New owners to add mini-spa to inn's lures

By Ellen Albanese, Globe Staff  |  September 3, 2006

WEST FALMOUTH -- Sometimes the secrecy backfires.

For this column, Globe writers visit inns anonymously to make sure they experience the accommodations as readers would. At the end of their stays, they can reveal their identities and the purpose of the visit.

When I told innkeeper Donna McIlrath, after a Sunday morning breakfast of crepe-wrapped scrambled eggs , that we were planning to run a review of the Beach Rose Inn in September, she was surprised and crestfallen. ``We won't be here in the fall," she wailed. ``We're selling the inn!"

The new owners , who take over next month, plan to preserve most aspects of the inn and add features designed to make this pleasant hideaway even more enjoyable.

Tucked away on a side street off Route 28A, the inn offers the peace and quiet of a residential neighborhood just five minutes from the beach and 10 minutes from the town center. The 1863 farmhouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is white with deep pink shutters and trim and bordered by a white picket fence. A path of crushed shells leads to the front door.

One of the inn's most charming features is an enclosed bow porch with a robin's egg-blue ceiling and wicker furniture. Breakfast is served here and in the attached breakfast room with its lace-curtained windows and an old-fashioned stove in the corner.

Guests have use of a parlor and a tiny TV room (though when we tried to catch some of a Red Sox game, we felt as if we were intruding on the innkeepers' quarters just beyond).

There are four guest rooms in the main house, four in the carriage house, and a housekeeping cottage that rents by the week, as well as an unheated apartment.

We stayed in the Quisset Room, which had a queen-size bed, nightstand, dresser, upholstered chair, and reading light crammed into a 9-by - 12-foot space. The bathroom, on the other hand, was huge.

Decor was simple but thoughtful. There was an old-fashioned brush, comb, and mirror set atop a crocheted runner on the dresser and lots of accent pieces on the white walls, such as dried flowers in frames, a miniature bonnet, and a eucalyptus wreath over the headboard. A booklet offered good information about the inn and the area, including maps and suggestions for activities. The nearest beaches are Chapoquoit and Old Silver.

The inn's top accommodation is the Highland Room in the carriage house, with a queen canopy bed, whirlpool for two, electric fireplace, and small refrigerator. But we were smitten with the Falmouth Suite, with its blue-and-white linens and private porch.

Debby French of Tewksbury, who collects and refinishes old trunks, chose to stay in the Chatham Room, which features an antique steamer trunk propped open to display vintage clothing. She said she and her fiancé, John Kassay of Ayer, thought the inn's breakfasts were ``phenomenal" and they loved the grounds.

At the innkeepers' recommendation, we had dinner at the Chapoquoit Grill just down the road. This hip, busy, friendly place offers seafood, brick-oven pizza, and interesting twists on American bistro fare. We enjoyed steamed littlenecks in a Portuguese-style white wine broth flavored with ham, grilled pork chops with a blackberry bourbon glaze, and pizza topped with mushroom puree, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes. Entrees run $9.50 to $25.

Sheryll and Douglas Reichwein will be leaving jobs on Nantucket when they take over the Beach Rose Inn on Oct. 10. Their first order of business, Sheryll said, is to create a mini-spa at the inn (Douglas is a massage therapist). They also plan to offer wine and cheese in the afternoons and sprinkle special events -- such as wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, and perhaps art workshops -- throughout the season.

Meanwhile, Donna and David McIlrath, who are leaving the inn after five years, have ``fallen in love with an island in the Mexican Caribbean," David said. ``We moved from Ohio to Cape Cod to run the Beach Rose," he said, ``and now we're moving on to the next adventure."

Contact Ellen Albanese at ealbanese@globe.com.