Life. StyLe. tRAVeL. coastalconnecticut.com | November 2015 | COASTAL CT | 8180 | COASTAL CT | November 2015 | coastalconnecticut.com

THE COASTAL TRAVELLEROcean House, Watch Hill, Rhode Island

BY OWEN MCDONALD

Life. StyLe. tRAVeL.patiently assembling the project according to a grand vision of chiccoastal comfort.

Authenticity. Sense of place. An otherworldliness that isprofoundly welcoming. Surpassing quality in all things. In theluxury resort world, these traits are associated with one brandabove others —Relais & Châteaux. It’s a cultivated fellowship ofproperties that maintain local character and global service qualityat a level most hotels and resorts (even very good ones) can’t bebothered with.

Though Forbes has awarded Ocean House 15 stars (one ofonly 10 such hotels in the world), it’s the Relais & Châteauxbelonging that truly befits the place. Chief among R&C’s preceptsis a focus on what they call “the soul of the innkeeper.”

Here, that ennobling mission falls to Daniel Hostettler. Anaccomplished hospitality executive, the erudite hotelier withimmense savoir-faire came to Ocean House with every intentionof rewriting the book. But not the Relais & Châteaux book.

“Relais & Châteaux has a level of expectation that everywhereyou go, whatever you do, will be quintessential,” Hostettler says.“Hopefully, when you walk into Ocean House it feels quintessen-tially New England. And everything on the menu is coming fromRhode Island and Connecticut, within 150 miles of the property.”

G U E S T R O O M S , P R O P E R T Y, A N D G R O U N D SWith 49 guestrooms and 23 private residences, Ocean House

plays the trick of seeming like a much larger property, and does it well. This may be truest in the signature suites, all uniquelythemed and thoughtfully furnished.

The two-bedroom Napatree Suite (named after a nearbypeninsula) is a curvilinear delight. It flows from the sprawlingbeach-stone master bathroom, past the master bedroom and dar-ling second bedroom, into a tranquil living room and kitchen thatall whisper littoral sophistication. From the hidden laundry roomto the scale model of a racing yacht on the mantle, the suite flu-ently mixes élan with beachy utility.

As you walk through the foyer, an always-welcome sense ofspace permeates. You’d expect it from this level of accommoda-tion. But here, floor plan, color scheme, and omnipresent oceanviews combine into something more than a great lodging.

It’s magical. There’s a feeling to this part of Rhode Island. About halfway

(by sea) between Greenwich, Connecticut, and Portland, Maine,it’s both unspoiled and settled at once. Cape Cod and Nantucketcharm you; Misquamicut enthralls. For Ocean House guests, thatenchantment beams through big windows wherever you are.

The fireplace, comfy dining nook, sleek kitchen, and nauticaldécor in the living room are, in some ways, an appetizer for thespacious, inspiring veranda. With sweeping views of manicuredgrounds and lapping surf, you’ll be tempted to stay put and getsome thinking done. Coffee out there—the hotel rising behind youas the shoreline parabola beckons—creates one of those exquisitemoments. It is surely intentional.

Perfect though these rooms and suites may be, there’s alwaysroom for improvement. Hostettler says he’s getting ready to reno-vate the rooms for a spring 2017 debut, celebrating Ocean House’supcoming anniversary.

“We’re going to do two rooms in February of 2016 in the newstyle, maintaining the contemporary coastal feel that we’re famous

Coco Chanel famously said, “Some people think luxuryis the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite ofvulgarity.” If that’s true (and why shouldn’t it be), then luxuryserves a higher purpose than mere indulgence: It’s an

art form. In that interpretation, one role of the upscale resort is tocurate and reify the art of living.

On that frontier sits Ocean House. Perched on a gentle hillabove the well-to-do enclave of Watch Hill, Rhode Island, elegancewarms the nervous system as you enter the property, like sippingGlenmorangie scotch. It puts one gradually, undeniably, at ease.

Fitly cinematic, the building is reminiscent of an Elin Hilder-brand novel. In an act of architectural audacity, the preexisting19th-century structure was precisely measured and catalogued,

then demolished and duplicated down to the millwork, only farlarger and infinitely finer. Many artifacts—the lobby’s massivestone fireplace, the wood elevator, newel posts, Palladian windows—were removed, restored, and reinstalled. The ambition of it wasexceeded only by the result.

The architects missed nothing. They even arranged all therooms along single-loaded corridors so that each has a command-ing view of the ocean, while the hallways always have daylight(unusual for a hotel of any size).

What they achieved is the most picture-perfect seaside resortin New England. That this happened at all was mostly thanks toOcean House patron and champion, Charles Royce, the respectedmutual fund manager whose love of the property is felt through-out. He and his investors stood pat through the great recession,

Hostettler understands that luxury today is a moving target, and not the staid matter it was even 20 years ago.

Life. StyLe. tRAVeL.82 | COASTAL CT | November 2015 | coastalconnecticut.com

for,” he says. “We’ll test drive those rooms for six months withhotel guests who stay here all the time.”

