A Newport Boutique Hotel Is the Perfect Gilded Age Getaway this Summer

If you’re looking for a luxury getaway destination, take a trip to Newport, Rhode Island, and immerse yourself in Gilded Age glamour. With historic mansions, world-class yachting, high-end boutiques, gourmet dining, and gardens galore, this city, located on Aquidneck Island in Narragansett Bay, offers all the riches of the perfect weekend by the sea.

And for the perfect waterfront stay, look to Gardiner House. Opened in 2023 by a descendent of one of Newport’s established families, the new 21-room boutique hotel pays homage to the city’s rich history. In fact, its design was inspired by the family’s mansion featured on HBO’s The Gilded Age.

Located on Lees Wharf, Gardiner House is a stately white clapboard structure with a grand sweeping staircase leading to double French entry doors. Once inside, you are greeted by welcoming staff in a robin’s egg blue, two-story foyer. Here, a fanciful wall mural depicting citrus and willow trees, flowering buds. and exotic birds nods to the work of early-20^th-century Newport artist Howard Gardiner Cushing. His grandson, Howard Cushing, co-owns the breathtaking hotel with Wirt Blaffer.

The interiors are more akin to a private summer cottage than a hotel. Off the foyer is a beautiful sitting room/bar with fireplace, cozy couches, ottomans, antiques, sketches, and a gorgeous bar complete with brass foot rail. The walls are awash in soothing green—you truly feel like you have stepped back in time and into an intimate Gilded Age parlor. The Studio Bar delights the eye, and its extensive cocktail menu awakens the palate. Cocktails feature innovative flavors and high-quality ingredients and change seasonally.

After I soak in this room, I head to my equally well-appointed guest room: a large space with 14-foot ceilings and French doors leading to a terrace overlooking the marina. The color palette is soothing in cool blues and whites with subtle coastal and nautical touches. The furnishings are an eclectic mix of reproduction antiques and vintage pieces, including an oversized rattan armoire. Books are tucked on shelves for a little late-night reading. Although with Matouk linens, comfy duvets, and a pillow menu, you may forgo the chapters and be lulled right to sleep. The bathroom is equally luxurious with white marble floors and walls and double sink vanity.

Another space for taking in the scenery is the gorgeous and massive sunroom, where wicker and bamboo furnishings overlook the marina, Newport Harbor, and Fort Adams State Park beyond. Large ferns and palms in chinoiserie pots add a touch of vibrancy. The operable windows allow for sea breezes in the spring and summer months.

The dining room is equally impressive. Flora opened in June 2024 under the culinary direction of chef Somoza, who spent many years cooking for royals. The menu celebrates Rhode Island farms and fishermen as well as the culinary traditions of Mediterranean seaside towns. Dishes such as arroz del senyoret with saffron rice, lobster, scallops, shrimp, calamari and grilled lemon and the pounded filet of beef with peppers are just two inspired dishes from Southern Europe.

The restaurant’s name comes from Howard Gardiner Cushing’s 1905 portrait painting of Flora Payne Whitney, daughter of Gertrude Whitney and granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The painting is displayed prominently over the bar. The hotel’s Gilded Age inspiration is well worth the drive.  gardinerhouse.com

Explore Newport

A short walk from the hotel will lead you to 22 Bowens. Stop in for lunch at this exceptional steakhouse with a relaxed vibe. A chilled lobster cocktail or crab cake with a side of greens and a cold glass of Sancerre will fortify you for a day. If you want to tour in style, book a Jaguar Tour and explore the Gilded Age avenues in a British classic motorcar. Tour the Gilded Age Mansions of Belview Avenue. A trip to the city would not be complete without a visit to the Breakers, the grandest 19^th-century Newport “cottage” once owned by the Vanderbilts. Blithewold Gardens & Arboretum is another must stop on a day in Newport. 20^th-century landscape architect John DeWolf created the form of gardens, pathways, lawns, and stone structures, across the 33-acre estate, which are still largely intact to this day. End the day at Aurelia at Castle Hill. You’ll feel like you are dining back in time at this an elevated farm-to-table experience surrounded by an enchanting Victorian-era setting.

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