Given the demand and the quality and space offered by brands like Residence Inn and Garden Inn, "$250 and up is a moderate price in New York," he said.

The design was an entirely new concept: A Garden Inn - Hotel, designed to accommodate motor vehicle travellers.

Among the company's brands, the midprice Hilton Garden Inns, which promote business-travel amenities like high-speed Internet service, business centers and oversize desks, reported the strongest gains in revenue per available room.

That hotel, along with additions to the Garden Inn, is to be completed by early next year.

Elaborately carved signs hung above the doors: The Silver Garden Inn, The Collins Inn, The White Stallion, and The Carriage House.

Rooms at the Garden Inns will cost $60 to $80 a night and have microwave ovens, coffee makers, refrigerators and plug-in arrangements for portable computers, according to a Hilton spokeswoman, Jeanne Datz.

Two more Hilton branded hotels, one a Garden Inn and the other a Hampton by Hilton.

Nancy Arbaugh, owner of the Victorian Garden Inn, said many of her guests sit on the porch and listen to the service at the First Baptist Church at Springer Avenue and Broad Street.

The Victorian Garden Inn (324 South Broad Street, 888-792-1092), built in the early years of the last century, has three rooms starting at $125 and two cottages, starting at $145; all but one have fireplaces.

Budget: At the Secret Garden Inn, 300 Commercial Street, (866) 786-9646, fax (508) 487-4788, and on the Web at www.provincetown.com/secretgardeninn, there are seven cozy rooms, five with shared bath, in the heart of Commercial Street.