Chart House Inn

Pleasant enough place, with recently renovated rooms and delicious breakfast. However, a billing discrepancy soured the trip. After booking a two night stay via *******, I requested to stay another night by directly contacting the inn. Prior to arrival, I received a Grand Total invoice from the inn, accounting for three nights and pet fee. Upon departure, we agreed the inn would email an electronic payment link for the balance due, subtracting the amount I paid to ******* from the Grand Total invoice. Unfortunately, this is when the good times and graciousness ended. Seeing that the balance due was significantly greater than the Grand Total minus my ******* payment, I inquired. The inn pointed out that the amount they receive from ******* bookings is less than the full amount guests pay due to ******* commission. I pointed out that this revenue loss is part of the inn’s cost of doing business with ******* and not a guest's obligation to pay. Instead, since I booked the third night directly, it offered the inn the opportunity to pass their revenue lost to ******* on to me, as the amount of billing overage in question exactly equaled the revenue ******* kept. After two unpleasant, rushed and condescending conversations with the innkeeper, I took the high road and paid her bill. At one point, she asked if I wanted a free night to get this wrapped up and done with because she didn’t have time for my concerns…I think not. BTW – I can confirm previous reviews, commenting on falsely advertised amenities – no afternoon complementary cocktail, tea or wine at inn or restaurants offered, no coffee in room, mini-fridge in suite not stocked with items listed on the overpriced, corporate-style menu, no mention or offer of housekeeping service.

I booked this B&B for my husband’s 50th birthday, what a ***HUGE MISTAKE*** . I booked the best room in the house, the Jane Pickens room to make it very special. Rhode Island is know for it’s hospitality, but there was ***NO HOSPITALITY AT ALL***. They were too busy with their other businesses to care about any of their guests at this small establishment. There was nobody when we arrived and nobody there the whole time. A post-it note on the window to call a number to get access to a code to enter from the back of the house. The house was closed up and extremely warm. Virtually no air at all. Note it was an usually warm weekend, but our room was at 84 degrees at night. We complained after sleeping the first hot night and were told that someone would come by, but nobody ever did. The ad read that they had air conditioning, which is one of the reason we picked this place. The air conditioning is apparently seasonal and they hadn’t put the window air conditioners in for the season. Only one window opened in the room, the rest still had the storm windows on for the season and unable to budge any them open. ***NOT THE ROMANTIC WEEKEND WE INTENDED***. They kept saying they an event going on and would try to come, but never did. It was so hot in the room and house, we had to leave very early on Sunday just to get some air. To make matters worse, after we wrote a letter requesting a refund, they responded with a gift card gesture. ***GIFT CARD NEVER ARRIVED. I emailed several times and several times the response was that they would check on it and get back to me. ***LACKING CUSTOMER SERVICE*** yet again. I don’t know what the “Stoneacre experience” is that they boast about, but it’s certainly not one to experience, nevertheless pay for. What a shame because the house really is beautiful and would have been a wonderful experience had they just had some traditional Rhode Island hospitality. Also note that we had our sign up to have our room serviced and nobody came by to service at the entire time we were there. They have a cute little coffee machine but there was only two coffees there for us the first day. We had no coffee the next morning. No clean towels either the next day even though we had thrown them all on the floor so that the maid would know to give us new ones. It's not just the temperature of the room for this review it's also that there was no service on any level the entire weekend.

Due to a change of plans, I planned our trip to Newport kind of last minute and was worried about finding an affordable place to stay. I quite literally found Chart House by google mapping the area and searching 'hotels' to scan prices. I saw Chart House, looked at the website kind of briefly and booked it. When I tell you I was FLOORED at how gorgeous the property and room were. The building itself is beautiful and historic feeling. We had a parking spot that came in clutch as a boat show was going on. We stayed in the Jane Pickens suite. It is massive, has it's own sunroom, a huge bathroom area with a rainfall shower set up. It was so comfortable it made it hard to leave the room to go do things around town. Not to mention we had a complimentary breakfast everyday, and this is not a holiday inn style buffet, it was made to order absolutely delicious breakfast. Aside from the property itself, it is within walking distance to everything we wanted to see and do. 5 mins to Bowen's Warf, just a few blocks from Thames St. We even walked the 15/20 mins to Easton Beach and the start of the Cliff Walk (but ubered back at the end bc we were wiped from the walk itself). Our host Nicole was so accommodating and sweet. I have not been able to stop talking about the Chart House Inn to everyone who has asked about our trip. I cannot wait to come back and I wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else on our next visit.

