Planning

We got the OK for three days from the parents for my wife’s birthday and set about trying to plan something out. Needed to have relatively easy accessed from the WAS area and a short flight as well because we didn’t want to spend that much time traveling. Thoughts and considerations were: 1) Blackberry Farm, 2) Twin Farms. My wife nixed both of those because she didn’t want to be captive to a single place. She really likes being able to get out and walk around to shops, restaurants, attractions etc and neither of those really fit the bill… which thankfully also saved me some serious cash.. so I needed to find a city/town that would hold our attraction for a while… Charleston is always a default because we love the city and are very familiar with it, however my wife had zero desire to visit during the June heat. LM225 advocates strongly (and probably rightfully so) for Inn by the Sea close to Portland… however, unfortunately it’s only close to Portland and would require car travel to do things not in close proximity… Montreal has been on our list for a while, but flying would require either DCA/IAD or PHL (they did just start a fight from BWI however).. NYC was out due to a recent visit and Boston doesn’t seem to interest us… however, Newport came up in the search. Easy WN flight to PVD (lots of availability and options) and lots of interesting attractions (museums, sailing, dining, shops, mansions etc…) So we settled on Newport and then it was off to find a hotel. Bear in mind we were looking for early June in middle of April, so there weren’t a ton of options… The two best regarded lodgings were the Chanler and Castle Hill so I looked into them. Castle Hill only had one lodging option available (Beach House) and the Chanler had a couple available (but not really the one I wanted). I ultimately chose the Chanler because of it’s closer proximity to town… the room I really wanted was one of the Ocean Villas, but unfortunately all that was available was a Garden Villa. We chose the Peonies and Ivies, for it promised a hot tub and a bit of a view of the ocean from the deck even though going in I knew the decor wasn’t really our style. . Unfortunately, the room also only has a queen bed, which is a bit of a bummer given that we are used to having a king. Besvisor reached out to them and tried to get an upgrade to that room type from a cheaper room, which unfortunately they declined as they expected to be sold out for those days (which in fact they were)

Pre-Arrival

I contacted the hotel about transfers and other activities. They offered a sedan for $135 inclusive from the airport, but did mention that Uber was readily available and should run about $50-60. I really appreciated how they offered that knowledge and option. We also discussed activities but didn’t really plan to much ahead of time with them. I did ask them to arrange for a floral arrangement in room, which they asked my budget and then arranged for. I did purchase a Mansion tour pass and arrange for two other tours on my own, as well as make a couple of dinner reservations but that was the extent of my planning for the trip…

Arrival/Check-In

We flew to TF Green in PVD, arriving at around noon. My initial plan to take an Uber got scuttled the day before when I learned that Uber had pretty much just stopped doing pickups at PVD due to the pickup fee. I booked a driver through blacklane and he was excellent excellent, so much so that I booked him direct for the return trip. If anyone is going to PVD let me know and I’ll pass on his info. He had an excellent E class, and gave us a bit of a tour of Newport before taking us to the hotel so that we could get the lay of the land. Great driver, highly recommend and rates were lower than the Chanler. I digress; anyway, after our extended tour (which took us out past Castle Hill) we pulled into the Chanler… we were treated by the bellman who asked our name and took our luggage away… that was the only time we were asked for our name for the entire stay… when we arrived at the front desk, they had everything waiting for us (including a glass of sparkling wine; unfortunately filled not to the brim) and informed us that our room was already ready. After a quick ID/CC check, explanation of the virtuoso amenities and  confirmation of  our dinner reservations, she escorted us to our room and gave us a quick tour, explaining the room features and the operation of the fireplace. Our luggage was waiting for us (and the bellman wasn’t hanging around waiting for anything else) which was great….