Public areas in Ocean House are suitably grand, yet arrangedin a series of intimate nooks. High Tea in these spaces is a digni-fied affair, though not at all stuffy. It was during High Tea that wemet restaurant manager Charles Staub, a man with so many bonafides that it suffices to call him “expert.” He did a yeoman’s jobrolling up history and current events into a neat package as wewalked the grounds.

Strolling past flora evocative of classic seaside cottage gardens—including drifts of Oakleaf and Nikko Blue hydrangeas alongsideold-fashioned shrub roses and boxwood—Staub proved quite theguide. He was good enough to exhibit the plentiful beach with itsdining and lounging options, including the beach-clubby DuneCottage restaurant right on the sand. It’s a fine spot, restful beneathsail awnings as Block Island and Montauk Point trace the horizon.

Just then a boisterous wedding party was escorted past, pre-ceded by a Dixieland band, as hotel staff ushered revelers to a beach-side wedding service with white leather upholstered seats. A dronevideographer hovered nearby. They were en route from a receptionin the handsome Seaside Ballroom and Seaside Terrace, and seemedto be having the time of their lives. It would be hard not to.

Loveliest of all is The Verandah, a giant porch bordered byneatly trimmed lawns with the ocean dramatically framed. Taking inthat vista, sprayed with color from blue flowering beautyberry, crepemyrtle, and Hidcote lavender planted within view, is as delightful asterrace seating gets. Attentive servers and diverse companions chat-ter away with bonhomie all around, deepening the appeal.

D I N I N GMichelin stars may be the ultimate prize for great restaurants,

but once you’ve earned five Forbes stars, Michelin becomes moreaspirational than compulsory.

Seasons, the fine dining room, is Ocean House’s culinaryheart, informing every choice made by the artisans here. It’s led by executive chef John Kolesar. A native of Madison, Connecticut,Kolesar has to deliver food-wise on “La Route du Bonheur,” or “the route of happiness,” a philosophical keystone of the Relais &Châteaux network. They were farm-to-table long before anyonecalled it that, and Kolesar’s kitchen is equal to the task. It’s a bigone, as gastronomical choices abound at Ocean House. To make it happen, Kolesar employs a core team of foragers and mongerswho comb the countryside for succulent items that infuse his pro-lific, changeable menus.

The Bistro is a casual alternative, right off the Seasons diningroom, adjacent to The Verandah. Cozy banquets ring the room oftables that are set a discreet distance. The service style is polite andefficient—friendly but not too friendly—as one would expect withForbes criteria being observed.

But it’s hardly as dull as that. The room and adjoining bar havethe rhythm of all great restaurants: cheerful and full of happy sur-

prises. The menu isn’t adventurous, a virtue of which is that you’llfind familiar favorites. The 8 oz. filet is simple and perfect, accom-panied by savory roasted cauliflower steak and crispy Brusselssprouts. Crispy salmon with spaghetti squash, confit baby fennel,green quinoa, and roasted bell pepper purée is fresh and pleasing.The server was happy to arrange desert—homemade ice creamand cookies—sent up to the room.

At certain times of year (and depending on one’s reservation)the Club Room is also open to hotel guests. With the oak-paneledglow and rarified ambience of a country manor, it’s a lordly diningexperience. Their lobster and Jonah Crab risotto with house madeAndouille sausage is a salty sensation. Short rib tostadas on masatortilla with pulled short rib Jalapeño Pico De Gallo is an orgy ofsmoky flavors. The house cut shoestring truffle French fries seemto go with everything.

Crème Brulee with house made orange marshmallow, darkchocolate, and cranberry truffle and white chocolate and citrustruffle was almost overdoing it, but not quite.

T H E M O V I N G TA R G E T O F L U X U R YOcean House is a locus of arcadian pleasures. It’s 12,000-

square-foot OH! Spa is responsible for 5 of the 15 Forbes stars, andthe only place in the immediate region where you’ll find a rejuve-native tonic on the order of, say, the Lavender Relief Massage.Tension flees before its warmth and deeply serene nature.

A magnificent spa is de rigueur in a setting such as this. Butit’s the unexpected delectations that make Ocean House less pre-dictable. Like being offered keys to a Mercedes E Class convertibleto tool around the idyllic seaside town of Watch Hill, with no clockrunning on your return. Or finding yourself on one of the prop-erty’s classic motor and sailing yachts for the day, consideratelyarranged by hotel staff.

Hostettler understands that luxury today is a moving target,and not the staid matter it was even 20 years ago. “It used to be theluxury travelers were 60 years old, retired, and traveling as a cou-ple,” he says. “Now they’re 40 something, making a lot of money,but working really hard. Luxury to them is about family andtogetherness, with the excellence to make it special. That isn’t justabout requisite amenities. It’s experiential. It’s expressed in antici-patory gestures, suggested by the moment.”

Do highly rated resorts exist only as elite sanctuaries, devotedto pampering the affluent? It often appears that way. But appear-ances can be deceiving. While exclusive places are laden with lav-ish encounters, they are much more than that.

They’re works of art, with a touch of magic. As such, nowhereis more divinely composed than the seaside gardens, superb gue-strooms, and dreamy dining tables of Ocean House.

Owen McDonald is the Editor in Chief of Coastal Connecticut magazine,and is an award-winning journalist and marketer.

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