Watch Hill Inn

It is hard to know where to begin. ||This isn’t an inn - its an overpriced motel - a checkin person and a parking attendant - that’s it.||There are some pastries in a sitting room for breakfast - help yourself||It is genuinely a rip off - don’t fall for the relais chateau stuff - ||As a motel it has a nice location overlooking the harbour (and car port!)||As a guest you are welcome to use the ocean house beach/ restaurants/ spa etc fair enough||The beach is lovely - the view from the hotel is also lovely - the food is mediocre - all of it including the Gourmet Tasting menu COAST restaurant was bland.||Anyway I write this review to encourage you not to waste your time staying here and to encourage the mgmt to raise their game.

I used to go to the beach at Watch Hill as a kid ~50 years ago. I was excited to return after decades and decided to treat myself to 8 nights at the Watch Hill Inn. According to the website, the Inn had gone through a restoration and now had Relais & Chateau distinction. At $1500/night, it was expensive, but I decided to treat myself. I arrived with high expectations, and they were not met - not even close. The on-site amenities were minimal. There is a small lounge that offers refreshments all day and an unremarkable breakfast in the AM. It's self-serve. The coffee machine failed several times during my stay and the cupboards had visible crumbs on the self. My room was a one-bedroom condo - clearly privately owned and managed by the Inn. The space was good...and it was convenient to have a kitchen and laundry facilities in the condo. But, the condo was modestly furnished at best - low end fit and finish. The people were nice, but the service was lacking. I asked for extra blankets 6x...my first 4 requests went unanswered...following my 5th request, I was given extra sheets instead. Good grief. To me, this was more like an Airbnb stay with spotty maid service. Not worth $1500/night...certainly not a Relais & Chateau experience.

We stayed at Watch Hill while attending a wedding at Ocean House. Everything was lovely, from start to finish. All the amenities and staff courtesies provided by Ocean House at half the cost - though both are quite pricey. Watch Hill is operated like a set of condo rentals, with little on-site staffing, but there is a small reception area with breakfast and evening snacks which we appreciated, and the Ocean House staff could not have been more accommodating in transporting us between the two properties (just a 2-3 block walk up/down a hill) and attending to our needs.

An overall good property with little issues here and there that really prevent it from being a true five star experience. We visited in peak season (July 2023) and stayed in a two bedroom suite. The service was absolutely exceptional, besides the check-in snafu which I'll get into. For such an expensive room, I did expect a bit more than what was provided. Our room was not ready at the promised time (4 PM) and we were left to roam the property until it was ready for us. We did press the staff around 4:30 to get us into the room and I wonder how long they would have kept us hanging if we didn't show that we were agitated about the situation. Once everything was ready, we were able to park our cars and were escorted up to the room. The suite overall was very nice and clean, the AC worked nicely (a bit loud though) and the Nespresso machine was a nice surprise. The beds were very comfortable and the window treatments did a nice job of blocking out the sunrise. Bathrooms and showers were acceptable, abet a bit dark. Lighting and fixtures were also nice and modern with dimmer switches. Our personal... Assistant (?) I guess you could call him, Pringle, was excellent. A very charismatic and helpful guy, always ready to drive us around or assist with whatever we needed. While I'm not usually a person who likes to be waited on and pampered, Pringle really elevated the experience for us. Small details around the suite hampered our experience which shouldn't have been a thing for such an expensive two night stay. First, the entire property including the Ocean House have a massive fruit fly problem. All over the suite we were swatting fruit flies away. We also continuously heard the people above us stomping and dragging furniture around, up until the late hours of the night. The mounted televisions throughout the suite were cheap and had cabling hanging from the bottom, just a lazy and tacky look. Finally the fridge had a built in water dispenser but it didn't work and no bottled water was provided so we either had to drink from the tap or go out to get bottled water. These aren't things I would expect for a $1500/night stay. I would not stay here again after assessing the stay from start to finish. The location and hospitality is great but it just isn't worth the high cost.

