Castle Hill Inn in Newport Reopens After Fire
Guests are invited to book reservations for The Lawn Terrace and Aurelia at Castle Hill, some accommodations, and the mansion’s spa.
Castle Hill Inn is back in business after a fire wreaked havoc on the property in February. While the room renovations inside the inn will take more time to complete, the main level of the Agassiz Mansion is fully restored, including the lobby, The Lawn Terrace, The Terrace Bar, Mansion Bar and Aurelia at Castle Hill, which recently appointed Quentin Diez as chef de cuisine.
“It’s been a whirlwind, to say the least,” says Castle Hill Inn’s Managing Director Brian Young. “When we had the fire on February 5, I don’t think any of us would have anticipated that they would be able to reopen three and a half months later, but we did, and that is thanks to the bravery and foresight of our first responders, the Newport Fire Department, and all the other fire departments in the region who assisted NFD, and our general contractor, the Newport stalwart organization Kirby Perkins.”
Guests are invited to book reservations for the restaurant and the mansion’s second floor spa, The Retreat at Castle Hill by Farmaesthetics. Room reservations are also available for one guest room within the Relais & Châteaux retreat, as well as for the inn’s alternative accommodations, including the Harbor House, Beach Cottages and Beach Houses.
“We were able to marshal a number of craftsmen and artisans and subcontractors, totaling probably about fifty, to work seven days a week to get us back on our feet,” Casey says. “Within a month, we were able to reopen partially because none of our guest rooms along our beach were were affected.”
The restoration will be an ongoing process, but they were able to reopen the restaurant space, terrace and lobby in time for Memorial Day weekend. “Over a ninety-day period, we repaired all the fire damage on the top floor, and as well as smoke and water damage on the second ground floor and basement, which is amazing,” Casey says.
In mid-May, Castle Hill Inn held a “Gathering of Gratitude” to honor the many individuals whose extraordinary efforts made it possible to reopen in time for Memorial Day Weekend. First responders, construction and business partners and the Castle Hill Inn team enjoyed food and drink together as a gesture of appreciation for all the effort and hard work put forth by teams to ensure safety and to restore and reopen the Newport landmark in time for the summer’s kickoff.
Castle Hill Inn is especially proud to finally showcase the talents of its new chef de cuisine, Quentin Diez, who joined the team in October to run operations at Aurelia restaurant. “He took last fall to get to know our property, the growers and our team for several months, but he’s now brought on his own menu,” Casey says. “He’s a native of Alsace in France, although he’s worked in the United States before, and he has a great background with several one and two star Michelin properties and restaurants in Europe, as well as a number of Relais & Châteaux properties.”
Reservations are available and guests are excited to return to the property for “sunset cocktails, early afternoons, sailboats, mega yachts, and everything in between.”
“It is just so exciting to get back to what we love to do, which is to welcome guests near and far. The support from the Newport and Rhode Island community at large has just been so amazing. We’re super grateful for the outpouring of comments from social media, from when we were initially closed,” Casey adds, “and people saying, ‘when can we come back and support you?’ We have a lot of happy faces on our team, and we hope to have equally happy faces on our guests.”
Aurelia at Castle Hill Inn.
