Shelter Harbor Inn

This was our first time staying at this inn and there are some positives and negatives. The positive is the private beach. Absolutely beautiful, peaceful and secluded. The negatives is the room, service and unfriendliness of most of the staff. It is a nice inn but needs to be updated for the price it charges. An old TV (like 12 – 14 years old) needs an update (flat screen) as well as the mattress and pillows. The dehumidifier was so loud we had to shut it off each night. It was very moldy smelling but one couldn’t sleep with that loud noise going on every few minutes! When we checked in we barely got a greeting. We gave our name and we were given the key with no other information. We didn’t even know breakfast was complimentary! We couldn’t find the remote and stumbled upon a folder about the inn in the drawer. The owner/​innkeeper was not friendly at all. He sets the tone for his entire staff! Maybe it’s time to retire completely. Some wait staff were spot on for breakfast while one provided a very poor performance. We saw a number of people leave the dining area. I would think one would promote their dining room and hours! The bathroom floor was dirty (white tile with black border) which was very noticeable. The bathroom was not stocked and we had to ask for a roll of toilet paper twice! For the price of the room, we expected much better. This inn needs to be updated to today’s standard to be viable. It has potential but unsure if the owner will invest in an upgrade.

We went for my parents 40^th wedding anniversary. My husband and I drove out from NY and my 83 year old grandmother went through great pains to plan a nice dinner, she lives in the area. She, my grandmother tried to «secretly» order a dessert in advance and the waitress announced this quite loudly to my parents as we walked in the restaurant. The ambiance was nice, the food was decent, although there were no vegetarian entrees on the menu. The service was lacking and questionable, my husband’s clam chowder came out after we had all finished our appetizers, we asked for refills on our soda, which took approximately 20 minutes to come, of course they came out after the entrees were finished.
The dessert was the greatest fiasco of the night, after multiple conversations and requests, the server still called my grandma aside to confer with her, and when it came 30 minutes after the entrees were cleared, there were not plates nor silverware to eat it with. My parents were so tired and annoyed by this point, they took the dessert to go, a $ 300 dinner which left a bad taste in our mouth service wise… If time is of no object and you enjoy waiting 20 minutes plus for a drink order, then this is the place for you…

This place continues to get worse and worse. The Haversham Tavern was on 1 ½ wait, this place had 8 people in the restaurant. Ordered chicken piccata and it was a frozen mess. Terrible. Lawn was uncut full of weeds. Bad news from top to bottom which now has become a local joke. Avoid. PS: Check out the mold growing in the corners. Owner goes to bed every night hoping Chuck Royce buys the place to use as a doghouse. Yuk.

Same complaints as previous three reviewers. Waitstaff was virtually non-​existent, and when they did show up, they weren’t very professional. Very disappointing.

There is nothing positive I can say about this place. I am aware that this inn has a wonderful history of good food and service. Clearly owner Jim Dey ran this place well for decades. But that was then, this is now. What exists now is a dysfunctional inn/​restaurant run by (mostly) an inexperienced teenaged staff and an owner who does not care at all how bad it is. Pity one can’t give negative stars because this horrid place and clueless owner deserve 100 of them.
I can’t rate the quality of the food because the meals we ordered were never delivered. After waiting over an hour, we managed to get the attention of a waitress who told us that the chef had walked out! A man next to us made a scene and demanded his food. He was successful in getting a meal. A party of 6 was seated next to us, and they asked the waitress if something was wrong. «We are just a little backed up» replied the same waitress who told us the chef was gone. Not wanting to make a scene, we waited until 8:00 PM and finally gave up and walked out. There were no apologies made but our beverages were comped.

What a disappointment lousy service… except for one bright going lady, who tried to make things right. Food was average, forgot our salads and veggies substitutes. Used to be our go to spot. Not anymore

Food was great. Rooms were squeaky and old. The online seasonal prices didn’t match our reservation confirmation email making the checkout process an awkward affair of «you need to pay us more than your confirmation email stated»
— take your money elsewhere.

