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Reviews of Bee and Thistle Inn

3.5 out of 5
Bee and Thistle Inn
100 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 55 out of 87 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 18 out of 87 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 7 out of 87 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 4 out of 87 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 87 reviews" "

9.4/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

4.6/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
THEY ARE OUT OF BUSINESS!!!! YOU BOOKED ME A HOTEL THAT NO LONGER EXISTS!!!!!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2021

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2021

2/10 Terrible

Dean

Stayed 1 night in Dec 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I was billed twice for my final payment. First when I checked in and then when I checked out.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Lynne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely Inn and staff was very friendly and helpful. Dinner was beyond excellent!
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2019

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Bee and Thistle was a huge letdown for us. The outward appearance of the property and grounds are very nice . The rooms however are a different story. Dark, dreary and desperate for deep cleaning and coat of fresh paint in cheery color. The bathroom is almost unusable. Small , dirty, shower that barely functioned. The bed was very uncomfortable , pillows etc. The owners need to give this place an overhaul. The dinner experience was also bad. A server touched our food with bare hands in front of us. We could not get coffee until 8 am so we had to go to a convenience store . 😭
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2014

10/10 Excellent

Bill

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2019

6/10 Okay

Guillermo, USA / France

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Lovely area, the hotel could improve in some areas
Overall we would have to say that this hotel was okay. Nothing special but also not horrible. It is a beautiful house that has a lot of charm to it. The grounds around the house are also nice to walk around. We had only a couple issues, though to us they were important. We knew we were going to arrive late, and called the day before to let them know. They contact us via hotels.com and informed us that if we arrived after 9pm then out keys to our room would be in the basket outside the front door. Easy enough. Well, when we arrived, around 11:30pm there was no key in the basket and no phone number to call. Luckily, the last restaurant worker was leaving, making sure the front door was locked, and saw us arrive. They were kind enough to open the door, find out key in an envelope that was inside the house (not helpful) and showed us our room. Definitely not their job, but they did it. Which was very nice. Unfortunately that was the last of the good customer service. The following day no one said hello, gave us a welcome talk or provided us with information. When we went to ask the front desk person didn't know the answers to most of our questions. The second issue was the bed, after two nights sleeping on it, our backs started to hurt. Could use better pillows as well. However, otherwise we really enjoyed our visit to Lyme, the sites and the beach. It is a lovely area to explore.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

Dawn, Hartsdale

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming inn
Friendly, helpful staff that provided great information about the area and things to do. Inn was a comfortable charming place with o stay.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

10/10 Excellent

Philip

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Kim, Suffield, CT

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely amazing place, very comfortable accommodations. Ate dinner there too, and it was probably the best I have in a long time. A little issue with the hair dryer early in the morning and no one around, but it was such a minor inconvenience I don't want it to detract from the review. I would absolutely book there again in a heartbeat. Staff have limited hours, but when they were there, they were so attentive without being overbearing. Wonderful musicians on a Sunday night during dinner, great wine selections, and chef has a real creative way of using local items. Bar tender also creative with drinks, though I loved the wine selection. Bed SOOOO comfortable. Enjoy!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

10/10 Excellent

Sandiphoto, Baltimore, MD

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Love the original art on walls, the garden with live music and happy hour. The restaurant was fantastic!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

4/10 Poor

Eli, NJ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
For years we have passed the Bee and Thistle and always wanted to stay there. What a disappointment. Great staff and location but boy is the place run down. It looks like there must be absentee ownership that has either run out of money or just doesn’t care anymore. Many areas badly in need of painting, filthy windows and windowsills, poor AC, threadbare carpets, water stains on ceilings etc., etc. Considering the condition of the property the rates should be a fraction of what they are. I’m aware of the term “shabby chic” but the current Bee and Thistle is just shabby.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice to experience how people lived in the past.
No TV in the room or on the premises. The breakfast was outstanding.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

10/10 Excellent

Pete

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unique place. Great outdoors
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2018

10/10 Excellent

Bridget

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful New England charm &art
My room was nice and quiet, staff were friendly and assisted with local outdoorsy info .The breakfast was delish. I love the shore area in ct.and the inns along the coast

10/10 Excellent

Warner

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Quick one night stay
Wish I had more time to explore the area, but the dinner at the restaurant was excellent and the breakfast was plentiful and pretty good too!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

