The Vanderbilt, Auberge Resorts Collection - Hotel in Newport - 41 Mary St, USA

This property is a special treat. A great gem in the heart of Newport. Walking distance to a lot of the goodies, and a short uber away from everything else. The talented staff were great from the valet, to the spa, to the bartender who made me the BEST cocktial - if they say how about an espresso old fasioned - just say YES!

We had my birthday dinner at the Vanderbilt. The room is spacious and beautiful. We will definitely return. Oddly, we had to have a 5:15 reservation, which was early for us. The room never did fill while we were there. They seated us over an air conditioning vent and did try to cover it. We were squashed in between the bar and the entry to a private room with constant wait staff walking by. Finally, my leg began to hurt because of an uncomfortable chair and the angle due to the ac cover. My husband said, "Enough," and asked for a new table. Since the room was empty at 5:30, they graciously moved us to another table and then we proceeded to have the kind of evening I had in mind. I had the duck and cherries, which was superb. My husband had clams in a shell with pasta, he couldn't stop raving. He loved the wine. For dessert we shared a chocolate torte. Perfect! I was comfortable, my leg no longer hurt and we left very satisfied. Before we left, our sweet waitress presented me with birthday macaroons and a candle - delightful. We will definitely return. The food was marvelous.

The entire place needs a complete overhaul. Paint is peeling or dirty, bathroom is small and dark, furniture has seen better days and everything, room included, needs a good scrubbing. I believe they call it a luxury hotel. It definitely is not. Bed was comfortable and drinks in the bar were very good.

What an amazing experience staying at the Vanderbilt. I have never had quite that level of personal and attentive service. It even included a fully charged vehicle when I picked up my car. Next level all around and the hotel was perfect.

We hosted a 25 person private dinner event at The Vanderbilt. Its a charming, old, boutique hotel. We really liked the room with the pool table and the food was good. I found the planning process to be lacking and it appeared that the hotel took great pleasure in denying special accommodations or modification requests. I have done many good size events and have never encountered such a resistance for modifications and special requests. When I showed to the hotel for our dinner, no one at the hotel made an effort to introduce themselves to me or ask if we needed anything.

Absolutely amazing stay for my son and I. Picked an off season day to come and spend some quality time. The Vanderbilt was perfect. Said was amazing and welcomed us and remembered my name as well as my sons- he was the best! Our loft was cozy and the bed is heaven. Enjoyed the heated indoor Pool as well! The breakfast was delicious. We ate dinner at the restaurant which is really just simply gorgeous. I really wish they would expand their menu is my only suggestion. Can’t wait to be back one day.

Although we did not stay any nights here, we have had drinks and nibbles on the rooftop. Excellent service and excellent views of Newport harbor. We did walk around the hotel a couple of times and the decor of the hotel is amazing. A step back to the Gilded Age for sure and with staff that would make any stay an extremely pleasant experience. I am looking forward to staying here on my return to Newport.

