Cleveland House

My wife booked us a stay at the Cleveland House in Newport, RI which was paid for immediately. We met the owner, Rick, upon arrival and 90 minutes later we were told by Rick that he had "upgraded" our room but we would be staying in a different location. Upon arrival, we parked in a terribly cramped parking lot adjacent to a busy intersection. Our room was on the 1st floor and appeared as though the room hadn't been renovated in decades. Imagine a dorm room size refrigerator, a television the size you would provide to a 6th grader to play video games on and decor to rival that of a horror movie. The bathroom was "vintage" and quite frankly disgusting. A soaking tub which, who would use in the 1st place, with no fixtures and a chandelier that was all but resting on my head when I stood. The toilet was so low to the ground that any man of even average height that attempted to sit down would have trouble standing back up. No toiletries whatsoever and when my wife contacted "Rick" she spoke to a woman who could not have cared less. Stains on the carpet, cobwebs all over the curtains in the bedroom and you had to manually attempt to tighten the blinds in the bathroom so that nobody could see in when walking by. My wife and I barely slept due to the road noise and people routinely walking in the front door of the property. The parking lot is great if you and six other people are driving Prius's but any car of even medium size is going to draw the ire of the unnamed woman who called us to complain that our rented VW Jetta was taking up too much room. We could not have left soon enough or fast enough. Having visited Newport countless times I could never encourage anyone to rent a room from Rick who owns numerous properties in Newport. We made a careless mistake by not reading the reviews until after we had checked in to the property. READ THE REVIEWS, YOU WILL SEE A LOT OF THE SAME COMPLAINTS FOR A REASON. Now a positive, Rick's 77 year old buddy who sailed up to Newport from Florida. We met this fella outside as did other couples and he could not have been nicer and quite honestly, the only positive aspect of our stay. He truly is a gem. As far as the property goes, hard pass. Pay more to stay somewhere else, I would never and will never stay in one of Rick's properties ever again.

Location was perfect, I felt welcome on arrival. Rick was extremely accommodating. My room was clean, and comfortable with Victorian charm. The atmosphere was relaxing, the price was as expected! It was quiet and cheerful. I had toiletries and a hairdryer. Rick took custom breakfast orders and the tea selection was great! I had dietary needs and Rick allowed me use of the fridge for my items. He even stored my bicycle indoors overnight. Guests arriving were greeted warmly by the staff. It was extremely busy with the folk festival commencing. Rick never stopped attending to the guests. His staff was also very helpful and John was polite, courteous and super helpful. I can’t wait to visit again! Thank you Rick, John and all the other wonderful people I met for making my solo travel all the better!

We had a confirmed reservation, complete with booking confirmation and reservation number, and drove approximately 70 miles to Cleveland House looking forward to a weekend away. Upon arrival, we were told there was no room available, despite the reservation having been accepted and appearing on the system. What made the situation particularly frustrating was that the member of staff we spoke with, Ashley B, could see that the reservation existed, yet no accommodation was available for us. Mistakes can happen, but what disappointed us most was the way the situation was handled. Rather than receiving an explanation, empathy, or any meaningful attempt to help, we felt the response was dismissive and at times unnecessarily confrontational. As a result, we had no option but to turn around and drive the 70 miles home again, making it a 140-mile round trip and arriving back after dark. More than the fuel cost and inconvenience, it was the loss of a planned weekend that was so disappointing. The combination of a booking failure and the lack of customer care on arrival left us extremely disappointed and completely ruined what should have been an enjoyable weekend away.