We stayed over on a cold Saturday night in the very off-season with little traffic or pedestrians. The staff was very friendly, warm and accomodating. The decor was relaxing and inviting with the smell of fresh baking bread. We watched the sunset over the harbor from the comfy third floor common room, and then joined the other guests in the lower common area for wine and cheese which was very tasty. We borrowed a video from their rather limited library and went to the room ("town side", street level) and read for awhile. I went upstairs to the guest computer and checked my emails, and then wandered down to the breakfast area, helped myself to some granola and staff provided me with a glass of milk to go with it.

About ten o'clock we turned in, the occassional car was not disturbing with the heavy blinds drawn, and fell asleep. At eleven o'clock we were awoken by someone rolling a cart over the cobblestones outside our window, then banging their way through the front door and clomping to the supply closet near our door. Then chit-chat, chit-chat, chit-chat, finally clomping away. Then trying to fall asleep again...people on the sidewalk outside our window talking!! They go away and sleep finally comes at midnight, uninterupted.

So, DON'T get a "town side" room or any room on the first floor if you are a light sleeper. The coffee and fresh cranberry bread in the morning was super, and other cereals and yogurt was available. We stayed as long as we could just enjoying the third floor common room and regretfully left. Our only other disappointments were the scratchy towels and toilet paper. It was an overall 95% enjoyable stay.

We visited the Inn at Stonington for an anniversary weekend, and we found pros and cons to this much-hyped inn.

Pros:

Room was beautiful, large, lushly furnished.

Beautiful gas fireplace in room.

Extremely comfortable bed with great pillows and very soft sheets; down comforter was twin sized, not king-sized (folded the wrong way at foot of bed).

A large assortment of books and refrigerator (empty)in room.

Cons:

Thin, scratchy towels. Would expect plush ones at an inn of this caliber/price point.

Very stingy with toiletries; for example, we opened a bar of soap one day, found the same one in the room the next day, no new bar left.

Very sparse continental breakfast (instant oatmeal, cold cereal, packaged pastries).

Wine and cheese in afternoon - cheese looked like it had been taken out of supermarket cellophane moments before. Again, not what you'd expect from this level of inn.

Although we arrived at the tail end of a blizzard, steps and sidewalks and parking areas were not shoveled and salted. Just walking from the parking lot to the inn was perilous.

Jacuzzi in room was shallow and only accommodated one person.

Harbor view was largely obstructed by restaurant behind hotel.

Despite advertisement of holiday gift wrapping special (where you could wrap gifts by the fire), innkeeper looked very suprised when we asked for wrapping supplies and said that we had to reserve that package (although website said that the supplies would be available every evening).

Town of Stonington is lovely but VERY small - one real street.

All in all, for $225 a night, I'd choose another hotel next time, but, mostly due to the very comfortable room, we enjoyed our stay.