The Old Lyme Inn

Had an absolutely wonderful experience. Leslie greeted us upon arrival and gave us a tour of the property. She was very helpful in making recommendations for dinner and places to see. Afternoon tea is a must and Sunday brunch was delicious. Best omelette I’ve ever had.

Cozy Inn. Very clean. Staff always available and helpful. Highly recommend a visit to this beautiful town.

Quite the disappointment for my wife and I. So much so that we chose to leave before staying the second night of a scheduled 4 night stay and forfeit perhaps $800 worth of remaining lodging. This was our first time staying there and we stayed in Room 10. I don’t know if other rooms are similar. Our room had a large stain on the carpet right in the middle of the room. OK, that doesn’t affect our comfort but doesn’t engender confidence that other stuff isn’t maintained properly. The mini-split AC was mounted directly adjacent to the bed with the cold air blowing right on us as we slept. The AC was also, in my opinion, inordinately loud. Our son has a minisplit system in his home and there’s no comparison soundwise. The bed, whether it was the boxspring or mattress, squeaked very loudly with just about any movement. Then to top it off for us, when we returned at the end of the day, our room had not been made up. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The desk did say that they would have housekeeping come by to attend to the room but 45 minutes later they had not. Off we went to find other accommodations walking away from our final 3 nights and over $800. On contacting the owner (?) Chris K., he assured us that the stained rug will be replaced - in January 2027. The AC is supposedly adjustable in some way which wasn’t apparent to us, and they said they were unaware of the bed squeaking problem. Also, he says their housekeeper maintains that we left the Do Not Disturb placard on our door. NOT! Not that I can prove it, of course. But, don’t forget, we walked away from 3 nights prepaid lodging. Lest I forget, Chris says he will refund us a total of $200 for the last two days. And, before you chalk me up as another KAREN (KEVIN?), you can check my reviews to see if this is my style. I’ve left one other 1 Star review (also a hotel fwiw). I give credit where credit is due and points out shortcomings as I see them.

My July overnight stay at the Old Lyme Inn was memorable especially for the above and beyond help rendered me by Lesley, a manager. The key fob of the borrowed car I was driving failed, the metal key would not work independently and Lesley found a tiny screwdriver and with her help the key with its bum battery was resuscitated. I have had the privilege of staying at more than a few grand hotels in the US and Europe but never have I had such personalized, good natured and helpful service. Lesley is a gem and I trust the Inn's owners appreciate her contributions to the Inn's quality. ¶I would ask that at this price point a bottle of mineral water be waiting in a guest's room in an ice bucket. Also, to be blunt, the quality of the toilet paper is what one might find at a gas station. An upgrade is in order. ¶I did not eat at the Inn this time but have in the past and have always found the food first rate. Lesley is a hand of aces. Brava to her and many thanks!

Spent a long weekend in July here and had Room 8 on the second floor, overlooking the front lawn of this pretty property. Appreciated the comfortable king size bed and two wing back chairs for relaxing. Also enjoyed walking along Lyme St and on the Florence Griswold Museum property. Consider bringing your own bottled water and Keurig or driving to Coffee's Country Market for early morning coffee (& their renown Blueberry Buckle).

Parking easy. Staff helpful. Did not have breakfast there. Rooms small. No staff on duty overnight. No phones in room. No TVs on premises. Pricey for what you get.

The service started out fine. Never offered more tea with our meal. Before I had finished my meal the check was dropped off. We were never cleared or offered coffee or dessert! We sat visiting with our empty plates! The restaurant only had a few tables so our waiter wasn’t exactly overwhelmed. Then to top it off a 20% tip was added on to the credit card slip with the “tip” area blank! We started adding another 20% on!!! Luckily we noticed it had already been added without being told else our waiter would’ve gotten 40%!! I call this gouging!! Ripping your customers off! I won’t return to a restaurant that does this! Or doesn’t clear plates at the end of a meal. Poor service!!!

Thanksgiving Dinner Nightmare 2025 We had 3:30 reservations for 8 for Thanksgiving dinner. The table was ready on time. No server until 4:00pm to pour ice water. Bread was brought to the table shortly after, The bread was cold, hard, and crusty barely could break the bread and forget about trying to cut it with a knife.Dry crumbs all over. 4:15 waitress came to take drink orders. Shortly after came to the table for the starters and main course. Some of us had the stuffed mushrooms which were stone cold. Waitress finally came around and I spoke to her about the cold stuffed mushrooms so she took them to be zapped. Mushrooms came back hot. 5 of us ordered the turkey dinner. The potatoes were cold, gravy was cold, turkey cool, stuffing was a mystery stuffing not sure what it was but dry and overcooked, no taste to pinpoint. The cranberry sauce was odd, had the berries but very light in color and did not taste like cranberry sauce. I told the waitress everything was cold and again sent back to the kitchen to be zapped. The other family members had the salmon and roasted beef tenderloin which were mediocre. The 6 year old child had chicken tenders and fries can't really mess that up to bad. Since the starter was part of a choice with the kids meal I asked if they could substitute mac n cheese for the starter because I do not know how many kids at 6 eat Kale and cranberry salad with red onions. The desserts were good except they ran out of apple pie. There was a $ 5 extra charge for the mac n cheese which I was not told about until the bill came. We did not leave until 6:30pm. 3 hours for dinner plus slow service. Horrible food,outrageous price for the quality and experience. 2 crummy turkey dinners $88 for adults and $36 for a child. I will be calling the manager and will never have Thanksgiving dinner at Old Lyme Inn again. Seems like we got the end of the day leftovers.

A 20% tip is charged "to assure staff a living wage" is very disingenuous. If that is your goal, simply include the cost of staff in the pricing of the meal. Automatically charging 20% for anyone, especially a party of 1 or 2, does not entice staff to supply good service, which is the entire purpose of tips.