I'm considering trading in my 2017 Toyota RAV4 XLE AWD, for a new 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid Trailsport.

I see there's a new 2026 Cherokee coming out soon.

Also, I've been hearing rumours of a new Toyota FJ / "Baby Land Cruiser" for a long time.

There's rumours of a new Nissan X-Terra.

And there's probably a new CR-V coming in a couple years -- which could possibly feature a more capable "Trailsport" features (like the current Passport Trailsport).

I don't mind waiting if there's something new and interesting just around the corner ...

TL;DR - What new "mild off-roader" small-ish SUVs are expected in the next coupe of years?

It has always been on my bucket list to visit Newport, RI. I am thinking of visiting in mid october. Is it still a good time to visit? Do you suggest staying in Provenance or Jamestown? How far will it be from the mansions like the Breakers? Is it still a good time to eat oysters and lobsters.’We’ll have a car, a little kid and 2 little dogs.

Hey all! My wife and I have built up about 800k points on our Bonvoy card, we’re also vacation club owners and have platinum elite status. We were looking to do a weekend getaway around the first week of December to somewhere drivable from CT. I was thinking of using the points to stay at something like the St Regis or Essex House in NYC since we only really ever stay in the vacation club properties or like a residence inn, but I saw those 2 properties had some mixed reviews as of late.

Anybody have suggestions for a good December getaway hotel drivable from CT that would be worth using up some of these points?

There's a lot of coverage in this sub for the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, etc.; I thought it would be worth adding an easy drivable destination in the NY/New England area. Tl;dr - it's a nice, scenic chubby spot for a family getaway with plenty of outdoor activities. Food is ok, but I did go into it with high expectations based on the Relais & Chateau association. Still, it’s an excellent option and we plan to return next summer.

As a family of six, kids ages 3-12, the name of our travel game is convenience. When we get to where we're going, we prefer to stay on-resort. Kids are starting to age out of vacations where the only draw is the beach (e.g., renting a house in the Hamptons). In the NYC area, the Venn diagram of chubby/fat resort, family friendly, sub 4 hour drive feels pretty empty. Sidenote - I'm all ears for other suggestions!

Enter Weekapaug Inn, which we booked with u/alextravels. It's a sister property to Ocean House in nearby Watch Hill (a bit on that later). It's a historic resort/hotel built pre-1900, oozes old school charm and is, IMO, perfectly updated. It's situated at one end of a 2.5mi long pond (lake?), and is a short walk 5 minute walk to a long sandy beach. 2.5 hours from NY metro area and about the same from Boston. It’s a relatively small resort with 30 or so keys. There's a nice variety of rooms, standard inn-type rooms, some connecting, a few one-bedroom suites, and 4-2BR 1800sf named suites w/full kitchen, washer/dryer, and den.

Room

Standard rooms start at around $1200 per night in the summer, sub-$600 in the winter. We booked one of the 2BR suites at ~$4k per night. Impeccably clean, well updated and outfitted/furnished. Some board games available in the room. No TV in the main living space, but one in each of the bedrooms, which we liked. Ran into 2 somewhat major issues with the suite – water temperature in the showers was tepid, borderline cold the first night. Spoke with reception who relayed the issue to engineering, who then took it a bit too far and made it uncomfortably hot. The temperature balance handle didn’t work – I suspect the cartridges need to be replaced. Second, HVAC wasn’t adjustable via the thermostat. There was a bit of a rattle in one of the registers, and efforts to turn it off via the thermostat by turning the temp up when on cool, or setting the fan to “off,” didn’t work. We ended up being shown which breakers in the unit we needed to flip to turn off the unit. It was clear that management took our complaints here very seriously – it was never just “let go.” We felt adequately comp’d for the issues on check-out.

Service/Amenities

Really solid everywhere at the resort. Never overbearing, everyone was very pleasant to interact with. Brief nods or “Hi, how’s your day” from all staff as you come across them at the resort. The beach is a probably about a quarter mile walk from the entrance to the resort – an easy walk unless you have a 3-yr old who insists on carrying their own beach toys. Resort offered to take us to and from in a large golf cart; we never had to wait more than 5 minutes.

Importantly, and this was a criticism I had of Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos – the answer from staff for a question was never a blunt “no.” Reception was really good with following up with us, recalled specific things we had requested making sure that the actionable items had been completed. Some examples – we requested “in room” dining from the on-site restaurant, and this was accommodated. It doesn’t seem like a big ask, but at a few places we’ve been to (especially those with on-site fine dining/limited seating), there’s a firewall between the restaurant kitchen and the in-room dining kitchen. Feels like a really simple thing to do, but apparently not?

