The Chanler at Cliff Walk ★★★★★

Twenty Rooms, No Two in the Same Century

Most hotels of this standing settle on one look and apply it everywhere. The Chanler does the opposite. Its twenty rooms and villas are grouped into five families, Ocean Villas, Garden Villas, Signature Rooms, Estate Rooms and Manor Rooms, and within them each room is drawn in its own architectural language: Georgian in one, Victorian in the next, then Mediterranean, then French Provincial. It is a decision that could easily have become a theme park and instead reads as a collection, because the house is a Newport mansion on the oceanfront lawns of the Cliff Walk and has the scale to carry it.

Why It Works

We were persuaded by the combination of address and appetite. Twenty rooms on the Cliff Walk would be reason enough; the kitchen is what makes it a destination rather than a base. Cara faces the Atlantic across an open pass built around a custom French Bonnet cooking suite, which is the sort of equipment a kitchen installs when it intends to be judged. The MICHELIN Guide awards the house two keys, and it carries Forbes Travel Guide, Virtuoso and Travel + Leisure listings alongside. For a property this small, that is a lot of independent agreement.

Why This Location

The Cliff Walk is the reason people come to Newport, a public path running along the top of the cliffs with the Atlantic on one side and the Gilded Age mansions on the other. The Chanler sits on its lawns at the Memorial Boulevard end, which means the walk begins where you are standing rather than after a drive. Easton’s Beach is below. The town, its harbor and its restaurants lie a short distance west, and the mansions that made Newport famous are strung out along the path to the south. Few hotels anywhere are this well placed for a single walk.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Gilded Age Newport, individually costumed, oceanfront

• Rooms: 20 rooms and villas across Ocean Villas, Garden Villas, Signature, Estate and Manor categories, each in its own architectural style

• Best For: Newport weekends, anniversaries, travelers who want a different room every visit

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: that the Cliff Walk starts on the lawn, so the best thing in Newport needs no planning at all

• Dining: Cara, facing the Atlantic with an open kitchen and a custom French Bonnet cooking suite; Remy’s Loose for French-leaning plates and garden cocktails

• Amenities: oceanfront lawns and gardens, hot tub, sauna, beach access below the property

• Attractions: the Cliff Walk, Easton’s Beach, the Newport mansions, the harbor and the town’s restaurants

Cara, and the Bonnet in the Open Kitchen

Cara is the house restaurant and it is built to be watched. The kitchen is open and the centerpiece is a custom French Bonnet cooking suite, a piece of equipment that signals intent before a plate arrives. The room looks straight out at the Atlantic, which makes lunch a longer proposition than planned. Remy’s Loose takes a lighter line, French in inspiration and coastal Rhode Island in produce, with cocktails served in the garden. Between the two, there is little reason to book a table in town unless you want to see it.

Villas, Estate Rooms and Which to Choose

The five categories are genuinely different rather than a pricing ladder. Ocean Villas put you closest to the water and are the ones to request for a first stay. Garden Villas trade the view for privacy and their own outdoor space. Signature, Estate and Manor rooms sit within the mansion itself and carry the architectural themes most strongly, so the choice there is a matter of which century appeals. Because there are only twenty in total, the sensible approach is to pick the room rather than the category and book it early.

What to Know Before You Book

Newport has a short and intense season, and the Cliff Walk is busiest in high summer; late spring and early autumn give you the same path with fewer people on it. Twenty rooms means availability is genuinely tight at weekends. Children are accommodated, though the house reads adult. Ask which room you are being given by name, not by category, since the styles vary so widely that the difference matters more here than at almost any comparable property.