Delamar Mystic — Hotel in Stonington

I will definitely be back to Delamar Mystic. I've been talking about it so much since we left that my husband bought me (us? ) a gift card for another stay for my birthday earlier this week. But, there are few things that could turn this from a great hotel to a stellar hotel.

The hotel is BEAUTIFUL. It's brand new so I'm sure that adds to the luxe feel, but the decor and color scheme are gorgeous. The common spaces are beautiful and the rooms (we were in 305) are gorgeous. There is A LOT of attention to detail and everything works together beautifully. The bathroom is beautiful--and the navy blue bathrobes add to the intentionality of the space. The truffles awaiting our arrival in the room was a nice touch--though the empty plate stayed there for our entire two night stay. Shower amenities are BVLGARI and smelled delicious. We had a pool/lake view which was amazing. The table and two chairs by the window were perfect--we enjoyed them for nightcaps and cribbage.

One night when we were leaving the housekeeper asked us if we wanted turn down service to which I replied yes--she seemed to have an attitude in response. My POV--you shouldn't ask the guest if they want to turn down service--you should just do it (we tipped daily for housekeeping). Turn down was (unsurprisingly) lackluster. Typically the room is tidied up a bit with an inviting bed. I think all she did was bring towels and leave chocolates on the pillow. Fine--but for that, miss me w/ the attitude.

Typically hotel doors will "slam shut" behind you, but 305 did not fully close (it appeared to but you had to push (if on the inside) and pull (if on the outside) to hear it "click" closed. Not a big deal, but one night when we returned from dinner we just pushed the door open (and know we pulled it in behind us when we left). Anyone could have walked into the room --but again it appeared closed so no one would have noticed. The housekeeper probably didn't realize the issue so I don't blame her. I forgot to mention it upon check-out (I guess they'll see this). Was a bit of a safety concern--but didn't impact us during our stay.

The front staff did not remind us of the complimentary breakfast when we checked in so we missed it the first morning we were there. We found out about it from another couple at the pool. This was disappointing because we obviously pay for this in the room price. But, we did enjoy the breakfast on our 2nd morning. It was very good. Buffet style options plus a limited (but very good/reasonable) hot /made to order menu.

There is no real pool staff at the pool There is a bar that you can walk up and order and bring back to your chair (which is fine), but there is no one walking the pool deck to take drink orders. During our July 4th weekend visit, the pool bar closed at 4, but the pool was open until 7. During a summer/holiday weekend the bar should be open so long as the pool is open. We wanted a snack so we went to the bar inside and ordered a bite. We had to eat it at the closed pool bar because you apparently can't eat at the pool? While we were eating we had to keep our eyes on our lounge chairs because people tried to take them even though our towels and belongings were there. The umbrella of the lady next to me somehow landed in the pool and the hotel staff started to take our umbrella to give to her--so of course I had to stop eating and start walking back to the pool but he noticed I was coming and changed course. Annoying. All could have been avoided if you could eat at the pool.

We were also not reminded of the $25/night resort fee at check in. You have to valet your car (the cars are parked elsewhere) and we felt like we had to tip every time we asked for our car. They also provide a free ride within 2 or 3 miles--and we tipped that driver, too. It can add up if you are bopping around. If we remembered the resort fee we wouldn't have continued to tip above that.

All that said, I'm looking forward to coming back having learned a few lessons from...

We weren’t originally planning to go to Mystic but booked this last minute and so glad we did! This hotel had just opened a week earlier. We reserved a deluxe king room and asked for top floor if possible. We got to the hotel early and they let us check in around 12:30 which was really nice of them. They gave us a top floor room. The room was really nice, brand new and I think we were the first to stay in it. It was on the side of the hotel and had views of the estuary and the neighborhood. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was roomy and the shower was nice and big. |The only down side was the commercial generator outside that came on at 3:30am. In the morning, I told the front desk what happened and asked if they had another room we could move to (they had no idea about the generator but were appreciative that we let them know). They felt so bad and ended up upgrading us to the Moonracer suite. They did not have to do that. They really went above and beyond. ||The Moonracer suite was amazing. It’s a corner room on the 2nd floor and has views of the estuary. There’s a living room, hallway with bathroom and a bedroom at the end of the hallway. The views were incredible. We saw 4 Bald Eagles the morning we checked out. The estuary had frozen over and they were on the ice eating. The rooms all have binoculars in them so you can view wildlife. ||The staff were all very welcoming and accommodating. They gave us recommendations for restaurants and things to do. The restaurant wasn’t open for business yet but there was free breakfast each morning with pastries from Sift bakery. ||The hotel is walking distance to the downtown Mystic area. It’s about 1 mile but we enjoy walking so that’s not far for us. ||The hotel isn't completely done yet. They’re still working on the outside deck and pool area but it wasn’t a big deal for us. It was really cold and windy and nobody would’ve wanted to be...

We weren’t originally planning to go to Mystic but booked this last minute and so glad we did! This hotel had just opened a week earlier. We reserved a deluxe king room and asked for top floor if possible. We got to the hotel early and they let us check in around 12:30 which was really nice of them. They gave us a top floor room. The room was really nice, brand new and I think we were the first to stay in it. It was on the side of the hotel and had views of the estuary and the neighborhood. The bed was comfortable, the bathroom was roomy and the shower was nice and big. |The only down side was the commercial generator outside that came on at 3:30am. In the morning, I told the front desk what happened and asked if they had another room we could move to (they had no idea about the generator but were appreciative that we let them know). They felt so bad and ended up upgrading us to the Moonracer suite. They did not have to do that. They really went above and beyond. ||The Moonracer suite was amazing. It’s a corner room on the 2nd floor and has views of the estuary. There’s a living room, hallway with bathroom and a bedroom at the end of the hallway. The views were incredible. We saw 4 Bald Eagles the morning we checked out. The estuary had frozen over and they were on the ice eating. The rooms all have binoculars in them so you can view wildlife. ||The staff were all very welcoming and accommodating. They gave us recommendations for restaurants and things to do. The restaurant wasn’t open for business yet but there was free breakfast each morning with pastries from Sift bakery. ||The hotel is walking distance to the downtown Mystic area. It’s about 1 mile but we enjoy walking so that’s not far for us. ||The hotel isn't completely done yet. They’re still working on the outside deck and pool area but it wasn’t a big deal for us. It was really cold and windy and nobody would’ve wanted to be...