Wentworth by the Sea A Marriott Hotel and Spa, New Castle

I am writing about the miserable experience we had yesterday at Wentworth by the Sea. This hotel has the potential to be a world class hotel but falls way short. All aspects of the hotel are mismanaged and The Wentworth is nothing more than a glrofies Holiday Inn with better views. When our busy schedules allow, we enjoy going to the hotel to use the spa, grab lunch or dinner at Latitudes, and use the hotel pool. My wife and I travel quite a bit and when able, we like to stay at our favorite hotel, The Ritz Carlton. When we are visting Portsmouth, we like to frequent The Wentworth. Yesterday was our anniversary, so I booked her a massage at the hotel spa and we headed off to first have lunch at Latitudes. From there we headed poolside as my wife went into the spa to check in for her massage. The following is a list of our complaints regarding our day at the hotel: Latitudes: - Although our waitress was extremely polite, professional, and attentive, we waited about 40 minutes for our appetizers. Especially with two hungry children in tow, this was totally unacceptable. When waiting this long for an order, clients get antsy, angry, and can even start to lose their appetites. - Our entrees took another 20 minutes or so to arrive. Considering the fact that my children and I had burgers and my wife, the king crab leg, again we found this unacceptable. By the time we received our entrees, we were no longer hungry. Poolside: - We then spent the next four hours or so at the hotel pool. Not even once did a waitress come by to see if we needed anything! How can that be? In the caliber of hotel The Wentworth claims to be, how can the pool staff totally ignore its clients? Is this a good way to maximize sales? How do you think it makes guests feel when they are totally ignored and disregarded? Spa: - My wife headed to the spa while we stayed poolside for her scheduled massage. She found herself waiting almost ten minutes just to check in! - When she entered the locker area, the room was filthy with used towels on the floor, the sink and floors all wet, and even discovered a used washcloth hanging in the shower. How disgusting! - Even though the sign clearly states that the use of cell phones is prohibited, while my wife got ready in the locker area, an employee came in chatting on her cell phone for a full ten minutes. How disrupting is this for a client trying to relax? Again, totally unacceptable! - Her massage was also under par. The girl that massaged her yesterday just lacked the expertise and touch that makes for a fine and relaxing massage. All in all, the spa experience yesterday was a total waste of money. - After her massage, my wife headed to the hot tub and the hot tub was not even hot! It was lukewarm. Again, how utterly disappointing! To have all of these incidents happen in a single day is inexcusable. For this caliber of a hotel, the guests should leave feeling good. We left the hotel yesterday totally disappointed with our collective experience. Clients pay good money to go to the hotel and enjoy the rooms, restaurants, spa, and pools and what a shame to have them leave feeling slighted and disgusted. Do yourself a big favor and stay at The Sheraton downtown Portsmouth.

It was great. I has a lot of fun. Go there!

Great view, mediocre service. Expected more (any!) pampering for the money. The sink was clogged, a glass we had accidentally broken remained uncleaned even though we asked for a cleanup, there was terrible TV reception, and there were ants in the room. We wished we had save a couple hundred a night and stayed at the Marriott in Portsmouth. This was a mediocre hotel pretending to be a luxury hotel. It was not.

staff friendly, knowledgable and helpful; had a beautiful room with two walls of windows, outdoor pool very pleasant, breakfast buffet was excellent.

We chose Wentworth by the Sea as the place to celebrate this singular ocassion and were not disapppointed. It exceeded any and all expectations. Great room, very pleasant staff and wonderful food. Looking forward to our next visit. Bob & Martha Dickey

