Above and Beyond: A Magical Hideaway at Newport's Abigail Stoneman Inn

Above and BeyondAbigail Stoneman Inn, a member of the Legendary Inns of Newport group of luxury B&Bs in Newport, Rhode Island102 Touro Street, Newport, RI 02840, 401-847-1811/800-845-1811Above and Beyond is the name of the 1,500-square-foot, two-bedroom suite on the top floor of the Abigail Stoneman Inn. It occupies the entire third floor of this 1866 Victorian home turned bed & breakfast, and while the inn's other two rooms and two suites are also fabulous, this one goes, well... above and beyond! For example, it has a library wall that is actually a secret door. Read on to learn what lies within the room's secret chamber!As of 2009, prices start at $350 per night for this suite, the inn's most expensive room. Rates climb to $595 per night on weekend and holiday evenings in season. Weekend stays require a minimum of two nights year-round. Call to inquire about the specific rates that will apply for your stay.All rooms and suites at the Abigail Stoneman Inn feature private bath, a fireplace, a two-person whirlpool tub, a king-size bed, telephone and a concealed media center with television, a VCR and a stereo.

In addition, a bath amenities menu features more than 20 premium bath salts, oils, foams and soaps, and the bottled water menu offers an unprecedented diversity of complimentary still and sparkling water selections from around the world.

The Abigail Stoneman Inn distinguishes itself from other lodging properties in Newport by offering a unique array of amenities to delight guests. For starters, guests can select the perfect pillow from a menu of more than a dozen different options including down-, wool- and water-filled pillows and those designed to provide restful comfort to side sleepers and even pregnant women.Other special amenities include an expansive, gourmet afternoon tea; full breakfast, which may be enjoyed privately by request in the "Tea for Two" room; morning coffee delivered to rooms along with a choice of newspapers; a selection of CDs and movies for in-room enjoyment including all 25 films named "most romantic" by Victoria magazine; and an art collection featuring more than 75 paintings and prints depicting Newport women.

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Newport Necessities: A Newport Travel GuideMy parents and I actually had the Vanity Fair suite for our stay at Newport's Abigail Stoneman Inn shortly after the luxuriously appointed B&B opened to guests in June of 2002. I was pregnant, and though I slept on a fold-out sofa, I was completely comfortable thanks to my selections from the extensive pillow menu. The Voss water from Norway, purportedly singer Madonna's favorite, was a treat, but our best discovery came from the menu of bath goodies. After our trip, my mother continued to use the richly scented Maria Evora cameo soap from Spain, which she nicknamed the "anti-soap" because, oddly enough, it is jet black.

Named for Newport's first female inn owner, the Abigail Stoneman Inn is the newest of the Legendary Inns of Newport group, which also includes Cliffside Inn and the Adele Turner Inn. Its siblings have been known for some time as two of Newport's finest lodging establishments, and the Abigail Stoneman Inn sets a new standard for intimacy and sensuousness. The Victorian home's 15 rooms were remodeled to create just five guest chambers, each extraordinary in its own way, but none more over the top than the suite reached via a circular iron staircase to the third floor.

My tour of the suite named "Above and Beyond" convinced me that this spacious hideaway deserves a place on my list of New England's great rooms. I was enchanted by the coziness of its reading nooks and wall-to-wall wooden shelves of books. Not all of the titles were mysteries, but perhaps they should have been.

In addition to the library and bedrooms, the suite features a kitchen/dining area and a marble bathroom with a shower. The media center is tucked away behind a mirror above the fireplace. But where is the two-person whirlpool tub? The inn's brochure, after all, states that a Jacuzzi for two is a feature of every room. If you have watched Scooby Doo or read the Harry Potter novels, you can likely guess--it's behind a wall of books, which is really a hidden doorway to a secret "bathing salon."