Top Hotels Where to stay in Newport

The Chanler Hotel is right on the start of the fabled Cliff Walk. It's an old small 19th mansion which was painstakingly converted into a small luxury hotel around 2000.

Much of the hotel's decor is French Victorian, reminiscent of its own Guilded Age history. 6 villas and 14 bedrooms of various sizes, and opulence, are designed in completely different styles and outfitted with all of the must-have luxuries of the modern world (such as flat screen TVs).

No two rooms are alike, and we found that this made some rooms better than others. Avoid the French Provincial room if you can, as it is a bit cramped and dowdy. To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely convinced that it was even a genuine room in the mansion's original design. More like a closet of some kind.

The Victorian room is also a miss, but only beacuse the mansion's dramatic exterior lighting manages to shine right through the curtains at night. Better blackout shades would hopefully fix that.

The Georgian room is an excellent choice at a reasonable rate. I recommend it if you want a nice room at a good value.

Their Signature rooms are absolutely beautiful and incredibly opulent. Some even have huge decks that look out over the ocean. But, at over $1000 a night on the weekends during the high season it might be a bit too rich for some. However, it's really a much better bargain on the off season when it's a more reasonable $475 a night. The excellent discounted rates extend to the rest of the rooms as well during the off season.

The hotel's restaurant, The Spiced Pear, is generally excellent. It's Kobe style beef burger was awarded one of the top burgers in the country by GQ magazine a few years back, and the lunch menu makes sure you can't miss that bit of trivia. If they don't overcook it, it's a real treat.

But, the restaurant has much more to offer than that. Unfortunately, we found in the past that the service was spotty and unreliable. Luckily, it had significantly improved on a recent visit. And the kitchen staff had been overhauled as well. It's definitely improved since that happened.

Overall I'm a fan of the Chanler and consider it to be one of my favorite places to stay between New York and Boston. Admittedly there really isn't a lot of competition in that class of hotels other than the Mayflower Inn in Connecticut.

I've never stayed at the Castle Hill Inn, but I have eaten there. The food is excellent and the service is just as good.