in Newport.
The Chanler at Cliff Walk and Spiced Pear Restaurant
Owners: John and Jeanie Shufelt
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Type of Business: Upscale boutique hotel and restaurant
Location: Newport
Year Founded: 2000
Employees: 140 to 150 at peak season
Annual Sales: Not available
The Chanler at Cliff Walk, a newly refurbished boutique hotel, is making a name for itself in Newport.
Since it reopened last July as a 20-room upscale hotel, the Chanler has garnered wide praise from travel magazines and the hospitality industry. The hotel’s restaurant, the Spiced Pear, has also cooked up some acclaim.
Both entities have been featured in such publications as Bon Appetit, Romantic Homes, Rhode Island Monthly and Connecticut magazine. Also, last September, Food & Wine selected The Chanler as one of the 15 best new luxury hotels in the world. The hotel has also recently been approved to join luxurylink.com, an online luxury travel resource, according to Linda Naiss, The Chanler’s director of marketing.
“The reviews have been great,” said Naiss. “(The hotel) is a luxury level of design, amenities and the location is breathtaking.”
Perched atop Newport’s famed Cliff Walk, The Chanler overlooks Easton’s Beach and the rippling, rich blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The 19th-century building, located beside Memorial Boulevard at the north end entryway of Cliff Walk, is the first mansion-turned-hotel on the scenic seaside path.
The French Empire-style structure, originally built in 1873 as the summer home for New York congressman John Winthrop Chanler, was the first mansion built on Cliff Walk. Steeped in history, the property has had many owners and personalities throughout the years; it’s served as a residence, an historical museum, a school for girls and most recently the former Cliff Walk Manor, a hotel and restaurant.
In June 2000, John Shufelt, a Detroit businessman, bought the hotel, renamed it The Chanler at Cliff Walk and embarked on extensive renovations. Shufelt’s wife, Jeanie, directed much of the restoration efforts. The Shufelts also own an upscale lodging in Michigan and the La Farge Perry House Bed and Breakfast in Newport.
Now, The Chanler is emerging from a three-year, multimillion-dollar refurbishment, or “revitalization,” according to Naiss.
“It’s really undergone what we refer to as a revitalization,” she said. Naiss would not comment on the cost of the renovation.
The property’s entrance features tall granite walls, intricately iron-laced gates and lush evergreens. The five-acre estate showcases rolling green grounds and manicured landscaping. The stately three-story hotel includes a mushroom-colored stucco-like exterior with bright white trimmings as numerous pillars surround the ground-floor level.
Inside, beyond the gilded front-door handle, classical music can be heard lingering through the hotel’s high-ceiling lobby with its twinkling crystal chandelier. The lobby sets the tone for much of the opulent hotel as elegant paintings adorn walls, dramatic drapery garnish windows and fresh-cut flowers greet guests.
Another reason for the hotel’s rave reviews, said Naiss, is that each guestroom has its own distinctive décor that mirrors certain historical periods. Also, each guestroom is named for the historical period it portrays through its furniture design and architecture.
For instance, the Louis XVI Room is bathed in light blue adornments, plush fabrics and antique and European furnishings. The English Tudor suite is awash in dark brown woods and has a raised platform leather upholstery king-sized bed. The Williamsburg Room, however, has a decisively more colonial feel.
The rooms reflect more than eight centuries of history, including 12th century Gothic and 15th century English Tudor. Other rooms include Greek Revival, Renaissance, Victorian, Mediterranean and Empire.
Despite the Old World European furnishings and flair, the hotel also incorporates modern-world amenities into the guestrooms such as flat-screen televisions and DVD and CD players. Rooms also have wet bars, gas fireplaces, in-house safes and dual phone lines for voice and Internet access.
Even the bathrooms have plasma TVs and heated tiled-floors.
“The bathrooms are all so unique and so luxurious. People just love having the flat-screen plasma TV in the bathroom,” Naiss said with a chuckle. Bathrooms feature Jacuzzis and showers with multiple showerheads and body jets.
In addition to the 14 guestrooms in the main building, there are six garden and ocean villas, the latter include the Nantucket, Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard and have a more New England feel than the rest of the hotel. The garden villas include English Trellis, Peonies and Ivy and Briar Rose. The villas feature private courtyards, hot tubs, saunas and outdoor decks.
About 15 rooms have ocean views. Rates range from $295 to $1,095 per night, depending on the season, time of week and room.
On the first level is the hotel’s 85-seat restaurant the Spiced Pear, which also offers ocean views. The restaurant features regional and international cuisine headed by Executive Chef Richard Hamilton, a graduate of culinary academies in Paris and a 20-year veteran of the cooking profession.
The custom-designed show kitchen features a large French Bonnet cooking suite, or stove, which was made on the premises. Only six such stoves are made per year, said Naiss. An outdoor terrace seats 125, overlooks the water and is available for casual dining with a custom bar and grill to be installed this spring. There is also an indoor bar and cocktail lounge.
Naiss added The Chanler can accommodate corporate functions and weddings. The hotel will be closed Jan. 14 to 28 for upgrades to the basement offices, she said.
As for the future, the hotel plans to continue to make a name for itself through repeat customers and word-of-mouth recognition “because that’s the hallmark to success,” said Naiss.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised as to how well both the restaurant and hotel
have been received,” she said. “We find many repeat clients both dining and
staying with us and that’s very important to build up for future business.”
