A Night at The Beatrice is Pure Magic
Put your worries aside, and check into the hotel for dinner, a show and an overnight to fully experience Providence as the Creative Capital.
The Beatrice lobby. Photo by Brandon Dupont.
Sometimes, you don’t appreciate what you have in your own backyard. I’ve walked by The Beatrice hotel countless times, I’ve dined in the restaurant dozens, and I’ve sipped bellinis at the Rooftop on too many occasions to count. But I had never experienced one of the guest rooms.
On a recent night out in Providence, I booked dinner and a stay at The Beatrice to see what all the fuss is about. Oftentimes, I go out in Providence at night for dinner, followed by seeing a play or musical at Providence Performing Arts Center or a live music show, but I live on the East Bay – on the other side of the bridge – and always have to plan accordingly to make the late-night drive home safely, or Uber back and forth.
So one night, after going through a few weeks of pre-teen parenting challenges and anxiety-inducing arguments, my husband and I decided we needed a night out without worrying about responsibilities.
The Bellini bar.
The Bellini bar.
We booked a sitter to stay with our kids. We checked into the Beatrice hotel and handed over the car keys to the valet. We got all dressed up for a fancy chef’s tasting at Bellini restaurant, paired with many gorgeous wines (I didn’t spare a drop and maybe added on espresso martini; no I didn’t). For the chef’s tasting, we savored a crudo plate of branzino, salmon, langostine and more with good olive oil and lemon; followed by a fresh pasta with pomodoro and ricotta; Mediterranean branzino; and a grilled ribeye steak sliced for two with a side of creamy spinach, and for dessert, a fluffy berry meringue cake.
After dinner, we headed over to the Blue Room in Pawtuxet Village for some live jazz (be sure to book a reservation well in advance as weekends fill up fast!). The room was filled with upbeat people vibing to the upscale atmosphere and live entertainment. It was a much-needed adults-only escape from the stress of life.
That night, we didn’t have to worry about who was going to drive, how late we were out, or what time we were going to get back home for the sitter. We didn’t have to plead with our children to shower, brush teeth and go to bed for the thousandth time. For once, we felt like we were back in the carefree days of our twenties, before kids. And for any married couple pushing seventeen years’ wed, that is the medicine that hits.
The Beatrice’s upper lobby. Photo by Warren Jager.
I also have a special connection to The Beatrice. The hotel is named after Beatrice Temkin, who was the society editor at Rhode Island Monthly magazine back in the ‘90s and early 2000’s. As an editor at Rhode Island Monthly, I looked back on her work and felt inspired by her columns that always delivered a dash of sass with an education in the who’s who of Rhode Island glitterati.
In the early days of The Beatrice hotel’s opening, just after the pandemic, I enjoyed dinner at Bellini for the first time with my friends. Our holiday discussion involved what we wanted to do in the future, and my girlfriends asked me where I wanted to go with my career. I always thought about becoming the editor-in-chief of this magazine, but I determined that I was a long ways off from that happening. I stated that I’d stay put at Rhode Island Monthly and see where it took me. That night, I walked through the hotel lobby and noticed the mosaic tribute to Bea Temkin that takes up an entire wall. I made my friend take a photo of me in front of her image, telling them how inspired I was by her glamorous past at the magazine.
“I’m channeling Bea,” I said with a laugh.
Rhode Island Monthly editor-in-chief, Jamie Coelho, in front of the Beatrice Temkin mosaic at the Beatrice hotel on the night before she became editor-in-chief.
Wouldn’t you know it, I went into work the next day, and that morning, my boss, the editor-in-chief at the time, informed me she was leaving her position in two weeks after more that twenty-five years spent working at the magazine. Later in the afternoon, I was offered her position. Of course, I said yes, but I always believed that Bea played a role in orchestrating that magic.
Whether you need a night out to get that spark back in your marriage or you want to plan a getaway for a mother in your life, or maybe you just want to focus on getting a good night’s rest, then check in to The Beatrice and let Bea work her magic on you, too.
A room at The Beatrice. Photo by Ghost Pepper Creatives.
