A little history of how we came to own and operate the Ivy Lodge ...
Before moving to Newport, RI in February of 2000, Daryl and Darlene McKenzie, your innkeepers, never lived more than forty five miles from where they were born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. Our careers were mainly spent in the banking, mortgage and real estate industries with Darlene also working for many years in fine dining. Long before meeting each other, both had aspirations of being Innkeepers in a coastal town. While traveling extensively throughout North America, we constantly asked ourselves "Is this the town that we could operate a bed and breakfast in?"
On an afternoon in May 1999, as we crossed the Newport Bridge, we gazed at the sailboats heeled over from the spring breeze. Looking at the beautiful landscape of Narragansett Bay and Newport Harbor we thought, "Life doesn't get any better than this." Later, we walked the neighborhoods, marveling over the diversity of the achitecture, and Newport's charm worked it's way into our soul. Our search was over; we had found our very special place.
After years in the corporate world, sons off to college and with the yearning for adventure, we threw caution to the wind and within less than a year from our first visit to Newport, we were the proud owners of The Ivy Lodge. With tremendous enthusiasm, we have renovated the Ivy Lodge into our vision of a great bed and breakfast.
We are excited to share all our knowledge of Newport with our guests. Through all of our travels, we have found no other town that offers as much culturally or geographically as Newport, Rhode Island. Travel is our passion and we bring home the best ideas from every B&B we have ever visited to share with our guests. Our goal as your innkeepers is to make you feel welcome, comfortable and help you explore all that Newport, RI has to offer.