A few notes here – the fitness center and pool are on the ground floor of a building adjacent to the main Inn that houses a few of the suites. As a result, the fitness center is not 24HR and closes at 7pm for the guests upstairs – which I understand, but I feel like 7pm is a bit early. Pool has kids hours from 10-5, adults lap swim from 7-10am; 5-8pm. It’s a 25 yard pool, but not that wide. Good enough for an hour splashing around.

Activities

One of the biggest strengths – the grounds and the pond. Grounds are wonderfully kept. Lots of lawn games for the kids, and just open space for them to run around. Shuffleboard, cornhole, bucket golf, etc. The Inn builds a fire for nightly s’mores around the firepit, and it’s nice to sit back with a glass of wine while the kids work out the last of their energy running around playing.  

On the pond – it’s such an asset to the Inn. It’s large enough that you can’t see the other end a few miles away, and calm enough for kids to paddle around or wade in, no waves or current to fight. The Inn loans out standard resort watercraft – kayaks, small sailboats, etc. They have some local HS/college kids running nature-type programs as counselors – going digging for crabs with nets was a lot more fun than I would have anticipated.

At the beach – Weekapaug Inn is situated in the middle of a residential area. I suspect that if it didn’t exist today, residents in the area would never allow it to be built. It’s a symbiotic relationship now; guests at the Inn are granted access to the residential association’s beach, and basic service of setting up chairs/pitching umbrellas is taken care of. The Inn has a small seasonal beach restaurant on site that makes excellent pizza, there are nice facilities (changing rooms with shower, restrooms) as well.

Food
The Inn is part of the Relais & Chateau association, so I had really high expectations going into it based on my experience after having stayed and eaten at Castle Hill Inn about an hour away in Newport. It fell a bit short, if I’m being honest – but that’s not to say there weren’t some good menu items here and there. Breakfasts were overall very good, but I don’t think that’s as hard to execute. Maybe I didn’t try the right dishes?  

Ocean House

There’s an association with Ocean House (OH) in nearby Watch Hill, but it’s looser than I would have hoped. A facility or amenity that is present at both facilities are restricted to guests at that specific property. While we paid for a cabana at the OH for a day, we were told that the beach would otherwise be a paid amenity by guests of the Inn with a day pass. We did not have access to the pool at OH (it’s indoors anyway, and part of the spa). We also did not have access to the gym at Ocean House which is 24HR, unlike that at the Inn.

OH is a bit of a scene. It’s a destination in and of itself the area, so there’s a lot more hustle and bustle throughout the property. Everyone’s a bit more dressed up, parking is Valet only, there’s no relaxed lawn space for kids to run around, club-ish music is played at the restaurant down by the beach. Service at the OH beach is much more involved than at Weekapaug’s beach – lots of attendants running around with food/drinks. Beach chairs and umbrellas are set up in lines at regular intervals, and I didn’t get the feeling they’d be open to us requesting some be set up at the ocean edge where we like to hang out while our kids are playing in the surf. The visit to OH was nice, but I don’t think we’ll be making that side trip next time we go.

Hello! My fiancé and I are getting married in CT at the end of October. We want to do a mini moon in the region right after wedding weekend to decompress and recover before having to go back in to work. We'd like to see more of New England we haven't yet since we both grew up outside of it.

Parts of New England one or both of us haven't been to:

• Maine
• New Hampshire
• The Berkshires
• Rhode Island (we've only gone for suit fittings; we haven't really seen it)

What we would like in a mini-moon stay (hotel, bed & breakfast, etc.)

• Dog-friendly (non-negotiable)
• On-site or nearby spa
• Can be lean on sights as we will spend most of the time recuperating
• Bonus if explicitly queer-friendly

We're trying to keep it around $300 a night. We've considered tapping a travel agent just because we're so stretched thin from planning the wedding but we'd like to see if y'all have any recs. TIA!

Looking for a weekend getaway with my boyfriend to a VERY Christmas town. Like the type that feels like you walk into a movie with sleigh rides and stuff like that.

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Trying to brainstorm an autumn getaway with my husband and a would-be 6 month old. Would be leaving from Poughkeepsie. He likes hiking, I like cute towns. Given the baby situation we would prefer a hotel/resort lodging situation over an Airbnb. Any suggestions?