Newport’s famed Gilded-Age mansions aren’t only museum pieces—several have been reimagined as intimate inns. Stay in restored drawing rooms lined with original hardwoods, relax on broad ocean-facing porches, and wake to chef-prepared breakfasts, all while enjoying modern comforts like spa showers and plush bedding. The historic retreats below let you experience Newport’s golden era in authentic surroundings without giving up today’s conveniences.
The Chanler at Cliff Walk
The Chanler is literally a Gilded Age mansion that operates as an inn. Completed in 1873 as a grand Newport estate, it retains that opulent character. It’s the only hotel that is located directly on the Cliff Walk and it has fabulous views of the water and Easton’s Beach. Its 20 rooms are all richly furnished with antiques, four-poster beds, and old-world decor. Each one has it’s own unique character and theme. It’s Newport’s only Double 5-Star and Michelin Two-Key HotelDuring the day enjoy drinks in the garden and at night sit by a wood-burning fireplace or on a garden terrace with ocean breezes.
The Vanderbilt, Auberge Resorts Collection
Once the mansion of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (great-grandson of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt), this boutique hotel is on Mary Street in Newport’s Historic Hill district. A modern luxury hotel now, it honors its origins as a Vanderbilt home. That means every corner has quirky antiques and oceanic curiosities but in a contemporary style. The Vanderbilt features 29 suites (within 33 total accommodations) with gas fireplaces, carved wood paneling, and wallpapers inspired by 1920s Newport. There’s a rooftop bar, open during the summer. It’s a great location near both Bellevue and Thames Street.
Castle Hill Inn
Castle Hill Inn began as Alexander Agassiz’s 19th-century summer estate, commanding all 40 acres of a peninsula that feels almost like its own island at Newport’s harbor mouth. Among its storied guests, Hollywood icon Grace Kelly stayed here in the summer of 1956 while shooting High Society. Today it operates as a Relais & Châteaux inn with 33 accommodations scattered across the 40-acre grounds, including original mansion suites and private cottages. The style is unmistakably Gilded Age – dining on the lawn terrace by sunset feels like an old-world ritual. Historic rooms feature architectural details like fireplaces and window seats overlooking the water. Notably, Castle Hill’s Rose Room and Lighthouse Suite offer direct ocean views, meaning you wake up looking at Narragansett Bay. Overall, sleeping at Castle Hill is like being a guest at an aristocratic oceanfront country home, with the very real luxury of modern spa and cuisine.
Ivy Lodge
Though more modest than the above, Ivy Lodge is itself a Victorian mansion turned B&B. The building dates from 1891 and retains the grandeur of that era. Antique woodwork, stained glass, and a broad wraparound porch give the feel of a small Newport estate. Each room is themed in Gilded Age style, some are named after mansion architects or have wood-carved four-poster beds. Guests enjoy public areas like the grand oak foyer and fireplace parlors that evoke Newport’s historic opulence. Yet Ivy Lodge maintains modern upscale touches (gourmet breakfast, plush linens).
Hydrangea House Inn
This bed & breakfast sits in a stately 10-room mansion on Bellevue Avenue, a street once home to the likes of Vanderbilts and Dukes. If you plan on spending a lot of time at the mansions, this is a great choice for you as you’re able to walk to them all. Inside, each guest room is decorated lavishly with period antiques, rich fabrics, and Victorian wallpapers, giving a feel of a grand Newport home. The common areas include a formal parlor and one of Newport’s most ornate staircases. Every morning, a gourmet breakfast is served in a sunroom. Essentially, staying here is like borrowing one of Bellevue’s mansion suites for the night – all the romance of the Gilded Age without having to vacuum.
Cliffside Inn
Though modest in scale, the Cliffside Inn occupies an 1876 Second-Empire Victorian manor. The interiors retain heart-pine floors, carved mantels and other original woodwork, complemented by period mahogany beds, armoires and eclectic art pieces. All 16 individually styled rooms and suites have singular touches—Beatrice’s Room still displays the artist’s original paintings on its door panels, while others feature antique four-poster or queen beds and clawfoot or slipper tubs. Guests wake to a complimentary chef-inspired breakfast buffet set out each morning in the inn’s dining room, evoking the rhythm of a Gilded-Age household without the chores. And, true to its name, the property sits about a five-minute, 0.3-mile stroll from Newport’s Cliff Walk trailhead.
