Block Island Beach House — Hotel in New Shoreham

A shoddy renovation to start, that has been very poorly maintained, managed, and staffed. Grossly overpriced for the level of service and accommodation, and the images and presentation of what the hotel offers are not reality. Broken elements, peeling paint, worn and damaged dirty indoor and outdoor furniture, dirty pool with visible algae all over, scuffs and wear/tear on everything, windows covered in grime and 3-4” of spiderwebs, mold in bathroom, long hairs on “clean” towels, sand all over room floors (and we were not on or near the beach), dust and spider webs inside rooms. The “restaurant” if you can even call it that, more a dirty and makeshift outdoor bar serving fried food, with a long line, one unaccommodating bartender, hardly visible menus given how old and worn they were, was a filthy, disorganized outdoor experience, everything served in flimsy plastic and takeout, the menu food and bar is strongly misrepresented and mostly sold out, poor quality ingredients and no alcohol or NA selection as advertised, it seems no management present or staff oversight, mold growing on the bar storage area, unclean bottles, unclean tables, unclean old and rusty porch, and understaffed. The front desk was also rarely staffed and staff (who were doing the best they could) would admit people to help were disappearing not knowing where anyone was, and not able to attend to things because they were alone. The cafe was not even open upon afternoon arrival. We were told everything would be fully open and available, and made sure of this before booking, but when we arrived, no cafe, one restaurant was closed, the other hardly running, and the staff shrugged and said “it’s the end of the season.” We booked the Lark Suite thinking it would be a cozy private accommodation as described, but it was fully exposed and facing a parking lot in back (bath and bed windows) with no privacy, right on the main street in front. The room was worn in and had vacant feeling, strong moldy smell, broken mirror with sharp edges left in our only closet in the way, unclean and unmaintained bathroom, a broken front door that would not close fully without much work on a very busy street, not at all like the images, missing furniture and rugs, not even basics for the room to hang clothes or coats or use the kitchenette. The front desk person admitted they had not been in or seen the room in a long time. We actually ended up leaving the island via ferry standby on our day of check-in to find another place to stay on (mostly sold out) mainland in Newport given the conditions, a first for us, as we had planned to be there 3 days and were concerned about the lack of oversight and staffing, supplies, and resources at the hotel, the lack of a restaurant which we would have depended upon, and overall lack of comfort in the rooms and on the property. We have stayed at other Lark properties with good experiences but this one was absolutely terrible. Stay away from this hotel as nothing is as it seems. It is truly neglected on many fronts and clearly underfunded. The good news is the hotel offered to refund us in full without question and without us even needing to ask. They must know and expect this, over taking care of...

I've been visiting BI for over 30yrs and stayed at many hotels or inns and was very curious how Lark Hotels would renovate the old Surf Hotel which was abandoned for 5 years. Lark also took over 2 other properties (The Gothic Inn and the Gables ) down the street, so be advised when booking. ||If you have trouble with stairs I do not recommend booking any of the 2nd or 3rd floors with steep staircases (no elevators) and be careful with the entrance to the staircase from the beach (you need to reach for the railing) . There is also very slight step at the entrance of the cafe that I tripped over and almost fell onto a guest when looking for napkins.| |We stayed in the queen room with balcony #110 on 2nd floor of the Beach House .|Pros- |Great location in Old Harbor walking distance to ferry, shops, restaurants|Comfortable bed |Enjoyed having a balcony to sit on since the room is very cozy, BUT see the cons below|Offered soaps etc. in refillable bottles, so no waste |Beach staff offers towels, loungers and umbrellas if you can get them||Cons- |Very late check in 4:45pm is ridiculous when they guaranteed 4pm via text and email.|Walls are thin you can hear everyone in the hallway|The shower is very tiny with no lip or door and flush with floor of the toilet, so we had issues with puddles. You will need to put towels down to avoid slipping/falling onto the toilet seat. I thought this was a ridiculous design for a room that costs over $500 per night. |The bathroom has no vent system, and the toilet paper holder is on a slant and the roll kept falling off and got wet. (another dumb design)|There is no window just a door to the balcony, which is not private as you can see your neighbor and the railing is not stable . I did not feel safe on the balcony and the oversize chairs are somewhat awkward for your arms if holding a drink.|*There is also a loud kitchen vent that smelled next to the balcony . | I do hope they can fix the balcony situation. Originally there was a doorway to both balconies at the top of the staircase .||I just expected more with the price and the beachy vibe photos. They certainly make it look special on the website and social media .| I added my photos because I felt the website didn't accurately describe room #110 .||I also expected more from the complimentary coffee station. How about offering some pastry/muffins especially if charging that rate. ||I hope Lark Hotels can make some improvements since this is such an iconic building in a great location on...

Let me begin by saying we are fans of the Lark hotels, having stayed at their Nantucket properties on numerous occasions. I was prepared to be patient with their newest renovation project on Block Island since it just opened on July 1.

We chose an ocean view king room for a Sunday-Monday stay at $389/night - Friday and Saturday were significantly more expensive. This gives you an idea of the hotel category and our expectations. Here are our observations:

~ Front desk staff frazzled and unprepared to store luggage or answer questions about the island. ~ The room was TINY. Not quaint/boutique tiny, but too small for two people to move around without getting nasty bruises from the bed frame. King bed and 1 nightstand took up the entire room, plus a surfboard in a corner to take up more space. Poor design choice given the limited size. ~ Bathroom was also tiny, with a little pedestal sink/shelf combo that made it impossible to rinse your teeth or face without smacking your head. Another poor design choice. ~ The bathroom painting was incomplete - patched, with rough corners. The hotel calls this rustic, another "design choice", but it reads as "we were not really prepared to open so we are faking it". ~ Windows did not work properly - one had a screen, the other did not, and they did not stay open. Bye bye cross breeze, hello A/C that I see enough of in my office. Did anyone check the details before opening? ~ Breakfast is a highlight at the Nantucket Lark hotels, but not included on Block Island. Coffee was provided on each floor, but it was absolutely awful. ~ There are no water bottles in the room, apparently they want to save plastic. If that's the case, I want might want to save $389. ~ The beach is a smelly mess of dead seaweed with only 10 chairs available for a full hotel. The beachfront chairs/umbrellas are actually rentals so this is not in any way a private beach for the hotel. ~ Finally - and this one is a second hand experience but worth mentioning - there are plumbing problems so extreme that a couple we met had to wait for a new room to be readied because the toilet backed up into the shower in the most disgusting manner. They left the next morning VERY unhappy with the solutions offered.

I certainly hope Lark corporate sees this and addresses the many issues at this new property. In the future they may want to do their due diligence and finish renovations before opening...