REVIEW: Mill Street Inn, Newport RI

STAY DETAILS
December 27-29, 2009
Townhouse suite with continental breakfast
Rate: $89/night promotional rate at MillStreetInn.com

I highly recommend this inn for the location, comfortable bed and very friendly staff.  The inn was nicer than many of the Hyatt’s, Marriott’s, or Sheraton’s we’ve stayed at.

We got the holiday season special.  The rate was for a junior suite (the smallest suite at the all-suite Mill Street Inn).  But when we checked in, we were upgraded to one of their biggest suites, a Townhouse suite!

LOCATION
The location is great.  It is in downtown Newport and just a block and a half off Thames St.  Being able to park our car at the inn’s parking lot and walk to places is a huge plus in Newport.

PREMISES
The Mill Street Inn is a historic hotel and you do see its historic charm outside.  But when you get in, you are greeted with modern decor and amenities.  In addition, the inn smelled great.  The lobby was small, but adequate for the number of rooms and guests it can accommodate.

There were 3 floors and basement.  The entrance to rooms were in the 1st and 2nd floors.  The 2nd level of the townhouse suites occupied the 3rd floor of the inn.  The basement had a room where they served breakfast during the colder months.  The ice machine was also located in the basement.  During warmer months, they served breakfast at the  rooftop patio with a view of the river and bridge.

STAFF
The staff were very friendly, from the front desk to housekeeping to the breakfast room.  Douglas was our favorite.  Housekeeping did a good job with tidying up our room.  They didn’t take our used bath towels, but they gave us new ones.

ROOM
We stayed at one of the townhouse suites (Room 212) that was at the very end of the hallway on the 2nd floor.  The townhouse suite had 2 levels.  The first level was the living area with a sofa bed, coffee table, long desk, chairs, LCD HDTV, and wet bar.  It had track lighting and it didn’t make the room a lot brighter.  The room indeed felt cozy.  However, you can hear people in the hallway.  Thankfully you can’t hear them in the bedroom.

The 2nd level is the bedroom and had a very comfortable king bed, LCD HDTV, DVD player, alarm clock & radio, and bathrobes.  There were only 2 lamps by the bed and 1 lamp by the TV, making the bedroom a little dark in the evening.  The bathroom was on the 2nd floor, so this defeats the privacy of the bedroom a little bit if you have guests sleeping downstairs.

There was a private deck on the 2nd floor with a view of the river and bridge, and the inn’s rooftop patio.

The carpet had some stains, but I wasn’t surprised with the beige carpet color.  It’s pretty hard to prevent a few stains on a light-colored carpet when you get plenty of people walking around.

The wet bar had soda, sparkling water, beer, and water.  Believe it or not, the prices were pretty reasonable compared to other popular hotels.  The Poland Spring 700ml sport top bottle was $2.  However, the drain of the sink was rusty and the stopper was missing.

The bed and pillows were very comfortable.  The bed was topped with feather bed and covered with down comforter.  I love the huge faux leather headboard.  It made it comfortable to sit up and read or watch TV.  I didn’t like that the phone in the bedroom was by the TV instead of the bed.  The long decorative pillow had a couple of small stains on it.

The bathroom only had a shower, no tub.  But it was really nice with marble vanities and beautiful fixtures.  The vanity space is tiny though.  There also was a weighing scale.  The bathroom is well stocked with plush bath, hand, and face towels (2 of each), Aveda products (shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, lotion, and soap), vanity kit, and shower cap.

I saw an air conditioner which we didn’t use because it was winter.  I did see a thermostat, but it was old and I didn’t want to touch it for fear of messing up the temperature.

AMENITIES
Internet
There was free wireless internet access in the room and the signal wasn’t that great, but the speed was still pretty good for browsing, emails, etc.  It was an unsecured network.

Breakfast
There weren’t a lot of food offered at the free continental breakfast.  There were cereals, bread, rolls, yogurt, fruits, coffee, tea, orange juice, and water.  What I love about the breakfast was that there were a lot of toppings available for your cereal including fresh fruits, raisins, cinnamon, nuts, dried bananas and cranberries, etc.  There were also a variety of great spreads (some organic) for your bread.

Parking
Parking is very important since parking is either very hard to find or expensive in downtown Newport.  So this is a big plus with Mill Street Inn.  However, the parking lot and garage can accommodate only about 18 cars.  Be careful going into the garage if your car is low as the ground might hit the underside of your car.  The lot can be very steep.

Newspaper
The free daily newspaper (USA Today and a local newspaper) is not delivered to your room door.  You have to get your copy at the front desk.