The City of Newport Maritime Center — Attraction in Newport

Absolutely stellar that this facility exists. Showers, laundry, Wi-Fi, sitting area for transient boaters on a mooring or anchored. These services go a long long way to make Newport welcoming to visitors on the water, especially in an area where things are getting outlandishly expensive for visitors in a lot of ports. A few details were disappointing though and worth mentioning. $1.75 for a shower is perfectly reasonable, but 7 minutes seems a bit stingy. The great thing about shore showers for boaters is not having to stress about our stored fresh water or filling up our grey water tanks, allowing us to luxuriate in hot water, but that's tough to do in 7 minutes. Then, half the showers are not in working order, so you have to ask the attendant to refund you and start a different shower. They could at least put up signs on the out of order showers. Then, when 7 minutes are up, the shower shuts off without a warning. It would be great if it gave you a warning so you could rinse off before the water just stops. Then, to add time you have to leave the shower stall to put more quarters in. Why aren't the quarter receptacles in the nice undressing area outside the showers? On another note, the dumpsters were full when I visited and locked up, leaving me no legal way to dispose of trash. It seems like they need another pickup each week or another dumpster. And finally, the hours are a bit restrictive, so make sure you plan ahead to make use of the facilities. I know it seems like I spent this while review complaining, but it was really an immensely positive experience. I only wanted to point out a few details that...

Great facility and concept. Hot showers are $1.75/7 minutes and dinghy tie-ups are free under 14'. Over 14' it Is 50cents/ft./hour I believe. However, the gentleman that was working the evenings of 10/7 and 10/8 was terrible. The center is suppose to be opened until 8pm. On the first day he tried to kick us out by 7:45pm so he could leave early. The next day we got there early and arrived by 7:10. He was locking the door and told us he was closing at 7:30. I showed him my phone and said it's only 7:10. He said "I meant we are closing at 7:20" I showed him my phone again and said it's only 7:10... we didn't get to pay for a nice hot shower...

Excellent facilities for the transient mariner who's tied up at a mooring. Clean, spacious facilities with pretty much everything one would need. I've used the facilities several times over the past seven seasons or so and it has never been too crowded when I've been there. I have yet to come across a municipal maritime center better than this, bit then again it is...