5. Gettysburg Hotel, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Sitting on the porch of this hotel, overlooking historic Gettysburg Circle, it is not hard to imagine early July of 1863 when the thunder and smoke of the bloodiest battle in U.S. history raged across the surrounding fields and bluffs. President Lincoln honed the immortal words of his Gettysburg Address at the Wills House, just steps away.

Built as a tavern in 1797, the Best Western Gettysburg Hotel witnessed the pivotal three-day battle of the Civil War. Nearly a hundred years later, it served as President Dwight Eisenhower's national operations center. The carefully restored hotel is the ideal base camp for touring the Gettysburg National Battlefield. On hot summer nights, there's a roof-top pool (if you look, you'll see the sparkle of fireflies) for cooling down. While the guest rooms are modern, the main lobby, front porch, and McClellan's Tavern are much like they would have been 200 years ago.

The hotel has 119 rooms, starting for less than $100 a night.