Patric N

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2018

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing, quiet... beautiful
Great way to spend our anniversary....great food too
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Karen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming inn
Very charming inn. Cookies were delivered to our room in the evening, and we received a bag with water and apples at checkout. The breakfast was very good, with an egg dish, bacon, toast, and assorted delicious pastries and gourmet coffee and tea. Staff was very friendly and helpful.Only negative was slow-filling tub on the third floor, but completely understandable with the age of the house.Lovely toiletries.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Thomas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming Inn in a quiet location
We were greeted by name when we arrived, an the hostess explained to us all the features of the Inn. It's very much like one of the old houses at Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, except it has electricity and air conditioning. :-) The room as arrayed like a Victorian bedroom, with nice views of the surrounding landscape. There's a beautiful Japanese chestnut tree spreading majestically near the front entrance. Parking is ample. The grounds are nice for walking, the property is located right on the river.The area is very quiet, and the bed was firm, but very comfortable. We slept with the windows open, very nice. The included breakfast is also very good. Upon checkout, we were even given a goodie bag to take with us. All in all, a wonderfully romantic weekend getaway. We'll be sure to repeat.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

nancy, denver

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing, beautiful town, near great museum, food, beaches, shopping
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very peaceful
Quiet and close to where I was working. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. Lots of space to spread out.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Extremely relaxing
Needed a place to stay for work and this was very nice, super quiet and very peaceful.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2017

10/10 Excellent

Anne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Spent a lovely evening at the Bee and Thistle. Great service and delicious breakfast.

4/10 Poor

Debra

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Not so good. Did not give me my room I picked out. Breakfast was horrible. Out only choice was sausage and eggs. That was it

10/10 Excellent

Suzanne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Classy B&B
Outstanding customer service and wonderfully friendly staff; lovely grounds and warm, friendly common areas in the evening.

6/10 Okay

Constant travel, Calufornia

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Uncomfortable stay
Small room with no TV,radio,coffee. Room decorated like a modern art installation with weird graffiti on wall. Unprofessional staff
Grafiitti
Bathroom

8/10 Good

Christine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I was disappointed because they switched my room and my room was freezing. It was so cold I had trouble sleeping. There was no way to control the temperature. Also, they kept calling my home phone when my cell phone number was given.

10/10 Excellent

Charles

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely place, good relaxing stay!
Very comfortable and great staff!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Pleasant Getaway
It was a great home base for interesting sites in the area including a lighthouse tour out of New London, the Griswold Museum next door, and the shops in Niantic, and much more.

10/10 Excellent

K, New Fairfield, CT

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Old New England charm with funky twist.
Beautiful very old Inn with classic, sort of fancy furnishings but is peppered with funky new local artist creations. Super cozy place to hang for a couple of days and read and eat the wonderful food. The bartender here is truly amazing. A wild variety of signature cocktails that pack major flavor punch! No televisions here, so bring some books. You remember books, don't you? I came by myself for a night just to chill. Great yummy self serve hot breakfast. Beautiful river that flows out back. Lovely gardens and an amazing old tree in front.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Coastal Overnight
•Rooms are charming with comfortable beds and a sea of pillows. Toiletries are nice, as well. •Inn & grounds are lovely •Great staff •Evening cocktails at the bar wrap up the night

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

xxxx

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
beautiful inn in Old Lyme.
I stayed only one night, in order to be near where my family was staying.So i didn't spend much time there. But everyone I interacted with was just lovely from check in to check out. The buffet breakfast was plentiful and delicious, with lots of choices.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful inn in historic town
The inn was beautiful and quiet. The Connecticut river runs right behind it and it is possible to go right up to it. The rooms are clean and Artistically decorated however are quite small.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Susana

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Thank you for the 5 stars rating! We look forward to having you stay with us again.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Worth a visit
The stay was a little getaway. The inn was all we expected it to be. Aside from the bathroom being s bit small (not unexpected for an inn of its age) and that another little bar of soap would have been nice, everything else was excellent. The breakfasts were delicious and the one dinner at the inn was the best meal we had in the area. All in all an excellent experience. The staff was as friendly and helpful as you could want. Charming inn and wonderful experience.

10/10 Excellent

B and G, Tennessee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming and comfortable, delicious food.
We were definitely pleased with the Bee and Thistle. Our room was beautifully furnished, the staff attentive, and the house lovely. We had a delicious dinner and breakfast at the Inn. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
The bedroom was lovely

10/10 Excellent

Adam, West Windsor, VT

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A grand old bed and breakfast
Beautiful inn, great room, wonderful surroundings. Would definitely come back again.

8/10 Good

thomas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
very nice inn.nice grounds,view of lt.river
had a superb dining experience at inn restaurant. All staff very helpful.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I did not ;know that the restaurant woauld not be open. I think a tv in the room would be a good idea. My husband and I enjoyed our stay.

10/10 Excellent

Jennifer

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort