We arrived around 4:30pm. Donna checked us in. My son was getting married that weekend and we had to meet him and his bride for dinner. We got back late with the intention of going right to bed. There were a bunch of decorative pillows on the bed, but only two small ones for sleeping. We found a couple other pillows and some linen in the kitchen closet. The interior of the door to the closet was filthy. The pillows and linens in the closet smelled stale. The next morning I couldn’t log into my gmail, because the internet service was so poor. Google’s internet speed test calculated 0.79 mbps. Donna said it’s because they don’t have highspeed internet in Newport. The closer we looked at the place the worse it got. The place smelled musty. Richard and Donna tell me they disagree, implying I don’t know ‘musty’ when I smell it. I ran my finger through the dust in the bathroom and on the windowsill in the living room. If they can’t go through and dust the obvious places before a guest arrives, then they certainly aren’t going to shake the dust out of all the decorative pillows and stuffed animals they got laying around the house. There are rust marks around bottom of the shower, and the shower doors run in a track at the top, but not the bottom. So, the doors swing out at the bottom. It’s pretty messed-up. If you weren’t aware of it, and you were just trying to steady yourself, while going in or out of the shower, it could surprise you and cause you to slip and fall.
We had reserved the place for 4 nights. We decided we couldn’t spend this special weekend in this dirty and dreary place, so I reserved a couple rooms at the Viking Hotel. It was nice sleeping between two crisp, clean sheets and getting ready for my son’s wedding in a clean and safe bathroom. Donna was right about the internet being slow all over Newport. It was slow at the Viking, but it was a blazing 5.73 compared with the 0.79 at the Historic Hill Inn. I could get online and do my work.
I expected Richard to refund my money for the third and fourth nights I had reserved. I stayed one night and left at 11AM prior to the second night. When I asked AirBnb for a refund, Richard shot back a blustery email demanding that I pay an extra $116 for taxes. It was kind of funny really.
Richard doesn’t put a lot of effort into making this place nice. When you see it, you’ll know what I mean. There are better places to stay in the area.