We came here for mother’s day brunch and waited 2 hours for our food on a limited menu. The potatoes in the chowder were undercooked and the portions were small for the price of the meal. Overall, it was not worth the money or time spent there.

The staff are Fabulous. .but the lady owner is a horrible nasty person… I will never eat there again. she treats her people like second class citizens… under paid workers. stay away..

This is one of our favorite restaurants. This is not a ‘greasy spoon’ kind of place. The food is tastefully prepared and the atmosphere is lovely. Very quite place, with a fireplace in the winter and a view of the flower garden in the summer. It’s also not too fancy, so you can wear jeans and feel right at home. (For lunch I recommend the quiche. Best homemade crust I’ve ever tasted.)

Sweet charming place for lunch. Food was great. I had the lobster sliders with freshly made French fries. Presentation was excellent. Food was delicious. Service was great!

I had one day for vacation, and so I booked a room at the Shelter Harbor Inn. There isn’t a lot of choice in this area unfortunately. I made my reservation by phone a week in advance and received a confirmation by email. When I arrived at check-​in time, after a lengthy delay they informed me that my room had been given away possibly because someone had accidentally canceled my reservation. They told me (not asked) that they would get me a room at the Winnipaug Inn (not to be confused with the super luxurious Weekapaug Inn).
Because I was traveling alone, I kept calm even though I was disappointed and annoyed. I do not know why they did not call me when they realized their error because I would have stayed home. The woman helping me acted very nervous and was extremely slow getting me another hotel. I am pretty sure that they did not apologize, merely expressing confusion about my reservation being canceled. When I asked her the address of the other hotel, the woman looked in the phone book (who looks in the phone book anymore). This literally took 5 minutes. I was anxious to get to the beach and told the woman so. As I was walking out the door, she said «Wait, I want to tell you something.» and offered that I could use Shelter Harbor Inn’s amenities mainly that I could come for breakfast the next day. As I start to leave a second time, she says well we have a carriage house here if the Winnipaug Inn isn’t suitable. Frankly, this should have been offered first not after the reservation was made at the Winnipaug (not to be confused with the super luxurious Weekapaug Inn). I was so annoyed at this point, I just kept going.
Frankly, the only reason that the Shelter Harbor Inn is in business is because there is nothing else in the area that is reasonably priced and somewhat decent. The room rates at the Shelter Harbor Inn are upwards of $ 200 during the summer. The Winnipaug Inn was absolutely soulless and generic with creepy cleaning people milling about. The Winnipaug Inn is very clean though. It definitely was not worth the $ 200 I had to pay.
I did go back to the Shelter Harbor Inn for breakfast. The breakfast was good but they were very confused that their co-​worker had offered me breakfast for free to make up for their big mistake.
Sorry for the long review, but I was astounded by the lack of professionalism and customer service at the Shelter Harbor Inn. It was literally the worst $ 200 I ever spent.

My husband and I stayed here over the weekend, it was an all around bad experience. The room was old and dated with cobwebs in the corner and it smelled like a camp fire. The mattress was very old and uncomfortable, it probably hasn’t been replaced since 1990. Due to a poor reservation process on their part we had issues at check out and the woman handling it was rude and snotty. Spend your money elsewhere, this place is not worth it.

This was our first time here and we had dinner. The food was mediocre. The staff really suprised me. When you’ve dropped food on the table, the staff should wipe it up immediately-​my dropped food stayed until we left! I don’t like staring into the kitchen while I eat. I expected a lot more from a pricey place.

It’s Christmas and we just returned from our holiday dinner with special friends. The limited menu had five entrée offerings, and by 3:00, they had run out of two of them. We ordered the seafood substitute for the salmon and were served two (yes, only two) shrimp and one (yes, one), scallop over plain cold polenta… for a fairly high price. The server was horribly stressed. We had to ask for bread. Horrible quality food and poor service certainly made for a memorable Christmas dinner.
Shelter Harbor has been our go to restaurant for a number if years. However, if they cannot adequately plan for a holiday crowd, then they should not offer dinner on Christmas. We went home and had a container of yogurt.

