A few months ago, my wife and I had a chance to stay at the Chanler Hotel in Newport. As travel writers, we had been the guests of many excellent hotels and restaurants, but we were completly amazed that we would have a place as elegant as the Chanler right here in Rhode Island. And Newport's Cliff Walk, is exactly where a mansion-turned-hotel should be.

The historic Chanler mansion, located at the north end of Newport's 3.5-mile-long Cliff Walk, may be most familiar to Rhode Islanders as the "Cliff Walk Manor". But the French Empire-style structure, originally built in 1873 by New York Congressman John Chanler as his summer home, was the first mansion on the Cliff Walk. It was later a historical museum and at one time a school for girls before becoming the Cliff Walk Manor in the 1940's. Over time it had fallen into disrepair. Thanks to a multi-year, multi-million dollar refurbishment, the Chanler has returned the grand struture back into a place of luxury and elegance.

Despite being a hotel, it now looks like a private estate. The illusion begins along Memorial Boulevard, where granite walls, iron gates and lush evergreens provide a screen from traffic and offer a hint of the serene garden beyond. With parking well beyond the circular entry driveway, it took a touch of courage to drive into what looked like a wealthy person's home.

Inside, a high-ceiling lobby with the 15,000 square foot mansion's original antique fireplace, beautifully restored parquet flooring, huge crystal chandelier awaited. The center table was adorned with fresh flowers.

One-of-a-kind interiors are found throughout the 14 mansion rooms -- each room named for a specific historical period based on the furniture design and architecture of that time. We stayed in the Georgian Room, with wallpapers and furnishings that fits the 18th century theme. The bed was so high that we needed a stepstool to climb into it.

Luxurious upgrades like fireplaces, antique wood floors, hot tub and sauna are standard features at the ultra-elegant boutique hotel, making a stay at the Chanler the modern-day equivalent of the Newport experience during the "Gilded Age." Our bathoom had a flat panel TV mounted next to a five-head marble-tiled shower.

The list of aminities goes on and on: Jacuzzi tubs, cordless phones, heated floors in the bathrooms, wet bars, fireplaces, CD players, DVD players and dual phone lines for voice and Internet access.

Oh, and a view of the waves rolling in toward Easton Beach. We slept with the windows open to listen to their sound through the night.

The elegance of the mansion and its beautifully landscaped grounds is mirrored in the hotel's Spiced Pear Restaurant where Executive Chef Richard Hamilton offers a hip and innovative take on fine regional and international cuisine. The restaurant features a show kitchen with a made-to-order Bonnet Cooking Suite hand-crafted in France.

I wrote about our dinner at the Spiced Pear in an earlier issue of Rhode Island Roads Magazine.

The rooms are pricy, $300 to over $1000 a night depending on the season and the type of room, but there seems to be no shortage of people willing to pay for luxury. Several times each summer, wedding parties book the entire hotel, holding their ceremonies in the gardens, receptions in the Spiced Pear, and putting up the out-of-town guests in each of the hotel's elegant rooms.

You'll find the Chanler, which Food and Wine magazine named "One of the 15 Best New Luxury Hotels in the World" at 117 Memorial Boulevard in Newport, the last building before you head downhill toward Easton Beach. You can call them at 401/847-1300, or visit them online at www.thechanler.com

About the author, Paul Pence: Not a life-long Rhode Islander, Paul got to Rhode Island as fast as he could. He has 25 years of writing experience and numerous publication credits including the Providence Journal, the East Greenwich Magazine, Weissmann Travel Reports, Travel Lady Magazine, Jackhammer, Your Skin and Sun, TravelNotes, TexWoman, and many others.

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