Stayed at the Watch Hill Inn for 3 nights in June. The Inn had recently reopened after closure for the pandemic. A family of 3, including a 2 year old, we stayed in the Seal Rock Suite, which was absolutely perfect for us. The suite was spacious - a full kitchen, table, living room, powder room, king bed and attached en suite bathroom. We also had our own private deck with lounge chairs and bar height patio table. We spent a lot of time out there taking in the sunsets and watching the fog clear in the mornings. The suite was very clean, updated and comfortable. Complimentary beverages were provided in the refrigerator, including refillable insulated water bottles, and other snacks. We also received breakfast boxes as the continental breakfast bar is suspended due to COVID. ||We had a few small hiccups, but our overall experience lent itself to a 5 star review as we had such a wonderful time. Check in was at the Ocean House, and at 2 pm, our room was not ready. It wasn't available at check in time either. Ultimately the OH staff had a difficult time finding and communicating with anyone at the WHI. We finally got in our room, but it was a bit tough considering we were also dealing with a toddler. The coordination between the properties could definitely use some improvement. Other than that, the shower in our room needed attention and the housekeeping service was spotty.||We loved having the space the WHI provided, as well as the proximity to the shops and restaurants in town. We also appreciated our access to the OH amenities, particularly the restaurants and the beach. We had a great trip, and would love to return here one day.

We were familiar with Ocean House through friends and decided to do a family beach weekend in July 2022. Due to our daughter testing positive for COVID, they kindly allowed us to move our stay to August. However, given the lack of availability at Ocean House, we ended up in the Watch Hill Inn.||Upon arrival at 2pm we were told to valet at Ocean House to start the check in process and that out accommodations wouldn’t be available until 4pm or later. We decided to have lunch at the “Verandah” restaurant and then use the beach. Lunch at “Verandah” was mediocre. A great example of this mediocrity was the “French union crab dip.” It’s basically melted cream cheese without any identifiable trace of onion or crab. The Verandah chopped salad was edible.||I do have to say that the beach is probably among the nicest beach in the Northeast. It’s really very very nice.||At around 5:30pm we left the beach and returned to the reception to get our keys and get access to our room. We were told to request our car from valet and to follow a staff member in another vehicle. It’s about a 2-3 min drive from Ocean House to Watch Hill Inn. Our accommodations were on the second floor, accessible via two flights of stairs. With young children 2 and 4 and a stroller, this was another problem. It was at this point that we realized that the Watch Hill Inn is basically a “motel” that is managed by the Ocean House. The units at Watch Hill Inn feel like cheap Airbnb apartments, with in-window AC units and cheap finishes. Considering we paid all-in $1500 for one night we had very different expectations and we feel that we were totally hoodwinked. ||After our request for alternative accommodations was denied, they offered to pick up our dinner at Thea, the beach restaurant at Ocean House. The food was extremely mediocre. The catch of the day tasted a bit like the catch of last week. The roasted “half chicken” was chicken thigh and a chicken wing. ||Overall, I think that the food and dining at Ocean House is terrible, despite the prices. I also am convinced that Watch Hill Inn is simply a joke for the pricing. Don’t stay at the Watch Hill Inn. Don’t dine at Ocean House.

We thought we’d try a last minute visit to the Watch Hill Inn. I called the day prior to inquire if they had any AAA or Senior Citizens Rates. I was told no but they’d be happy to extend a 15% discount off the rates on line. When we arrived at the property mass confusion as to how to check in. We pulled into the driveway and were told nastily to move our car and go to the Ocean House. When we got to the Ocean House they absolutely refused to honor the 15% discount I was told about over the phone. When our room was finally ready and we drove back to the property there were many open parking spots, however we were told specifically to park in between two pillars - an extremely narrow spot in which I would have surely damaged our car. I finally refused and we were begrudgingly allowed to park in a spot for registration. |Later in the evening we noticed we could not connect the iPad in the room to WiFi and the phone in the room didn’t work. |This property is incredibly overrated. While the location is very nice, the service is uneven and lacking. Check in at Ocean House was extremely pretentious. When we went to the beach there was no one there to help with lounge chairs until asked. The music in the kiosk there was blasting and I had to ask to turn it down.|Very very expensive for what it is. If this is Relais and Chateau you must be kidding.

Visited here as a belated Mothers Day gift. We have stayed at Ocean House several times and the past and the Watch Hill Inn is basically a souped up motel managed by the Ocean House that you still spend $600 a nite with the taxes and resort fees for a property that is average at best. The toilet ran constantly and in order to turn on the gas fireplace one has to get on your knees to activate it, there is no guest manual provided to explain the heating/cooling, media , Wi-Fi etc. we were one of only a few guests and were placed below someone who made a great deal of noise at 6am for over an hour, we made management aware of it and were told that they would look into it. The biggest issue was that a box of condoms was left in the nightstand very disturbing to say the least, clearly housekeeping was not thorough in prepping the suite. On a positive note our experience dining in the club room and with the spa at the Ocean House was superb. It is difficult to see where the Inn fits in the OHMG’s priorities given our experience. In short a great location with many flaws and not good value.