Our first time here tonight for dinner.
They have several large dining areas. We choose to sit in the tavern next to the fireplace. Great atmosphere in the tavern.
Service was friendly and crisp throughout.
We both started with Oysters Rockefeller. You get four. They were tender, juicy and lots of flavor. Well done.
My wife had the Finnan Haddock. A nice casserole that was very tasty indeed. This entrée does not come with green vegetables so we suggest ordering a side ($ 5) or get a salad.
I had the calves liver with onion (no excuses, I like calves liver) and mash. Sorry to say the sauce was so overwhelming it hide all flavors except the sauce. I suggest ordering sauce on the side, so flavors other than sauce can be realized. I was not offered the option so learned the hard way. That said I would currently rate the liver as a «C». This entrée also came with seasonal vegetables which were not listed on the menu.
It’s hit or miss on whether vegetables are included with the entrée so you need to ask the server.
They also have a nice wine list that is overpriced compared to competing restaurants in the area. The «pour» is average.
Overall, this is a nice place, but overpriced. It’s certainly worth a return visit, but the problem is competing restaurants in the area are doing the same for less cost to the customer. Shelter Harbor Inn take note.

My family had Mother’s Day lunch here. The grounds are beautiful and the service was outstanding. It was a fixed menu but had enough variety to satisfy anyone’s taste.
Soups:
RI Clam Chowder
Chilled Asparagus and Leek
I had the asapragus and leek. It was fantastic. It would have also worked well warm but it was light and refreshing chilled. I tried some of the chowder. It was also very good. Im more of a fan of Cream over Clear chowder but this was awesome. Full of tasty bits too.
Salad:
Only one type of salad was offered. Spring greens topped with green apple slices, blue cheese, walnuts and I cant remember the dressing (but i wish i could… it was so good. i remember it being pink).
I have a nut allergy so they made one sans walnuts.
Main Course:
Lamb + Mashed Potatos with mixed veg
Filet+ Mashed Potatos with mixed veg
Sword Fish with salsa, lump blue crab cous cous and mixed veg
Grilled Chicken with… ummm…something and mixed veg
I went with the sword fish (mainly to try the cous cous). The salsa was basic but good. The fish was just a tad bit over cooked which made it a little dry. The spring vegetables was an assortment of squash i had never heard of, baby carrots and pea pods. The squash were KILLER! Ok. The cous cous? So good! There was a slight citrus tartness to it that went incredibly well witht he lump crab flavor. I could have eaten a whole bowl of just that.
Deserts:
Ummm. There were a lot.
I had the Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream. Once again… they nailed it. Perfect mixture of sweet and tart and im not an ice cream person but their vanilla ice cream was some of the best ive ever had.
The grounds were gorgeous and the building itself is beautiful. Its very warm and inviting. I’ve been to the bar several times years ago late at night and never noticed how pretty the place was nor had I ever sampled the food. Will definitely return after the summer rush!

My wife and I have been going to the Shelter Harbor Inn for the past 3 years when we are in Westerly. This is your very typical old New England Inn, very warm and inviting. We prefer to eat at the tables in the Bar as the room is nice and bright with lots of windows. The menu provides enough variety to satisfy almost all tastes. I have tried most on it and can say that the filet mignon is excellent and the scallops are a very close second. I am usually not a big dessert person but I am a fan of Indian Pudding and theirs is out of this world. It comes piping hot with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. My mouth is watering as I write this.
The staff here could not be more willing to assist with honest comments regarding selections which I find useful. Can’t stand going to a place and having the staff tell you everything is good only to then pick the worst thing on the menu. It is a real plus for us that this is open year round as we are back and forth to Westerly on a monthly basis and most places there close for the winter months. Nice to have a great place to go for great food.

I’m going with a «meh» because the service was not good. I was disappointed because I really wanted to like this historic, open year round, institution. Our server was really awkward — the meal didn’t flow well and he seemed really socially awkward.
For food, I had the bibb salad which was uninspired, and I can’t really remember my fish dinner.
It’s too bad that your server can have such an impact on the dining experience. We’ll try again next year.

