EmilyC

The Hyatt is very nice - renovations just completed. Their pool area has a terrific view and it's very relaxing. Pineapple's restaurant by the pool is a great spot for lunch or evening drinks! There are adorondack chairs by the water that offer some nice relaxation time.

BeachGirl247

Thanks, Emily. Good to know about the Hyatt.

capecodshanty

If you are going to be in Bristol, do have dinner at Le Central. On the Main Street, it is a wonderful place, great atmosphere and service, and the food is wonderful!!
Do get to Blithewold, the mansion and gasrdens in Bristol. It is a lovely town, and you will enjoy it.
Click on my moniker, and you will find a few other spots in the town you may enjoy, on a previous thread.

andrew8

Hi Beachgirl,
You may want to look into the Black Pearl, The Mooring and The Spiced Pear(1st choice) for dinner.
When I was there a few years ago they had a place where you could rent power boats..ie, Boston Whalers. Just be careful as the Bay can get very choppy. Have Fun !


www.spicedpear.com

andrew8

I forgot to mention that boat rental place is a short walk from Christies.

BeachGirl247

Hyatt is a joke. We're very disappointed with it. Its so bad it isn't funny.

CAPH52

I'm sorry that you're not happy with your hotel, BeachGirl. Also sorry that I didnt' see this thread sooner. On FF R&R today I posted a couple of places we enjoyed eating in Newport. Not upscale places, but good.

Hope things get better as you go along and that this winds up being a very good trip.

emcash

The hyatt is usually not one of the more recommended places in newport. The location is not the best and, well, having only seen the hotel pre-renovation, i would never have suggested staying there. Can you leave early and try another place? if you go on one of the recommended newport website you can call the inns and b&bs in town to see if there are any last minute openings-- newport has been a little slower this summer.

BeachGirl247

We've moved to The Viking for Sat night and love it. House with 15 family members tomorrow.

We're upstairs at Clarke Cooke upstairs overlooking the harbor on this gorgeous day!. Had my chowder and a roll. We're happy!

Cheers!

andrew8

Glad you're happy Beachgirl

EmilyC

Can yo provide some specifics about the Hyatt? We stayed at Goat Island with our boat over the July 4 week. When you stay at the marina, you can use the Hyatt facilities. I spoke to some folks at the pool and they loved it. I did not see any of the rooms, but the public areas were very pretty.

milemarker0

I'd be curious to know what you didn't like about the Hyatt as well. i guess you can never tell what some people like and don;t like, because I have heard many complaints about the Viking as well...(rooms too small, needs renovations, etc...)

EmilyC

I agree...a few years back my company booked a meeting at the Viking for about 50 people. Everyone loved Newport but there were lots of complaints about room size at the Viking.

BeachGirl247

The Hyatt lacked any sort of service. It started with NO assistance with valet, bags, etc, then progressed to a new self check-in we did not want to use as we had some questions but the fellow behind the desk insisted we use it after we told he we had questions about the resort and our room. They were very young kids not assisting anyone. Our room, while it had a view of the water upon entering the room, also opened up to the service entrance along with all the carts going back and forth. Very noisy and NO privacy. The truck drivers could see into our room. This was a Captains King $475/night. The Hyatt's location on Goat Island is beautiful. And it was a very short walk into town. We're on the other side of town in a house now and actually the Hyatt's was a better walk. Now we're up by Easton Beach and the traffic is quite heavy and noisy, too.

The Viking offered us great service and our room was beautiful and recently remodeled. It wasn't large but the decor was very nice and plush. We are returning for the weekend.

And the weather has been fantastic -- sunny and warm. Walking Cliff Walk today and hopefully visit a couple of the mansions. Dining at Castle Hill early Thursday evening. We saw it from the water yesterday and it looks to be a great location to linger before or after dinner.

OO

BeachGirl...I'm sorry about the hotel! Had hoped it would have improved. Captain's Quarters was where we were too. Was the decor decent now? Those self check-in kiosks are great for when the front desk is busy, but they are intended for people in a rush, not those who want to talk about any aspect of their stay, and NOT to give the front desk a break. Geez louise. Someone needs to chat with that front desk clerk! That's a shame.

We stayed at the Viking years and years ago, before DH was with Hyatt and I loved it. He remembered it fondly from his days at OCS (the bar area lnly, ar ar) and we all (family of 4 when we went back) enjoyed it. It's an old hotel so I don't expect large rooms, but they almost always have character.

I am SO glad you are eating at Castle Hill! It's beautiful, isn't it? That would be my first choice of places to stay now, even though it's a drive from town.

Enjoy that beautiful weather up there. It's not quite the same at home!

milemarker0

Wow, that is unacceptable regarding the Hyatt.

I couldn't believe that when they did their renovations, they didn't do something to clean up that area out back! (The back side of the convention center and the access road)

I can't believe they are charging prices like that for those rooms....I laughed when they first put in those balconies facing the access road.

I like what they've done to the common areas, but for the prices you paid you should have gotten better service. Glad that didn't dampen your vacation too much, as it sounds like you're having fun, enjoy the rest of your time.

EmilyC

When that Hyatt was built many, many years ago, not much thought was put into the back of the building. It has the most terrific views yet they chose to make the whole area for service entrances and kitchen stuff. Too bad they didn't do something about this with the renovations. The lobby and common areas are really nice now.
The price for those rooms is ridiculous.

BeachGirl247

The Hyatt rooms are very nicely decorated. However, every thing else is sub par and needs to improve if they want to command that price and consider themselves a high-end resort hotel. I thought the location was very nice if you enjoy being by the water. The short walk in to town wasn't bad and it offered a great view over the Goat Island bridge.

The Viking was recently renovated as well and the rooms (we stayed 2 different times) were beautifully decorated. Service was good and it had a lovely restaurant patio in which we enjoyed a delicious breakfast each morning. The location of the hotel was convenient as parking in Newport is pure madness on weekends especially.

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations. We enjoyed (in order):

Castle Hill Inn - excellent food, service and a gorgeous setting! If you can splurge go for it!! (they did try to pass off our Striper as Sole. They never confessed but made up beautifully. ) They have a very nice tasting menu with wine, too, if preferred. A GREAT place to have a cocktail and sit on the hill watching the boats go by with a view of the harbor. Just gorgeous!!

The Mooring (excellent food and on the water)

Clark Cooke House (love the chowder and it overlooks the water)

22 Bowen (yes, on the water. Scallops were delicious!)

Flo's Clam Shack by Easton Beach. Very low key and perfect for a beer and a lobster roll. It has a nice view of the beach from the upstairs patio.

Black Pearl - outside dining. It was OK. It had quite a bar business going, too.

Driving from the airport to Newport was very easy and took 30 min with some traffic both directions. Avis car rental is at the airport so it was quick and easy to rent our car and exit the airport. I think Budget and Hertz are the other two at the airport. Others are off airport with a shuttle.

We also enjoyed a charter sail boat alone for two hours in the harbor. Took the family on the Rum Runner and another boat just to be on the water. You can also rent sailboats for the day if you are a sailor.

Folk Music Festival was in swing and unfortunately missed Jimmy Buffett playing Sunday as we had to leave town. I can only imagine how many boats were lined up around the park. Our captain guessed at least 400 would be there. Next weekend is Jazz Fest with Aretha Franklin. Sorry we missed that, too!

Hot. Crowded. Expensive. But all in all a very fun trip.

Thanks again for all the last-minute help with this trip.

BeachGirl