Overlooking the water in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where the Long Island Sound meets the Connecticut River, you’ll find Saybrook Point Inn & Spa, an AAA Four Diamond waterside escape offering sumptuous body treatments, formal and casual dining, and myriad accommodations, including the dazzling, newly refurbished Lighthouse Suite.
Located in a former wharf house where the dock master used to stay, the Lighthouse Suite resembles a miniature towered beacon and sits on the main dock inside the resort’s Saybrook Point Marina flanked by sleek yachts and motorboats. To reach your room, you climb the curved metal staircase to the entrance door, which opens into a 900-Square foot space that includes a sitting room with punchy wicker furniture, a small modern bathroom, and a cozy bedroom. The Suite has been painted soothing colors of seafoam, ivory, and ocean blue and comes with books to read, music to play, free Wi-Fi, and a television. The addition of a pod coffee maker, small fridge, sink, and two-burner electric stove means you can enjoy breakfast in the comfort of your own room or savor a romantic dinner with the best waterside views at the inn.
Should you wish to eat on premise, Fresh Salt, located inside The Inn, has both white-cloth and casual dining options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch. The menu features lots of New England seafood (the swordfish chop is outstanding!), along with seasonal soups, salads, pastas, and meat dishes highlighting the bounty of the area. Cocktails and various wines can be enjoyed in the Marina Bar, as well as inside the dining room or on the patio in fair weather.
Inside The Inn, you’ll also find the Health Club, complete with cardio and resistance-training equipment, yoga and fitness classes and an indoor and outdoor pool. Next door, you’ll find the exquisitely appointed Sanno Spa, featuring several marine-product driven therapies, along with a range of massages, facials, nail, and make-up services. A festive fillip to the spa experience is the fridge full of small bottles of chilled wine and prosecco that you can charge to your room and enjoy after treatments in the dreamy, white relaxing room.
So what to do in Old Saybrook beyond chilling out at the resort? Consider borrowing one of the inn’s bikes and pedaling into town. On Main Street you’ll see The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, which has a small exhibit devoted to the movie star’s life growing up in Old Saybrook. The Center also hosts a variety of performances ranging from dance and comedy to music and theater. Antique stores abound in this part of Connecticut, and in nearby Mystic you can savor an iconic slice from Mystic Pizza, the spot that inspired the 1988 film of the same name starring Julia Roberts.
At the day’s end, there’s nothing like retiring to the intimacy of your little Lighthouse Suite, where you can drift off to sleep to the gentle lull of the surrounding water and the far-away glow of four other lighthouses (all working) on the horizon.
For more information, visit saybrook.com