I recently stayed at The Vanderbilt for two nights with my wife, infant, and dog, and we had a mixed experience. While there were several things we liked about this hotel, including its convenient location, excellent staff, and nice sense of place, we were also a bit disappointed by the poor condition of things, and that our guestroom itself was poorly designed and incredibly dark. The Vanderbilt just wasn’t nearly at the level of luxury we’ve experienced at other Auberge Resorts properties, which left us disappointed.||||Pre-Arrival:||||I reached out to the hotel prior to our stay to speak with the concierge team about planning some activities and dining. While I had been to Newport previously and had some familiarity, it had been a while, and it was our first trip with our infant, so we wanted advice on things we could do with her and restaurants that would be good choices. The Lead Concierge, Morgan, was incredibly responsive and helpful when I reached out, immediately sending me a long list of recommendations and ideas, even when she was out of office and did not need to respond. She suggested that we schedule a time for a phone call to go over everything, which was very nice. I was impressed by Morgan’s true commitment to being a local expert and serving as an ambassador for Newport.||||Despite all of the positives of working with the concierge team here, there were a few things we found that didn’t work out as well as hoped from the recommendations and assistance provided:||||-One of the hotel’s recommended activities was a vintage car tour of the town. We thought this would be fun, but I asked multiple times before reserving it if it would be able to accommodate our three-month old daughter in a car seat (which essentially just meant we needed a seatbelt to anchor her car seat). We were told it was fine, but received a call from the tour operator on the day of the tour to make us aware that the car is an open antique car with no seatbelts at all. He was super nice about it and was ok with us canceling the tour due to this. It was really odd to me that the hotel would recommend a tour that was clearly inappropriate for an infant, let alone potentially an adult (the no seatbelts detail is worth disclosing to everyone).||||-I specified to the concierge team that we were interested in taking a walk on Cliff Walk, but would have a stroller and needed to avoid unpaved areas and steps. The recommendation we were given was to start at the very beginning off of Memorial Boulevard, which ended up being a poor idea. First, that area is a busy, main road, with no street parking actually close to the entrance. After the fact, we saw that most people parked somewhere more in the middle by Salve Regina University, where there were parking spots right at various Cliff Walk entrances. This simply would have made more sense with an infant, and put us more in the thick of things to start. There also ended up being a few sets of stairs on the path we were sent on, which may have been unavoidable, but made the whole thing difficult, and again, was not disclosed, despite asking about it. The hotel’s recommendation was off for this attraction.||||-I also felt that the restaurant recommendations we were given were very specific to the concierge team’s personal tastes, and not necessarily curated with an eye for what a visitor would most likely enjoy, which felt a little unprofessional. While I want to eat at places that locals enjoy and avoid tourist traps, there seemed to be a very strong preference against certain restaurants and restaurant groups when we were discussing recommendations, to the point that the recommendations felt oddly personally biased. I was told that certain restaurants were absolutely awful, despite being highly regarded by others. We went to one anyway and found that it was perfectly good and would have been a mistake to follow the recommendation to avoid.||||Arrival:||We arrived at the hotel around 1:30 pm on a Sunday afternoon, and we felt very welcome as we drove into the property, which is an attractive old brick building with a pretty driveway area and a welcoming entrance. Since the hotel is a historic Vanderbilt mansion, it really does feel like arriving at someone’s home, which is nice. A very friendly valet staff member immediately greeted us and started helping with our bags, and multiple staff members in the lobby greeted us as we walked in. They offered us each a welcome glass of rosé while we checked in, which we appreciated. There were also several bowls of candy in the lobby, which I think are always there if you want a little extra something sweet.||||Check-in went very well, and the staff member who checked us in was friendly and welcoming, wanting to make sure everything was set for our stay. She apologized profusely that our room wasn’t quite ready, even though we were early, and said it was just about done being cleaned. We didn’t mind this at all, and were happy to take our welcome drink and sit outside in the pretty back courtyard of the hotel on a nice day. When we went out there, the staff was incredibly gracious, with multiple people checking on us, offering us food or drinks, and apologizing again for the wait for the room (which ended up being no more than 10 minutes long!). The valet/bellman who had helped us was also ready to escort us upstairs and bring our luggage immediately once the room was ready.||||The only thing not fully addressed at check-in were extra inclusions in our room rate that came with booking through a travel agent (room upgrade, breakfast each day, and a $100 property credit). When I asked about these, they initially had no record of it. However, they looked into it while we were waiting for our room, and later confirmed the extras, apologized, and informed us of how to use breakfast and property credit. The potential complimentary room upgrade was never mentioned. The hotel did seem busy at the time and it’s possible no upgrade was available, but it seemed it was just overlooked. It would have been nice to have it addressed either way (i.e., receiving one, or being told that we hadn’t gotten one due to lack of availability). ||Room:||||We booked one of the two-level Mansion Loft Suites, which includes a lower level with a living area and half bath, and then internal stairs up to an open loft-style bedroom with a king bed and the full bath. Ours also surprisingly included a separate little bedroom downstairs with a single twin bed, which wasn’t advertised, but I guess could be useful for a child. ||||Overall, the room was a nice amount of space for us, our infant, our dog, and all of the accompanying