Room

The room is small… no getting around that… It’s an old historic property and the rooms are just not that big… I was a little apprehensive going in about the room size and the bed size but these were all things I knew, and it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know the square footage but it’s probably the smallest room I’ve stayed in in a long long time… They had a bit of a welcome gift waiting for us (macaroons) and they also had a welcome note, the flowers that I had ordered and some balloons. Anyway, back to the room features- there was a small siting area as well but beyond that there wasn’t a ton of space.. A small closet too but no real place for luggage as well… a nice sized mini bar with plenty of space for personal items was included, as well as a Nespresso machine.. The bathroom was much larger, and much more decorated in the theme of the room (remember Peonies and Ivy).. painted toilet bowl and sink basin…. Really lacked for counter space so if you’re someone with lots of toiletries then I could foresee some difficulties… There’s quite a large shower with dual shower heads and the spa jets type as well as a spa bath, which we never used. Overall, the room was comfortable but definitely starting to show it’s age (gold fixtures and all).. Like I said I knew all this going in so no surprises but it could use a bit of a refreshment I think.. finally the outdoor space was nice.. I took coffee each morning on our deck which did have a bit of a view of the ocean if you looked off to the right… and having a hot tub was a great great way to wind down each night…

Property

The property is located just off of Memorial boulevard, which is quite a busy street. Do be aware that I think road noise can be problematic. We sleep with a sound machine, so it wasn’t a huge deal for us but I can see it being a problem for others.. It’s an old historic mansion, so accessibility could be an issue for some. I’m not sure how many total rooms but it’s pretty small.. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite properties in Charleston, Wentworth Mansion.. there’s a fine dining restaurant and a bar, but not much more in terms of amenities… a fairly reasonable sized lawn with Adirondack chairs is also present but bear in mind that this property (and Newport) is very very popular  with the wedding crowd so the lawn might not be available (indeed there were two weddings in the 3 nights we were there; Sun- Wed)… In terms of spa/gym that’s not available so if having those amenities are important to you then I’ld look somewhere else.. I do think that they have passes to a gym that one can use. Location wise it’s not super close to the sites, but it’s not a terrible walk to downtown etc… they have Tokyo bikes available though which we used each day to get around to the various mansions and stuff… we were able to get around and do everything we wanted by either bike or foot for the entire trip, which made my wife very very happy..They also have a car service available to shuttle around town; but we never used it..  In addition, it is right next to the start of Cliff Walk, which is pretty nice.. Finally Easton beach is just down the hill and the snack bar there is actually a solid lunch.. recommended by out driver, it has twin lobster rolls and fries for I think $17

Activities/Newport

We spent the entire time walking and biking around. We had great weather and things were just perfect for that.. However I will say that for some reason my allergies were off the hook for some reason… but anyway, the mansions are the thing to do in Newport and we visited 4- Marble House, Breakers, The Elms, and Rosecliff.. pretty impressive, especially when you consider that they were summer “cottages”…. We also did two behind the scenes tours- Beneath the Breakers and Servants Life at the Elms… those were more interesting to me because we got to see the infrastructure of the houses and that’s more my wheel house… other than that Newport has lots of solid shopping and great food.. we ended up passing on the Tennis Hall of Fame and the Car musuem but those both did look interesting…

Dining

The hotel has a fine dining restaurant, The Spice Pear, a more casual option (The Cafe), and a bar. In reality they are one continuous space. Breakfast is served in the casual area, and on a terrace if the weather is nice. Breakfast is pretty standard fare.. we just had omelets and eggs.. well done but nothing fancy.. Food at the Spiced pear was absolutely delicious.. they serve a price fixe meal but were very flexible in options… It’s pretty traditional but well executed.. we also ate dinner one night in the cafe.. .just a warning.. they list spaghetti bolognese as a small plate… it’s absolutely delicious but absolutely a small plate.. 

Service

Here’s where the Chanler really really surprised me… Spoiler: my wife said the service surpassed every North American Aman we’ve been to (Amangiri, Amanyara, Amanera)… We were asked our name just once by the first door person… every subsequent interaction we were greeted by name. MY stay notes note my wife’s birthday; and she was wished happy birthday by almost everyone (she got annoyed with that)… The flowers I had asked for were perfectly executed Housekeeping was great; turndown nightly service was a full service that always cleared dishes, brought new glasses, and replenishes the Nespresso capsules and waters in the fridge. Service in the restaurants was fantastic.. we had an incredible server at dinner… my wife saw some of the desserts that a wedding had and he was able to obtain some for her to try… off menu requests were easily handled.. The only minor quibble I would say is that when we took the bikes out and back, that would have been the opportunity for a cold water and towel.. otherwise, service was flawless

Overall

Just a great great hotel and base for a short trip. We were able to really take advantage of all that Newport had to offer. Fantastic service, I think the rooms are solid but could use a bit of a refresh.. that all being said they are very appropriate for the historical nature of the building.. Met the needs of a quick couples getaway perfectly…