After deciding to visit Newport RI for a few days, we started looking into hotels. There some fair 2.5-3-star hotels in the Warwick/Kingstown area which are reasonably priced, but staying there would involve about a 30-minute ride one-way in and out of Newport. Since all of our to-dos on the itinerary were in the Newport/Middletown area, we decided to try to get a hotel there. Now, there is a huge price difference between the two areas; a $150 per night in Warwick would be $300 in Middletown and $400+ in Newport. We settled on a few in the Middletown area which is only about a 10-15 minute drive into Newport/Wharf area. Of those few, the Sonesta consistently received above average-good reviews and was modestly-priced, given the location. The Sonesta is located off W. Main Road with lots of food, retail and fuel options. This is always helpful when you are traveling with a family. We arrived at about 3 pm on a Thursday and it was very quiet. I stopped off at the reception area and was quickly checked in within a few minutes. The front desk staff were very nice. As of this writing, face masks were required in all common areas, though I observed guests both masked and unmasked (50/50) in the common areas throughout our stay. We were advised of the closest entrance to our rooms. We drove around to that entrance, parked and entered our room after a short walk. The room was what I expected: typical 2.5-3-star accommodations. Pros: generally clean room, sufficient outlets, lots of lights, mini fridge, coffee maker but no cups, efficient temperature controls, convenient roll-out wheeled desk with chair. Cons: some grit in the bathroom corners, no microwave but communal microwave near ice maker (iffy call during COVID), beds seemed to be double beds and NOT queens, small flat screen tv seemed very outdated, no liners in any of the garbage cans, TV remote a bit frustrating (like many other hotels) I am not a fan of the separate toilet/tub from the sink/mirror, but I’ve seen this before in other hotels. Our biggest issue, like many other reviewers have mentioned, is the complete lack of room housekeeping. In our 3-day, 2-night stay, not only was our room not cleaned, but I did NOT see any housekeeping service in the halls throughout our entire stay! It wasn’t much of a problem for us as we reused towels and kept the room clean ourselves… but it was just very unusual. I’ve known other hotels to ONLY clean when requested in an effort to conserve water (washing sheets/towels) to be more eco-friendly but they usually announce that somewhere. There was NO indication or signs that this was their practice. My guess is that, like many businesses affected by COVID, especially hotels, they are very short staffed and simply cannot accommodate daily cleanings, though I may be wrong. But, since I observed very little staff throughout my entire stay, I believe this is the most probably cause. I don’t mind this…I just wish it was announced and the guests were notified
101 Reviews