gear. However, it just wasn’t as nice in person as the photos on the hotel website depicted (a common thread at this hotel). Although the hotel advertises all rooms as being recently renovated, if I didn’t know that in advance, I really would not have guessed it, and would have said the rooms currently need renovation. For one, the room was simply rough around the edges, with things looking a bit banged and beat up, the couch being saggy with pilled fabric, and the paint job just really poorly done, in an inappropriately glossy finish that highlighted all imperfections. The carpeting was a solid navy blue which was a horrible choice, both in making the room dark, and in looking dated. If the carpet had some sort of pattern or texture to it, the navy blue could have worked, but as is, it felt more like being transported back to the 1980s. I get that that they’re going for a dark, sort of masculine colonial vibe, but it was totally missing the feeling of luxury that you’d expect at an Auberge hotel.||||It also didn’t help that the room was incredibly dark. The Mansion Loft Suites are on the top floor of the hotel, which has more of an attic feel. The rooms have very small dormer-style windows that don’t bring in much natural light. There are additional skylights in the bedroom area, but they still didn’t do the trick to bring in enough light, especially on rainy days. The only part of the room that seemed to get enough light was the bathroom with its own skylight. The dark carpet and depressing dark grayish color of the walls just brings down the mood even further.||||We did find the main bathroom to be pretty nice, with a large shower and a more updated feel than the rest of the room. The bathroom itself was small though, with limited storage and a single pedestal sink that wasn’t particularly well anchored to the floor. We found it to be functional enough though, and also appreciated the nice seasonally-appropriate robes and thick, fluffy towels. The only disappointment was that they advertise Penhaligon’s bath products (a brand I really enjoy), but the ones actually there were an unremarkable no-name option. ||||We did appreciate that the hotel sent up a plate of cookies and macarons with a welcome note on behalf of our travel agent on the day we checked in. However, I was a little surprised that other amenities weren’t offered at a hotel that purports to be in the luxury category and was charging over $1,000 per night when we were there. For example, when we asked about any baby amenities for our daughter, they only had a pack n’ play to offer, and nothing else, and basically said we should rent anything we needed. Similarly, it’s nice when luxury hotels offer some sort of amenities for dogs, which ranges from basics like food bowls and dog beds to more elaborate toys and treats. Despite charging a $150 pet fee here, which you’d think would come with things like that, this hotel offered nothing at all for our dog.||||There is also a frustrating $50 per night resort fee here, which I ultimately just viewed as a parking fee. This is not a true resort property, and the fee didn’t include much that wouldn’t just be free at most properties. It purports to include valet parking, the ability to access the pool and fitness center, lobby refreshments (I’m not sure what those were beyond the couple bowls of candy), the welcome drink, coffee in the room, bikes, and internet.||||Hotel Generally:||||While we had our complaints about the room, and simply didn’t like it, other parts of the hotel were definitely nicer. The lobby is generally one of them, with a dark, cozy feel and multiple small rooms that feel like the living area of a private home. It really had a sense of place and was an enjoyable place to sit and have drinks, or just relax and read a book. Since everything was so dark (in a similar fashion to the rooms, but less depressing down there), the décor had a seasonality to it, and would be much more appealing maybe in fall or winter for its coziness. ||||However, the hotel common areas also had some of the same issues as the rooms. Things were simply shabbier than expected. For example, a lot of the lobby furniture featured sagging cushions, or in some cases even stuffing come out. It was odd to me that a “renovated” hotel wasn’t in better condition. Going for a historic feel doesn’t have to mean things are in bad condition. ||||Similarly, the room hallways looked bad. In addition to being incredibly dark, the walls were banged up, and just generally had been painted in what looked like a very sloppy, rushed job. The elevator to the rooms was old, cheap looking, and very slow. ||||While I wanted to like the hotel better, it just simply was not up to par with other Auberge Collection hotels. The Vanderbilt is simply not even close to being in the same class as hotels like Auberge du Soleil in Napa or Hotel Jerome in Aspen, for example. It actually felt very much like a cheap imitation of Hotel Jerome, which has a similarly historic feel, but was done in a pristine manner.||||Dining:||||I found the listing of dining options at the hotel to be a bit confusing on the hotel’s website, and there are generally fewer discrete options than they make it seem like. Basically, the lobby level has a single restaurant, which serves food in three separate areas. The Dining Room, the Conservatory, and the outdoor Garden are basically all the same restaurant, and they just serve the food in different places depending on the time of day. For example, breakfast and lunch are served in the Conservatory or the Garden, both of which are beautiful spaces. We loved the Conservatory with lots of light and plants all around (although a good number of them were fake, which would have been nicer if all were real). The Garden was also lovely, with potted flowers and well-manicured landscaping, all on a flagstone patio area. We had breakfast one day in each spot and enjoyed both. The servers were attentive and friendly, and we found that the breakfast food itself was sort of unremarkable, but not bad. The menu didn’t really offer a lot of choice or anything unique.||||Dinner is in the main dining room, and servers will also come out to the lobby seating areas to offer food and drinks, which is where we enjoyed the Mansion Oyster Hour happy hour one day, which I highly recommend. They have $2 oysters from 4:00-5:30 every day except Saturdays. Service there was also attentive and warm.