drag through town. It is not charming. It is practical. You are a short drive from the river and a short walk from a diner. For a town that gets busy on weekends, the consistency here has value.

Further south on Federal Highway, Quality Inn Downtown Stuart (3.5, 643 reviews) and Days Inn by Wyndham Stuart (3.8, 434 reviews) are budget stops. They are what they are. If you are here to fish and sleep, they hold the line. If you are here for an anniversary, keep moving.

The Highway Corridor

The northwest side of Stuart, along Northwest Federal Highway, is where the newer builds went up. Hampton Inn & Suites Stuart-North (4.3, 890 reviews) and Home2 Suites by Hilton Stuart (4.6, 528 reviews) sit a mile or two from downtown. Both are clean, predictable and aimed at people who want a quick on-ramp to the rest of the county. Home2 has the edge on rating, Hampton has the edge on volume of reviews. Neither will disappoint; neither will inspire a postcard.

South of downtown, near the Lost River Road exit, Courtyard by Marriott Stuart (4.4, 678 reviews) and Holiday Inn Express Stuart by IHG (3.4, 419 reviews) anchor the commercial strip. The Courtyard is the better bet of the two. The Holiday Inn Express rating is low enough that you should read the recent reviews before booking. These properties are convenient to the interstate and the big-box shopping, but they are not where you came to be.

Toward the Water

The real Stuart is on the east side, where the St. Lucie meets the Indian River Lagoon. Comfort Suites Stuart-Hutchinson Island (4.7, 538 reviews) sits on Southeast Federal Highway, close to the causeway to the island. This is the smart middle ground: a solid chain with a strong rating, a short drive from both downtown and the beach.

Marriott Hutchinson Island Resort & Beach Villas, Golf & Marina is the anchor property, rated 4.1 from 2,123 reviews. It is at 555 NE Ocean Blvd, on the island itself. This is the big resort with the golf, the marina and the beach villas. With that many reviews, you get a full picture: some love it, some find it dated. What you get is a full-service resort without leaving the property. That is rare in this town.

Plantation Beach Club, a Hilton Grand Vacations Club (4.7, 190 reviews) is smaller and quieter, on Northeast Tradewind Lane. It is a timeshare property, so availability varies. If you can get in, it is a strong coastal stay. If you cannot, the Marriott is the fallback.

Pirate’s Cove Resort and Marina (4.3, 1,981 reviews) is the outlier. It sits on Southeast Bayview Street, on the water, and it is a marina first and a hotel second. This is where the boat people stay. If you trailer a boat, or want to rent a slip and sleep above it, this is the place. The rating holds up across nearly 2,000 reviews, which is hard to argue with.

The Rental Option

OSCEOLA HOUSE - WALK TO DOWNTOWN, MINUTES FROM THE BEACH, BRING YOUR BOAT. is the single highest-rated property in this roundup, at 4.8 from 178 reviews. It is a vacation rental, not a hotel. The name says it all: walk to downtown, minutes from the beach, bring your boat. For a town where the median age is 53.1 and where 1,297 of 10,360 housing units are held for seasonal or recreational use, a house rental fits the local rhythm. You get a kitchen, a yard and a place to wash the salt off the gear.

What the Numbers Say

Stuart is not a big town. The population is 18,058 people, and the median age is 53.1. The median home value is $291,300, and the median gross rent is $1,540. Over 2,000 housing units sit vacant, which is the seasonal rhythm of a coastal town. A third of residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the unemployment rate sits at 5.1 percent. This is a town that works, but it also rests.

The Call

If you want the best-rated room in town, book the Old Colorado Inn. If you want the water, book Pirate’s Cove or the Marriott on the island. If you want a reliable chain with a strong score, Comfort Suites Stuart-Hutchinson Island is the pick. If you want to bring the family and the boat, rent the OSCEOLA HOUSE. Everything else is a bed on the way to somewhere else.

Stuart has been the Sailfish Capital of the World since 1957. It has been a stop on the Florida East Coast Railway since the 1890s. The water does the rest. Choose your base accordingly.