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welcome > editor's picks > ultimate luxury
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ULTIMATE LUXURY | ROMANTIC GETAWAYS | FAMILY TRAVEL SPA VACATIONS | BUDGET STRETCHERS | A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
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| Our Travel Editor, Vera Thornton, has been out visiting Newport, Rhode Island hotels, resorts, inns and bed and breakfasts and is compiling her top picks for our "Best Of Newport" travel series. |
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The Best of Newport Our 2008 Picks - Ultimate LuxuryAbigail Stoneman Inn This is a small luxury hotel that defines the term “grand.” Guestrooms are spacious, opulent, and sumptuously appointed. The most spectacular is the aptly name Above and Beyond Suite, which covers the entire third floor of the inn. Six rooms, including two bedrooms, a library, kitchen, bathing salon and separate marble bathroom offer views of Newport in four different directions. Two epicurean delights are served to guests daily – a multi-course gourmet breakfast, happily served in bed if you wish, and a true high tea in the late afternoon. What distinguishes the Abigail Stoneham even more so, however, are the indulgent personal services to be found: a choice of 15 different pillow types, a tea menu featuring dozens of selections, a choice of 30 different bath soaps, and a dozen different types of bottled water - all complimentary. Here you will enjoy relaxed elegance and warm hospitality and create lifetime memories.
More details > Francis Malbone House A lovingly restored Colonial Newport Mansion, this lavish, award-winning inn is the epitome of elegance. Each of the twenty stunning guestrooms are impeccably furnished in Queen Anne style with Oriental rugs, beautiful antiques and rare prints. Four gracious sitting rooms, bedecked with silks and linen, beckon you to relax and read by the fire (the magazine selection is the best I’ve ever seen at an inn). A bountiful gourmet breakfast is served in the 15-foot domed ceiling dining room, and the sumptuous afternoon tea is a meal in itself. Breakfast or cocktails can be enjoyed outside by the fountain in the gorgeous gardened courtyard, completely tucked away from the street and the neighbors. Several courtyard guestrooms have French doors that open onto this beautiful setting. But what makes your experience at the Francis Malbone all the more enchanting is the accommodating yet unobtrusive staff. The owner/innkeepers pride themselves on the unparalleled personal service here, and it shows at every turn. Truly outstanding.
More details > Hilltop Inn This is the newest of the historical Newport inns, sister to the luxurious Francis Malbone just down the street, and conveys the same sense of muted elegance and quiet sophistication. The grandeur of a bygone era is coupled with the most modern appointments; Hilltop is furnished with an ecletic, tasteful collection of antiques and all the latest high-end devices, like Bose CD players, Ipod docking stations, and plasma TVs. Guestrooms have rich colors and fabrics, fireplaces, and indulgent amenities like Frette bathrobes and Italian linens, and marble showers. A bountiful and delicious full breakfast is served to guests in the elegant sun porch breakfast room. Morning sunshine pours in from three sides, with eye-catching views of the garden and gurgling fountain, and you may have your breakfast served al fresco. Afternoon tea is an extravagance of epicurean delights, and you may work up your appetite in the bright new Carriage House fitness center. Hilltop innkeepers are hospitality veterans; their taste and experience is evident in the level of service and luxury offered here – this is Newport at its finest.
More details > Newport Marriott This newly renovated hotel offers all of the signature amenities and service that we have come to expect from the friendly and consistently professional Marriott hotel chain. The Newport Marriott adds a superb location on the harbor, with unparalleled water views in this charming historic City by the Sea, where gracious sailing vessels beckon. A stunning 7-storey atrium in the lobby is light-filled, decorated in nautical themes, and gives you an exciting first glimpse at the luxury and grandeur that awaits. This hotel is ideally situated less than a block from the Visitors’ Center and close to cultural and entertainment attractions of all kinds. Deluxe guestrooms are available with two double beds, making it a perfect choice for families, and there are video games, vending machines, babysitting and laundry service offered as well! A heavenly spa with facial and body treatments of all kinds, massages, and manicures and pedicures, assures that everyone will find what they need at the Marriott! More details > The Chanler At Cliff Walk When you drive through the imposing granite gates you can immediately sense the splendor that awaits: you are escaping into elegance here! This is the ultimate in luxury and grandeur – you will feel and be treated like royalty. On the water with expansive views and magnificent gardens, the Chanler has set the standard for excellence since it opened in 1873.
Twenty guestrooms are each decorated to reflect a different style or period in time: The Colonial, The Williamsburg, The Regency, The English Tudor, to name a few. The very finest is The Renaissance, which has wall panels highlighted with gold leaf and an oversized marble bath with columns surrounding a sunken tub. Rooms at the Chanler have over-the-top amenities that range from 400-thread count Italian linens, to heated bathroom floors, double Jacuzzi tubs, and butler-drawn baths. Pampering abounds!
The most exclusive accommodations are the six villas, which offer garden or water views and private courtyards.
The award-winning Spiced Pear Restaurant is a stunning dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor terrace with dramatic water views, whose menu has been described as “fresh, contemporary, and elegantly simple.”
More details > |
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Cape Cod | Martha's Vineyard | Nantucket | Newport
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