||||On a seasonal basis, there is also the hotel Roof Deck, which offers drinks and food from 4:00 onward. We were excited to go up there, and were told we needed to reserve a table. I’m not totally sure that was necessary, but it probably wasn’t a bad thing to have a reservation either. We found the Roof Deck to be disappointing. While the concept is great, it was yet another example of photos making a somewhat shabby venue look better than it was. The outdoor furniture was rickety and a bit beat-up, and the harbor views, while nice, are not as close up as the photos would lead you to believe. Much of the view in the foreground is actually a parking lot next to the hotel. While service was good, we found the actual offerings to be overpriced for the level of service provided. Everything had expensive hotel pricing, but very basic presentation. For example, we ordered glasses of champagne that were almost $30 each, but all drinks came in worn out acrylic glasses. It’s not a pool, so I’m not sure why drinks couldn’t come in real glasses. We also got some oysters, and they were not prepared well. They weren’t detached from the shells, with garnishes served in paper cups. We also tried pimento cheese that was hard and too cold, giving the vibe that it was just right out of a grocery store container. It was served with basic Ritz crackers that were too weak to even hold the dip. The Roof Deck was really nothing special.||||Other Amenities/Experiences:||||I do like that this hotel offers a variety of special experiences that guests can book, which are fun and interesting. We did the private “Green Hour” absinthe experience. While it was pricey at $150 per person, it was one of the highlights of our stay. Zach from the bar team led the experience, and he was great, really giving us unique, interesting history about the spirit, along with one drink of absinthe on its own, plus a choice of another cocktail from the bar that included absinthe. It also came with a whole tin of caviar and accoutrements, as well as several other appetizers which were basically a full meal. It was a lot of fun, relaxing, and ultimately not a bad value at all.||||Other hotel amenities include both an outdoor and indoor pool. Given the relatively small footprint of the hotel and location in town, it’s surprising they have these, but definitely nice as an option. The outdoor pool was really tiny, and we never saw anyone using it. The hotel staff would set up towels each day, and I believe would provide food/drink service. I saw the indoor pool once, which is in the basement. It looked uninviting and murky, and was not a place to relax and didn’t have any seating. I believe there is also a spa and fitness center near the indoor pool, but we never saw or used either one.||||Service:||||The real saving grace of this hotel for us was the service. I don’t think we met a single staff member who was not gracious, caring, and helpful. The front desk staff members were enthusiastic and eager to help with any request, which was similar with the food and beverage team. The valet team was also a standout and very hard-working. Anytime we called for our car, they would run to get it right away and bring it to the front, even in pouring rain, and they were all very friendly. Sayid stood out for being incredible, and was the best staff member we encountered at the hotel. He was so friendly, always asking about our day, and remembering to follow-up and ask about things afterwards. He was also really kind to our daughter, always looking out for her and giving her attention. Sayid is a standout staff member and huge asset to this hotel.||||Location:||||The Vanderbilt does have a very good location within Newport. It’s just about a block off of the main thoroughfares that have a lot of the popular touristy shops and restaurants along the wharf, so you get the benefit of being able to walk to most places, while being just far enough removed from the throngs of people in the summer. This is especially helpful because we found that the streets in Downtown Newport could get very congested. Having so much within walking distance is a huge help. The only time we needed our car during our stay was to visit Cliff Walk and the Newport Mansions, which are about a 10-minute drive away.||||Departure Experience:||||When we left the hotel, the valet/bell staff was great as always, immediately coming to help us with all of our luggage and loading our car for us. I did stop at the front desk on the way out to review a copy of our final bill, and there were a couple of mistakes on there. The clerk was very helpful and apologetic, but to avoid holding us up, she said she would look into everything, make the adjustments, and let me know when it had been fixed. I received a call from her about an hour later, letting me know that everything had been taken care of and emailed an updated folio. It all seemed good to go.||||One of the mistakes on the bill was related to the vintage car tour that we never ended up taking. Even though it got cancelled on short notice, the tour operator was really nice about it and said we wouldn’t be charged. I found it annoying that a charge for it still popped up on the bill. If the concierge is booking and facilitating tours that pick guests up from the hotel, I would have thought they would have some idea of whether the tour actually occurred. ||||Out of nowhere, two weeks later after our stay, I received an updated folio by email, along with a new charge on my credit card, again for the cost of the car tour. I found this very frustrating, and called the hotel to once again speak to someone who was very nice, and said she would take care of it, but a couple days later, I had no evidence that she had. I called back yet again, spoke to another nice employee who confirmed the charge still had not been removed, but said she would do it. At that point, they were having some sort of issue with their credit card processing software, and couldn’t process the credit without having the accounting department do it. I finally then did see a credit come back on my credit card the next day. While everyone was nice about it, and no one disputed what I was saying, the cumbersome process to get an errant charge removed was really frustrating and unprofessional, and I’m not sure why they kept trying to sneak it onto our bill.||||Overall:||||Overall, we weren’t big fans of the Vanderbilt. While the staff was great and very warm and caring, the hotel simply wasn’t at the level that we expected. Rates are very high here in the summer, but the hard product is just not in line with the rates or the Auberge Resorts Collection as we’ve experienced it elsewhere. The dark, shabby room, and other areas of the hotel that were rough around the edges were surprising and disappointing. I don’t think we’d return to this property.