This charming inn and restaurant is a favorite of my boyfriend’s mother, who lives down the road from here, so during a recent stay with her, we decided to take her and her best friend out for dinner to give her a break from cooking every evening. She is an excellent cook and we have very similar tastes in food so I was excited to try it.
It’s an absolutely darling place, reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting, and it has a very warm, comfortable vibe.
Our dinner reservation was for a Monday night, a typically slow night for restaurants. On one hand, I enjoy going out on Mondays as it’s often easier to get a table at a popular place, on the other hand, it’s not always the «A-​Team» that’s working on Mondays and service/​food sometimes falters accordingly.
I suspect that was the case with Shelter Harbor Inn.
We were seated in a lovely room near the fireplace, which wasn’t on as it was a warm evening, but I can imagine how inviting it would be to seat here on a cool one.
We started with a round of cocktails before moving on to wine. Half of them had spilled before they ever reached our table, thus rendering them half-​full. The server said she would either get us new ones or she wouldn’t charge us for the half-​full drinks. I thought that was a nice gesture.
For appetizers we shared the calamari, seared tuna, and Johnny cakes. The calamari was good, but I was expecting better since we were in the middle of seafood ground zero. The Johnny cake was pretty bland. Others put maple syrup on it to perk it up, but if I wanted to eat pancakes at dinner, I would have ordered them. The tuna was the best of the appetizers. It was lightly seared and coated with sesame seeds and served with a seaweed salad. It was quite tasty and I wished we’d ordered two of those instead of the calamari.
We ordered a bottle of Rodney Strong merlot. My boyfriend’s mom’s friend is a vintner, so we happily let him take the reins on making a selection. Boyfriend’s mom doesn’t really enjoy wine, so instead she ordered another cocktail.
At that point we also ordered our entrees. Two of us ordered filet mignon medium rare, another ordered sea scallops, and another ordered a ribeye, medium rare.
A long time passed and we still hadn’t received our wine or cocktail. By then, our food arrived. I cut into my filet and it was cooked well past medium rare. It wasn’t egregious, but it was overcooked. I was just going to eat it anyway so as not to make a fuss, but my boyfriend insisted I send it back.
The server came back with the wine and we told her about the steak, so she let me sample the wine to make sure it was ok. That was kind of weird — it was like she was trying to make up for the fact that they overcooked my steak so I got the first taste of wine. Mom still hadn’t gotten her second cocktail so we asked about that. The server apologized and went to get it.
By the time she came with the cocktail, my boyfriend had cut into his ribeye which was also horribly overcooked. He sent that back. Keep in mind that it’s now two steaks that had to be sent back.
My replacement steak arrived and this one was cooked perfectly. Unfortunately by then, mom and her friend were almost done with their entrees and my boyfriend was now waiting for his new steak to be cooked.
His new one was brought to the table and unbelievably, it was more overcooked than the first one he sent back. Ridiculous. The server apologized and was embarrassed. We felt bad for her. We asked to see a manager.
The manager came over and we showed her the steak and asked her if she thought it looked medium rare. She said «Half of it looks medium rare.» As if cooking half the steak properly was acceptable. We told her this was the second time this happened and that we’d also sent my steak back. All we wanted was for our steaks to be cooked properly. We’re not difficult people, I swear.
At last, the third time was the charm. To be fair, the other filet mignon and scallops were delicious and cooked properly.
Dessert would hopefully fare better so we ordered four different things and would share: a nectarine fruit crisp, chocolate semifreddo, chocolate soufflé, and Indian pudding.
The Indian pudding didn’t do anything for me, but everyone else enjoyed it. Since I was the one that ordered the chocolate soufflé, I was the most disappointed. It was more like a slice of flourless chocolate cake. Nothing «soufflé» about it. It wasn’t even warm.
The icing on the cake came when we were pouring the last of the wine. We realized we’d been drinking Robert Mondavi, not Rodney Strong. While the wine was fine, even a wine novice such as I knows that Mondavi is cheaper than Rodney Strong. I was curious which wine we’d be charged for — the one we got or the one we ordered. Naturally, we were charged the more expensive one. The server fixed it and also comped the ribeye (as they should).
Hopefully next time will be better.
2.5 stars.