Gone To Gurney’s – Newport Resort Travel Guide

One of the coolest ventures this blog has presented me is visiting new-to-me places. So when I was asked to visit the brand new Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina, I jumped at the opportunity!

I’ve never been to Newport, Rhode Island before, so I was really excited to check it out. Matt has been there, and he really assured me that I’d love it — plus everyone I had talked to said it was absolutely beautiful. Today, I wanted to share what we did, where we stayed, and what you should do during your trip, so here’s my Newport Resort Travel Guide!

Where To Stay

Matt and I stayed at the newly renovated Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina on Goat Island. When we were going over the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, I looked to my left and spotted Gurney’s. What used to be a Hyatt, is now a beautiful resort & spa that is the epitome of a summer getaway. When we pulled up to the amazing location, I noticed there was still a bit of exterior work being done to the resort. When I was checking in (the front desk staff is SO welcoming), I was reassured that Gurney’s was a fully-functioning resort. And it surely was!

Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina truly felt like a summer vacation for me. Once we got to the room, I immediately switched into this adorable summer romper and we headed out to explore the property. One of my favorite parts of the hotel was the location. I can’t even describe the beautiful views of the property since it’s directly on the water. There’s a few Adirondack chairs right up against the water, complete with a fire pit for cozy nights on the property. There’s also adorable swinging benches and hammocks for you to relax on and look out into the water. It’s SUCH a relaxing property. Matt and I spent three hours outside just hanging out before heading back in to get ready for our dinner reservations.

One of my favorite parts of this Newport resort was all of the places to sit, lounge and drink! The newly opened Regent Lounge was such a fun place to get a night cap — red wine for me,  a beer for Matt. We would sit in comfortable chairs and just take in the water views along with the great weather! I loved hanging out here!

PS: Some fun facts about Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina: They have two goats on the property — duh Goat Island — William and Cornelius! They are so adorable — I didn’t get a good photo of them because they were in their little house most of the time. They have a Director of Fun who will come up with ALL of the things to do, see, eat, and drink around the area. So fun, right?

Where To Eat

On Saturday evening, we had reservations at Scarpetta. If you have never heard of Scarpetta, you need to check it out: there are locations in New York, Vegas, Philly, Montauk, Miami, and of course,  the newly opened location in Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina. Scarpetta is a signature restaurant of LDV Hospitality and first opened in the Meatpacking District. Since it’s opening, the locations have multiplied thanks to the amazing dining experience people receive.

We were greeted by friendly hostesses and introduced to Ian, the Director of Service of the hospitality group that owns Scarpetta…among many other amazing places (American Cut and Dolce Italian). Thanks to Ian, he prepare the most WONDERFUL tasting and wine pairing. He made our experience unforgettable, and even suggested that Matt try the yellowtail crudo! (PS: Matt NEVER eats raw fish, so this was a big step.) Following the yellowtail and tuna crudi, we tasted the braised shortribs and risotto (my favorite), cauliflower romesco, the infamous spaghetti (unreal, btw), branzino, and filet mignon. To top it off, the executive chef hand delivered our dessert: espresso budino, Valrhona chocolate cake, and spiced ricotta cheesecake. With each and every part of the tasting, we had an accompanying glass of wine — red, white and rosé. I’m normally not a big fan of white wine, but the one we were given went PERFECTLY with our fish. The rosé paired so nicely with our branzino, and of course our red wines went great with our meat and pasta.

Really, we were lucky enough to try the best of the best from every portion of our menu (every course listed above). My only complaint is that I wish we had more room in our stomachs to try more! I’m honestly still drooling over the braised shortribs over risotto.

Some other honorable dining mentions: The Black Pearl, 22 Bowens, Watch Hill Inn, White Horse Tavern, and Castle Hill Inn.

What To Do

On Sunday afternoon, Matt and I headed to The Pineapple Club, the newly renovated poolside club at Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina. We were lucky enough to snag a daybed for the afternoon, complete with rosé and a ridiculously comfortable lounge bed. It wasn’t super crowded because it really just opened (and the first weekend of super warm weather in Newport), but I saw people’s Snapchat videos from the 4th of July weekend and it was packed!

The service was amazing…whether you had daybed or not. I ordered the lobster roll and Matt ordered chicken tenders (his legit go-to). I’m not even exaggerating when I tell you that the lobster roll was one of THE BEST I’ve ever had. It was so good I ordered one from room service for dinner.

Just when we were getting exhausted from the sun, we decided we wanted to go explore. Newport has amazing harbors, so I wanted to check out what types of boat tours they had…with drinks included. We stumbled upon a Rum Punch Sunset Cruise online and were instantly sold. So we headed up to the room and took quick power naps before going out!

Around 6:30, we headed to Bannister’s Wharf, an adorable unique little area of Newport that offers such fun dining and shopping experiences. Oh and of course all of boat tours! We walked around a bit before it was time to hop on board The Rum Runner II and met our captain (Mark) and assistant/bartender (Nora) for the evening. They were two of the coolest people both Matt and I have ever met and really made our experience so much better. The purpose of this cruise wasn’t to get a narrated tour of Newport, which I was OK with. TBH, I’m over those kinds of tours. BUT, Captain Mark answered any questions we had which was great!

Towards the end of the tour, Captain Mark turned up the speed on our 1920s Prohibition-era, mafia related boat. It was FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

The Mansions on Bellevue Avenue

Newport, Rhode Island is famous for the mansions. Matt and I didn’t have too much time, so we didn’t do any of the tours. We DID drive around and look at them from the outside. And let me just say, I was speechless. Matt was speechless — and if you know that, he doesn’t get speechless very often (love ya, babe). My favorite (and probably the most famous one) was The Breakers. I wish I got to see what it was like inside though. Just another excuse to come back, I guess!

If you’re looking to do tours, I’m pretty sure they offer packages where you can view all of the mansions or pay for just a few of them. I highly recommend this if you have enough time in Newport.

The Cliff Walk

Again, Matt and I didn’t have time to do the full cliff walk, but we drove around it as much as we could. The cliff walk offers ocean views, mansion pop ups and a bit of a thrill (as some points have drops of 70+ feet)! Matt’s sister was in Newport last weekend and she said it was awesome. Again, just another reason for us to go back to Newport!

Walking On Thames Street

After our rum punch sunset cruise, Matt and I were going to take an Uber (really cheap, by the way) back to Gurney’s. Instead, we decided to walk back and landed on Thames Street. There were adorable colonial style houses and tons of little shops, ice cream places, and Starbucks. I was actually so happy we decided to walk this way because there were little gift shops! Fun fact: Matt and I collect koozies from every trip we go on, which is why we rely on gift shops;) One we got closer to Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina, we found ourselves walking through Long Wharf Mall: an outdoor mall with stores like J.Crew, Banana Republic, and more! Naturally, we popped into a few shops and got some ice cream!

Go To The Beach

There are so many beaches in Newport, Rhode Island…and that means beach towns! When Matt and I were driving around one morning, we started heading down a huge hill and were greeted by a stunning view of the beach!

Overall, Newport was one of my FAVORITE weekend getaways Matt and I have taken together. I had low expectations since I’ve never been, and it really exceeded them! I know a few of you are actually heading to Newport, Rhode Island soon, so I hope this guide was helpful! If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

This post is not sponsored, but our trip was. As always all thoughts and opinions are my own. A HUGE thank you SO much to the LDV Hospitality and Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina teams for making sure we had the best long weekend! I can’t wait to come back!