Built in 1882 at the head of Water Street on the hill above Old Harbor, The Inn at Old Harbour is one of the most photographed Victorian gingerbread frames on Block Island, with eight individually decorated guest rooms, a wraparound rocker-lined deck, and the harbor view that no other small inn on the island can match.
"The most ornate Victorian frame on Block Island and the only inn at the head of Old Harbor with the entire ferry traffic in your morning window."
The Inn at Old Harbour was built in 1882 on the prominent corner at the head of Water Street, on the hill above the ferry landing where the village retail strip transitions to the residential block of Spring Street. The architectural style is full late-Victorian gingerbread: triple-decker bay windows, scalloped trim along the rooflines, a wraparound veranda on three sides, and the original mansard tower that remains the most distinctive silhouette in the Old Harbor district. The frame has been continuously preserved through three private ownerships, the most recent restoration completed in the 2010s.
Eight guest rooms occupy two floors of the main building. Each room is individually decorated in a different period palette, with vintage iron beds, antique writing desks, restored mouldings, and period prints. All but one of the eight rooms have private en-suite bathrooms; many of the rooms have private waterfront balconies that open onto the harbor view. The Inn's signature rooms are the second-floor tower suite, which carries the highest viewpoint of any guest room on Water Street, and the corner waterfront-balcony king, which holds the long view down the harbor to the breakwater and the Atlantic beyond.
Service at the Inn at Old Harbour runs to the small-property standard that the village's larger Victorian properties cannot match. A complimentary continental breakfast is served each morning on the wraparound deck or in the guest lounge; a wine and cheese hour is poured each evening between five and seven for guests gathering before the dinner walk into the village; the front-desk team can hold a table at Manisses or the Oar with a phone call. The wraparound deck with its dozen rocking chairs is the property's central social space and one of the better-positioned village porches for the late afternoon hour.
What the Inn at Old Harbour offers that no other Block Island property can match is the head-of-harbor position. The building sits on the highest point of the village commercial district, which puts the entire Old Harbor ferry traffic, the village shopping strip, and the long curve of the breakwater all visible from the same balcony. The eight-room scale keeps the property private; the village location keeps the dinner walk to four minutes; and the wraparound veranda is one of those Block Island images that ends up on the camera roll of every guest who stays. For a couple who want the harbor view without the village resort scale, the Inn is the obvious answer.
The corner waterfront-balcony king at the Inn at Old Harbour is one of the most romantic addresses on Block Island. Eight rooms keep the property quiet, the harbor view goes directly into the room, and the wine and cheese hour on the wraparound deck is the right evening prelude before the walk down to Manisses or the Oar.
For an anniversary the Inn delivers more substance than scale: the historic Victorian envelope is intact, the head-of-harbor view is the most distinctive in Old Harbor, and the small-property service runs to the personal warmth that the larger village hotels cannot match. Repeat-anniversary bookings reportedly run high.
The Inn at Old Harbour is the rare village property where a solo traveler is treated as a long-form guest. A second-floor tower room, breakfast on the deck, and an unhurried walk down to the village in the late morning is one of the more restorative ways to spend a weekend on Block Island.
231 Water Street
New Shoreham, RI, 02807
United States
Old Harbor, Water Street
8 guest rooms
From $245/night
3-Star Victorian Inn
Rated 4.7/5 across 586 reviews
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Built 1882; on the National Register
Seasonal property (May-October)
Complimentary continental breakfast
Evening wine and cheese hour (5-7 PM)
Wraparound veranda with rocking chairs
Original Victorian gingerbread frame
Mansard tower suite (highest village view)
Waterfront-balcony rooms
Free WiFi throughout
Head-of-harbor position
From $245/night. The tower suite and corner waterfront-balcony king both book three to four months ahead for peak weeks.
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