A river is on fire in Providence

and Hotel Providence sparkles like a new gem in the Downcity diadem

The new Hotel Providence is one of the famous "Small Luxury Hotels of the World." Click to see full size.

The rooms leave nothing to chance. Click to see full size..

By Walter & Pat Brooks

At some point between election fights and fist fights, Providence's former perennial mayor Buddy Cianci (who still has a couple years left in the slammer for alleged naughtiness) used the kind of political muscle it takes to turn an urban blight into its present charm and sophistication.

Then good restaurants, hotels and upscale shopping Meccas followed. Without approving of Buddy's methods, we must approve of the results. All we can add is that as soon as Buddy gets out, this town should rent him to Worcester, New Bedford and Fall River to make the same magic on those cities. And they may get Buddy back next month, see the Providence TV10 story here.

To this expanding metropolis developer Stanley Weiss just added the beautiful new Hotel Providence. The latest estimates put the hotel development project costs at $13.5 million not including the value of the realty (about another $3 million). Click on the two photos at right for a larger view.

As a recent article in the Boston Globe put it

Superlatives aside, one thing Downcity does now have is a stylish lodging alternative to the Providence Biltmore. The new Hotel Providence is dressed to the nines in gilded style, with service and dining to match, and it stands to help the capital city jump-start the mission to revitalize its historic downtown, where grand old buildings stand as testament to Providence's past. Attention to detail at the 80-room hotel is apparent from the street. The developers combined two brick Classical structures from the late 1800s with a contemporary building. Inside, the decor is more ornate: In the lobby alone are a jade carving of horses, an Eastlake grandfather clock, and a pair of 19th-century marble and mahogany pier tables. Read the whole story here.

In the last two decades Providence has transformed its waterfront, built a convention center, several luxury hotels and a world class mall. It has seen its Jewelry District where the Hotel Providence was turned into a new "Small Luxury Hotels of the Wold" attract colleges, high-tech businesses stores and restaurants. It has even succeeded turning Downcity into a mixed residential and commercial area.

Adding to the eclectic mix

Setting the river on fire for WaterFire.

Marco sings Italian love ballads as he sculls.

The rivers were turned into fountains of youth, and even set on fire, deliberately, for a uniques experience called Waterfire. The next time they set the Providence River on fire is Saturday, May 28 at dusk, and it flames until 1 am. The schedule of Waterfires is here. 

Then a romantic genius named "Marco" built a couple authentic, Venetian Gondola. Yes, the town boasts two incredibly beautiful gondolas which are sculled down the river from Spring to Fall, and every few days they literally set the rivers on fire by piling logs in sculptured baskets in the middle of the rivers and let them burn from dusk to midnight. 

The Downcity area where all the things in the list below are located, is only a half dozen blocks in each direction. It is really quite refreshing to find so many varied activities within walking distance of your hotel. The weekend we were there we strolled to the multi-floored mall, the river fronts, the Jewelry District, all in a short afternoon.

Things to do in Providence;

• Providence Place is a five minute walk from the hotel
• Marco's remarkable Gondolas
• Waterfire in along the rivers, even closer
• Hertiage Harbor Museum on the waterfront
• Providence Chamber for other ideas
• Calendar of Events for this month
• The Hotel Providence 311 Westminster Street, 800-861-8990

L'Epicureo ranks with any great restaurant

For 10 years, Rozann and Tom Buckner cooked for patrons in their cozy L'Epicureo restaurant on Federal Hill in Providence. They found themselves greatly limited not only by a tiny kitchen but also by their notion they had to serve an all-Italian menu since they were on Federal Hill, Providence's answer to Boston's North End. They wanted more, more variety of food, more people to serve, more wines to offer and more creative challenges. 

The L'Epicureo offers perhaps the finest dining in town.

When they got a call from developer Stanley Weiss inviting them to create a bigger L'Epicureo and become the resident restaurant in his new Hotel Providence, it was a dream come true. They jumped at the chance to have a new 150-seat restaurant with more private dining rooms and al fresco dining in season; a ballroom to host weddings; a brand-new, spacious kitchen, plus a second prep kitchen; and a sleek bar for cocktails and casual dining, in the very heart of Downcity's Jewelry & Entertainment Districts.

The owner's favorite entrée is a dish that takes four days to prepare -- Tuscan-style slow-braised pork belly. She starts with a piece of fresh bacon, still with the skin on, and marinates it for 48 hours in a blend of 13 herbs. Then it is brined for two days and finally poached in its own liquid to cook for 12 hours. It's a flavorful, interesting dish that would have been impossible to prepare in a small kitchen.

On your way home

Since we had visited Newport a few weeks prior and hurried home without roaming in the towns and villages between these two cities, this time we were determined to remedy that omission.

We headed south at one of the first exits on I-195 heading east from the city, and wandered for an afternoon along Route 17 to Barrington and Bristol. There are countless attractive restaurants in the latter seaport town. In Bristol be should to walk the harbor visit the wonderful Herreshoff Marine Museum.

There is even a superb new bike path from Providence to and through these seaport town to the south. The maps on this site will help you find it.

As the Providence Journal wrote last Spring,

...At 14.5 miles, the East Bay Bike Path is the oldest and busiest, running from India Point Park on the Providence waterfront, over the Washington Bridge, and along Narragansett Bay through the city of East Providence and the towns of Barrington, Warren, and Bristol, where it ends at Independence Park, conveniently close to a half-dozen attractive places to have lunch or a snack before heading back north. A round-trip ride is about 29 miles.

Running through two beautiful waterfront state parks (Haines State Park in East Providence and Colt State Park in Bristol), the East Bay Bike Path is kept scrupulously groomed by the same state parks division of the Department of Environmental Management that also takes care of Colt and the East Providence part of Haines. (The Barrington portion of Haines is maintained by that town.)

In effect, the East Bay path is a linear state park, something like Boston's Emerald Necklace of parks along the Charles River. There are plenty of places along the path to park and leave your car while you ride: Most popular are the lots along Veterans Parkway in East Providence and at Barrington Shopping Center, or at the Bristol end at Independence Park....

See the complete story in the Providence Journal here. It may require a one-time registration, but this newspaper is really worth the minute that may take you. 

If you roam as far south as Newport, treat yourself to a day or two at The Castle Hill Inn on Ocean Drive, one of New Egland's most remarkable settings, or read about our stay there this Spring.

Walter and Patricia Brooks are the founders of Best Read Guides, eCape.com and this online newspaper.  They started these companies in 1988 after extensive careers in the newspaper business beginning at The Village Voice and New York Post and culminating at MPG Communications and The Cape Codder before launching their own companies. They live in East Harwich overlooking Pleasant Bay. Pat is a native Cape Codder and Walter is a Connecticut Yankee. They have lived on the cape since 1965. They have two sons, two grand children and two cats, Todd, Jay, Will, Marina, Rama and Shiva.