The Blue Dory Inn, Block Island

I also stayed at the Blue Dory a few years ago. My daughters had a great time the room was clean. However there was a gentlemen running the place whose name is FISH. He was a fabulous inn keeper and made our stay so wonderful. I'm sorry he is not there anymore and it looks like the place has gone down hill. Kathy

My husband and I planned to stay at Avonlea but couldn't get in so we booked the Blue Dory. We found the room to be very dirty. Our sheets had so much hair on them! We told the Inn Keeper and she was extremely unapologetic. The bathroom was also dirty with dust on a railing that you could write your name in. The owner was on the phone constantly. She never checked on us, helped us with anything or inquired how our trip or experience was. Breakfast was below average and the musty smell in the basement kitchen was overpowering. We won't be back.

The Blue Dory Inn is in a wonderful location close to all things "in town" and is very close to the ferry, however it is definetly in need of some serious updating! We were shocked by all the gushing reviews as our experience was mediocre at best. Positives were the location and the fact that it provides parking and private baths. The negatives were the "king size bed that turned out to be two twin beds pushed together in a room where the air conditioner (window unit) must have been 20 years old and sounded like a plane taking off! Our door was directly behind the main door to enter the inn and therefore when people were in the entry way we could not open our door! Needless to say we felt like we were on parade for all who entered and our room windows were on the first floor overlooking the front porch and garden sitting area. This made it impossible to dress or shower, etc. with out first fixing all the cutains. The rooms have cobb webs and dirty curtains loaded with dust. The antiques were nice. The so called private beach was packed with people from town who walked into the area without issue and the dog poop on the walkway which was there all three days was a turn off! Several of the reviews posted could not say enough about the breakfast and afternoon wine and cookies, well breakfast was awful! It consisted of old bagels cut in half muffins that were terrible, mini boxes of cereal(thank heavens for Cheerios!) and a burnt egg fritata! The owner was not at breakfast both days we ate and the afternoon cookies were awful. They tasted like flour. At one point we were in the room undressed and a staff member attempted to enter the room without waiting to hear a response after knocking... you can imagine our surprise! All in all we would think twice before returning to the inn for the price but we will say if the owner were to make some updates and do a good cleaning she would attract more return visits. Hiring a chef for breakfast would really improve the value as the rooms are very expensive for the accomadations.The inn was accomadating with early baggage and offered to try to get our room ready early. The front porch is charming and the rocking chairs are a wonderful place to relax. The flower gardens are beautiful and a terrific place to enjoy and ice cream cone or some tea. Our reservation was split between two rooms due to availablity, which seemed to be common. Our first room upstairs was a little better because the bed was better( a queen) and the privacy of the doorway and windows were not an issue. I think our stay may have been a little better if we had been able to stay in that room.

The house I rented for a family reunion was called "Sign of the Dove" and is owned by the same owner as "The Blue Dory Inn". The three story house was very nice I paid $6000 for a three story air conditioned house for a week. July, 1020 was blistering hot. The air conditioning broke on the second and third floors on the second day we were there. We did not feel that the proprietor accommodated us very well for our inconvenience. Many of us had to sleep in the dining room and living room for the week we were there. I would not rent anything from this owner again, and it was the owner that I was dealing with..... not a rental agency.

I had a reservation for the Blue Dory on 10/17/09. Unfortunately, the ferry was cancelled due to inclement weather and I had to postpone my stay. It took two phone calls and an e-mail for me to actually speak to someone who could provide the info I needed to re-book. When I finally got a confirmation a week later, I was charged again for my deposit, which is almost $200! I called immediately and was assured Id be credited the same day. That was two weeks ago. I have since e-mailed once and called three more times, speaking to Ann. She keeps telling me that she's "not in the office" but will have the assistant process the credit and contact me. I am a customer service supervisor in huge medical device company and if I treated my customers like this, Id be eating out of a garbage can. I don't want to stay here anymore but they wont refund my deposit so I'm stuck. What a joke! If this is supposed to the best B&B on the island, I can only imagine what the rest of the place is like. Despite the stellar reviews, The Blue Dory now appears to be nothing more than an oversized dollhouse with antiquated proprietors that knows NOTHING about customer service. I've already wasted too much of my time, don't waste yours...

I have been a regular visitor for years; this year, Tamara, the innkeeper-in-training, overcharged me and wouldn't acknowledge her error. Avonlea and its staff are great, but poor customer relations with "management" are not worth the expense. I'm going elsewhere now.

We found the Blue Dory to be over priced. We had a room on the first floor that was noisy and run down. The wallpaper was peeling and the room was not cleaned daily. The breakfast room was in the basement which was well decorated but the muffins and rolls were burnt and not at all appetizing. The afternoon wine and cookies were a joke. Not enough to go around when large families were staying which very hungry children. I was totally disappointed and expected good sheets and blankets on the beds, not what seemed like Walmart specials. Two of the guests had people walking into their room without any warning. I definitely would not recommend this BNB to anyone.

Last year we stayed at the Avonlea which is owned by the same owners. It is really lovely and located right on the beach! But since we wanted to bring our dog this year and Avonlea does not allow them, we booked the Tea House a cottage at the Blue Dory. It was decorated in the same style and had a microwave and small refrig and small porch to sit outside on. They served the same delicious breakfast things like stuffed strawberry french toast and muffins and had wine and cookies at 5:30 . Most of all we still could hear the sound of the ocean when we slept and our dog got to enjoy the vacation as well. Besides being so close to the beach they are practically in town. I would recommend the place. And there is no doggie smell by the way.

This was my sixth experience in staying at your Blue Dory Inn and I have to say that I am now huge fan! Your Bed & Breakfast was just fabulous. The room was spacious and very clean and had a wonderful view of the ocean. In the room this time I had a small balcony that was very pleasant. I stayed for 5 nights and ate in the Blue Dory Inn kitchen for breakfast on several occasions. The food, service and staff were all excellent and the home made cookies were so good. I took the time on check out to complete the comments pamphlet and was pleasantly surprised a week or so later to receive a letter from your management thanking me for my comments. I loved how your Bed & Breakfast is located on the outer edge of the old harbor and very easy to walk to and the taxi tour van was cheap and easy to book, and your reception staff were only too happy to arrange that for me! I took a bike ride around the island for the day and it was wonderful. All in all when I tell all my friends if they are considering coming to Block Island they would be crazy not to book here! When I return to Block Island this is where I will be staying. - Billy Amato (NYC)

We had made a reservation for 'The Blue Dory Inn' however, upon arrival (since we went in the spring (low season)) they offered to let us stay in the newly renovated "Avonlea" which was a short walk from the 'Blue Dory' and it was right on the beach!! It was Beautiful! We stayed in 'Moonstone' which was a suite on the whole third floor of the house! The view was spectacular, a three window bedroom with full view of the beach and ocean!! The service was good and friendly and the breakfast was lovely! The main floor was beautifully decorated and there was a wrap around porch. There was also a large private patio of flagstone overlooking the beach with beautiful wicker chase lounges on it. Even though the weather was cold and wet with not many stores opened (due to the early time that we went) the island was still enjoyable and the people on it friendly. "Avonlea" made it extra special!