We stayed in a beach house at the Castle Hill Inn & Resort July 4th week. The room was tastefully decorated. Among the amenities are a beautiful king sized 4 poster bed, leather sofa (with pull-out bed) and chair, gas fireplace, walk in closet, French Country style kitchen (included a small dishwasher, refrigerator, 2 burner stove & coffee maker), outstanding Roman tub with Jacuzzi, and a nearly room sized shower with a large tile seat.

Upon arrival we were greeted with a lovely gift basket (including bottled water, a small framed drawing of the hotel, wonderful locally made chocolates, teas, a box of note cards). Each morning the staff left two sinful cookies for an afternoon snack and two truffles in the afternoon with turn-down service.

The soaps (also manufactured locally) had the lightest citrus fragrance - the largest contained a slice of loofa - which we both thought an innovative & practical touch.

Although the house was equipped with air conditioning, it was not necessary. The entire back on side (we had an end unit) is all windows/sliding glass door we left then open to enjoy the lovely sea breeze.

The view from inside is spectacular - lovely cove then the coast to the right and rocks and the open ocean to the left. We spend as much time on our private deck, as we did on the beach itself (a scant 15 feet away). Afternoon cocktails & delicious shrimp cocktail were delivered to the deck in a picnic basket, and then artfully presented by prompt & courteous waiters.

All of the staff were pleasant & efficient and the food was consistently excellent. Gourmet breakfast at the restaurant in the main building (a short walk up the path - or in our case, a short drive up the driveway) was included. We started each breakfast with fresh squeezed juice. The eggs Benedict was perfect and the asparagus & pepper omelet was just the right texture with an innovative marriage of flavors. Only the potatoes were lacking it tasted as though the frying oil was not hot enough making them heavy & not at all crisp.

Dinner on the 4th will go down as one of my top five experiences (and not solely because of my dinner companion)! The lighting made the room cozy and intimate at our window table. My first course, tuna carpaccio, was breathtakingly delicious and my steak was seared to a perfect rare - and lightly infused with portabello flavor, and at dinner they got the potatoes perfect - fluffy with the perfect seasoning! We shared a mocha-coffee souffle for desert - and it was marvelous! After dinner drinks in the lounge (reminds me of the Oak Room at the Plaza in Boston) were a perfect ending to our evening.

Almost everything was perfect - but there was one drawback - a large group was permitted to rent one of the older beach houses (there are 8 - 4 new and 4 old). Thankfully they were at the opposite end of the beach - but they managed to encroach on everyone else's space. They erected numerous tents at their end, then left their jet ski in the middle of the beach and let their children roam about with out supervision. They were an ill behaved bunch that would have been better off staying at less exclusive lodgings. I know that the Inn discourages more that 4 people per beach house (and I am sure that these people did not inform the Inn that there would be more than double that number) but I am surprised that the management allowed that many people to stay (and they allowed the tents, etc.). I can understand that the Inn wants everyone's vacation experience to be enjoyable and can see why they did permit the behavior. I certainly hope that if any of that group ever inquires about lodgings at Castle Hill Inn, that the management will refer them elsewhere.

We had a wonderful week at The Castle Hill Inn & Resort and for us there were no real drawbacks. It is an exclusive resort, located by itself on the beach, a 15 minute drive from downtown Newport. It has everything you could want for a relaxing, low key (private), luxurious vacation. We will most definitely stay at Castle Hill again!




Recommended: Yes