One thing that’s really important for people to know is that this B&B is under new ownership in 2022 so the vast majority of prior reviews here no longer apply. In short, this was a very disappointing experience and I would not recommend this place to anyone at their current prices. First, the breakfast is not “made to order” or “always evolving” as advertised. There are the same very basic options every day which are toast (avocado or salmon), quiche, pork chili, or a breakfast sandwich. These options are created so that even someone without cooking experience can make it. Despite being co-owned with two restaurants, they don’t have a chef in the kitchen making an actual meal. And it’s the same. options. every. day. It’s as if a management consultant came in and wanted to create a low-cost process – i.e., use pre-made options so that the only labor required is to just heat it up or to spread avocado on toast. All of that is fine if you’re ordering from a Wawa, but not what you would expect from a local B&B. The best part about the B&B experience is the breakfast experience and this fell well short (unless you love toast or reheated quiche). Lastly, the one very troubling thing was a poor understanding of what quality B&B service looks like. A major reason why we booked this place was because they advertised a cocktail hour with treats, wine, or champagne. Cliffside Inn and Francis Malbone offered this and we loved it, so I was very excited to find another B&B that offered this. So we ended up planning our daily itineraries around this cocktail hour. However, we show up and the place is empty. After calling the manager, she explains that she’s short-staffed and can’t offer it and doesn’t really apologize, but instead jumps into excuse mode. Sensing my disappoin**ent, she tries to offer drink tickets to their restaurant and a bottle of champagne as if I only want free alcohol. I explained that it’s not about the free alcohol (I can get cocktails or champagne bottles anywhere) but rather the experience that we thought we signed up for and planned around. Needless to say, this didn’t resonate and she couldn’t figure out why I just didn’t want free alcohol. Additionally, there are other service-related failures. They try to upsell you even on water (!!!) instead of offering it complimentary (they have a cart of over-priced items they try to sell you on as if you’re at a corporate hotel). Even if you want a cell phone charger, they charge you $15 for it instead of letting you borrow one for the weekend. Again, maybe that’s okay for a corporate hotel chain, but it’s not representative of quality B&B service. Perhaps most emblematic of this is that nobody really seemed to care – not once did anyone even ask us why we were in town nor was anyone there to greet us (despite it being 5 PM at check-in). Just overall a bad B&B experience and was not worth the money.

We came upon the Chart inn by chance and I have to say we are elated that we did. This place is just wonderful, so welcoming, homely, beautiful inside and out. Firstly, the rooms, great size, beautiful decor, huge comfy bed, fridge filled with soft drinks, lots of snacks and lots of information leaflets about the area. The breakfast- Amazing- all home made, great selection, lots of little extras thrown in, charming dining room and the most charming staff (Cathy) you could meet. Bathrooms- huge with large bath and large walk in shower Public rooms, the public room is beautifully decorated with comfortable sofas, lovely feel to the room , lots of board games to use, background music, the smell of home cooking, oh just amazing. Parking- perfect, lots of room, off street , behind the hotel. Location- very close to the center of Newport, 5 mins walk from the bars and restaurants The staff- professional, super friendly, very helpful, very knowledgeable of the area and just such nice folks Recommend- I just can’t recommend it enough, best nights sleep in years, a home from home and a place we will use again many times. Don’t miss out on this place, it has everything.

The Jane Pickens Room in The Chart House Inn was beautiful and had phenomenal accommodations. The Stoneacre Hospitality group offered top tier service, making our weekend in Newport one to remember. We will be back!

This Inn is pure heaven. Perfect location. Incredibly comfortable bed. Room was spacious and so tastefully decorated. Bathroom was huge and the shower too. Great amenities. The piece de résistance though is the breakfast! Proprietor Chris (aka Bender) serves a fabulous breakfast that includes a breakfast charcuterie plate that includes caramelized pineapple and grapefruit, biscuits that float off the serving plate amongst other delights. Avocado toast, quiche and a breakfast sandwich which is killer are among the entrees. His overnight oats are fab! Owner Nicole is amazing. Every detail is attended to. Every recommendation was spot on. We stayed an extra night in this delightful town because of these delightful people and their home away from home.

I can't say enough amazing things about our stay. From the welcome text sent by Nicole while in route, to the wonderful surprise of an upgraded guest room from a twin/shared bathroom to a suite with our own bathroom, it just got better and better. The breakfast made by Chris is worth the stay alone, tbh. Probably the best biscuits I've ever had. My only regret was that we didn't stay longer so we could enjoy more of his food each morning. The accommodations were so clean, beautiful, and quiet! We walked everywhere, it's in the perfect location and there's one parking spot per room which was a bonus. This was my first B&B experience ever and I fear I've peaked too soon. Like does it get better than the Chart House Inn?? Thanks Nicole and Chris for such a memorable experience!