This is from a long time Marriott Rewards member who has spent many nights in their hotels. A few days ago we came home from our tenth stay at the Wentworth. We first set foot in the place in the summer of 2003 after hearing of its reopening, and were very impressed by what we saw, so decided to spend a night once the high season rates were no longer in effect. In no small part our decision was influenced by our discovery of a delightful French restaurant in the nearby town of Rye and the general dining and evening entertainment scene of Portsmouth that has so much to offer. Because of all the in-town dining possiblities, during the course of all our Wentworth stays we actually have never taken an evening meal in its main dining room, although we have ordered food in the lounge while taking in the live entertainment. The lounge fare is good, though pricy. Early breakfast is the best way to do it in the dining room, largely because the best spots by the windows get taken first. On a cold winter morning, sitting beside the fireplace (yes, REAL firewood) can be very nice. We have ordered a la carte and taken the buffet over the years, but prefer the buffet. The food is more than good enough, but it comes at premium prices. Mostly the service has been good but not entirely; once the wait staff cleared all of our things off the table while we were at the buffet, and we never got the newspaper and some personal items back, but in all fairness we did get a good price for that meal. The portions on the non-buffet offerings are a bit much, so mostly we don't eat again until evening. Over the years we have occupied numerous rooms, and have pretty much figured out what are the best and not the best. In one of the other reviews at this website there is a complaint about room 419, one we ourselves stayed in during April 2010. Yes, it does offer a "roof view" as seen from the bed, but that is only a small part of the overall panorama. Of all our visits, that was the only time that we wound up not in a room we had requested at the time of the booking. For that stay we had taken the senior discount option, but found out later that actually limits the room selection and usually not on the top floor. On this last visit, we did not take a discount and got exactly the room we asked for. It was one of our nicest hotel stays. The Wentworth does have a few quirks. The hallways of the upper floors of the original structure built in 1874 are uneven and sag in a few spots, and the stairwell on the west end is drafty and cold in the winter. The hot tub is outside, so in winter you may have to cross a snow covered deck to reach it. Fortunately the jacuzzi is inside. In the warmer seasons the nearby areas such as the marina are a pleasant way to spend quality time. We have seldom had an issue with the service or the friendliness of the staff. The few times that we found a problem with the room, once reported, it was taken care of. Advice for someone considering booking a room at the Wentworth: do so by calling the Wentworth directly. You may not get a specific room number if you ask for it, but they do try to get you a room that closely matches the one you want. Hint: harbor side as high up as you can get. This means rooms 402-450 (even numbered on the harbor side) . For the past four years It has been a nice way to end the year. Now we are looking forward to our next Wentworth visit next spring.

The Marriott Wentworth by the Sea is first class in every respect. Our room was beautiful. The grounds are very well maintained and also lovely. We ate in both restaurants on the property and they were excellent. My husband used the spa and said it was great. We will go back to stay again soon!

My wife and I have been returning to this hotel at least twice a year since reopening in 2003. Every stay has been better than the one before. A perfect place to get away and just explore and relax. New Hampshire hospitality at it's best. Total comfort. Wonderful location. Don't forget to book a treatment at the Spa.

I stayed at the hotel for one night on business, the hotel was nice but the floor I was on smelled like smoke. I asked about it and was told the fire place which is in the lounge causes a back draft on the floor I stayed on.

Stayed here for a company function. To start, parking is terrible. I had to drive around the parking lot and the hotel area for over 30 minutes to find a space. Valet parking was available, but not accessible due to the many cars lined up at the front door due to the several weddings. Note: According to the hotal staff, they average 7 weddings on the weekends so it's a non stop "party" so if your looking for peace and quite, forget it. The staff was actually very good, very helpful and attentive, with the execption of housekeeping. Housekeeping failed to clean our room or supply fresh towels or linen during our stay. They did however slip a note under our door saying they did not clean our room due to our "do not disturb" sign, funny thing is we never put it out and it was still stuck to the inside of the door when we returned to the room that night. Now to the room, The hotel advertises that thier rooms all have water views or garden views, our room had a muffler and tire view as all we could see from our sliding door (no windows) was the parking lot. We where placed directly across from one of the banquet halls which made it impossible to sleep with the wedding receptions going on. After the receptions, there was the almost non stop sound of carts being rolled down the hall loaded with dishes and glassware. Beds where very small. I stand 5'6" and my feet hung off the end of the bed. The room was on par with your average Motel 6 only for much more money. We ordered roomservice for breakfest trying to make the best of it, but the food was delivered cold, with no suger and very little cream for the coffee. Luckely there was the room supplied packages so we could at least have half a cup each. The hotel is no smoking in any areas, but it is not enforced. We where unable to open our sliding door, our only source or air in the room, due to the many, MANY people who would stand on the common deck above to smoke. If we opened the door, our room started to fill with smoke and since they charge $250.00 if they smell smoke in your room, we did not want to take the chance. In the banquet hall, the wait staff makes a big deal about circleing around the table and presenting the dishes with thier arms crossed. It does look impressive, but it was ruined by the fact they served almost every person at our tabe the wrong food. All in all, I will not stay there again as it was just too frustrating and uncomfortable.