My wife and I were primed to partake of a nice July 2005 weekend in New England, in what we thought would be a lovely inn. I had not found reviews of the inn, but it came recommended from a telephone call to the local tourism registry. The inn is within a 1/2 mile of the University of Rhode Island, on RI route 138, near the intersection with RI route 108. Our room rate was $150/night, plus a healthy tax, for a room with private bath, window A/C and double bed.

Negatives: The innkeepers, Barbara and Perry Viles, seemed ill suited, or perhaps burned out, on the job. Having stayed at many other B&Bs throughout New England and the Middle Atlantic states over the past thirty years, we are used to warm, effusive, helpful innkeepers that seem to welcome you into their homes--kind of like staying at the beautiful home of a warm friend. Not the case here. Perry is more the public face of the inn, because Barbara seems disinclined to interact with guests. Perry is also fairly reserved, and trying to stimulate conversation was a chore. Within earshot, he complained often about other, unseen guests. It is very clear by posted "private" signs, and the general daily scareness of the innkeepers, that there is not much desire for a lot of interaction with the guests. Recommendations for places to go needed to be pried from them, and directions, when given, were often wrong. Local events within a few miles of the inn were not well known, and they seemed woefully unaware of their surroundings. They had not visited a pottery place listed as a recommendation on their web site, located within a couple of miles, in years.
If the innkeepers were the worst of the stay, that might be tolerable. However, this visually lovely inn was overwhelmed by an almost intolerable odor on the main level--which I believe was from cat urine. This July weekend had temperatures in the 90s, and the smell was overwhelming from the time one walked in the front door. Barbara feeds stray cats outside near the garden entrance--and this was probably the origination of the very strong odor. Only when one climbed to the 2nd floor, did the odor start to dissappate.
Upper floors were very hot, and the small, single window A/C unit in the room was hard pressed to keep up with the heat. Rooms lacked some amenities: lotion, nice bar soap.
Breakfast is served from 7:15AM to 8:45AM in the formal dining room, though that seemed a tad early for weekend sleepers. Made to order eggs or oatmeal were main offerings, though nothing special.

Positives: Nice decor. Very easily accessible location right on Rte. 138 in South Kingston--the main access road to Newport, and a 15 minute drive to state beaches.

Overall: This inn needs a thorough professional cleaning to remove the offensive odor. High summer temperatures exacerbates the problem. The innkeepers might want to consider retiring and turning this high potential inn over to owners who want to be there.