O’neil House Bed & Breakfast

Stayed at the O’Neil House this past weekend during a family event in Akron. The house is beautifully maintained, as are the gardens and yard. Expect a certain amount of creaking floors, as this is a century old home, but my family and I had a wonderful time exploring and looking around the house and grounds.
Breakfast is filling and served in one of the dining or breakfast rooms. Although you rent a room or suite, you basically have your run of the house and grounds, which makes it a very relaxing place to spend a few days.

My husband and I stayed here 1 miserable night and now refer to this place as «bed and cigarettes» rather than a bed and breakfast. Upon arriving, we noticed a slight smokey smell in the foyer. Our bedroom was actually much worse, we ended up sleeping with the windows open the entire night. By the time morning came, we couldn’t wait to get out of there. We didn’t stay for breakfast as the smell of cigarettes was so strong.
Considering that the owner list the property as smoke free, this was a huge disappointment and I would not recommend staying here unless you love the smell of cigarette smoke. If I could rate this place with no stars I would. In fact I would choose to sleep in my car rather than go back to this place.
Truly unfortunate as this could be a beautiful b&b (with some much needed updating).

O’Neil House isn’t a bad place to stay in many ways. I have family who stay here whenever they’re in Akron and they quite enjoy it. The building and grounds are certainly beautiful, and my understanding is that it’s much cheaper than many other area accommodations. However, there are a couple of things — one minor, one major — that make it not a good match for me.
The minor issue: Breakfasts are huge and heavy. Some people like this so it’s not necessarily a bad thing, and the owner is a good cook so the food is generally delicious. But on my part, if I eat anything too big/​heavy too early in the morning, I feel sick for the rest of the day. I’m also a mildly picky eater so at most breakfasts I had to skip eating a course and/​or deconstruct things to get flavors that were unappetizing to me out of my meal, then ended up feeling kind of ill anyway because the food was still too much.
(Semi-​related point to the above, in which I reveal myself as a tea snob: At one point we asked for tea and were served Lipton. This is like asking for wine and being served grape Kool-​Aid. Lipton is factory floor sweepings put into teabags, and you can tell from the taste. I was really surprised that an establishment that clearly cares about the quality of its food would serve the absolute lowest quality of tea available for purchase. At least buy some Bigelow or something!)
The dealbreaker: The owner smokes and/​or allows someone on staff to smoke in the building. Seriously, almost everywhere I’ve been in this building, including every bedroom I have been in, I’ve caught at least a whiff of cigarette. I’m sensitive to cigarette smoke so I may be able to smell it in small quantities better than most people, but still. It’s simply inappropriate to expose one’s (paying!) guests to second– and third-​hand smoke.
The worst of it was that the time we actually stayed here, our rooms were above the kitchen. Early in the morning, the owner and her help arrive to start cooking breakfast, and at least one of them lights up. I know this because I was reliably woken out of a sound sleep by the smoke. One morning we could open the windows and it fixed things enough to let me at least doze; the next it was raining, so the options were to let rain in all over the beautiful woodwork or keep the windows closed. That morning I couldn’t sleep at all due to the stench — our room was absolutely full of cigarette smoke and I literally felt at times as though I was choking on it. When we went downstairs for breakfast, I — already feeling sick from two mornings of getting very poor sleep while inhaling nauseating toxins — got to sit right by the kitchen door. Every time the door opened, a little puff of smoke came out and wafted over me, and as I sat there eating my too-​large, too-​heavy breakfast and trying to hold my breath as much as possible, it dawned on me that if someone was smoking in the kitchen while breakfast was being made, then everything passing my lips was coated in a fine mist of carcinogens… Less than appetizing, to say the least. That was the moment when I knew I’d absolutely never come back.
So if you like/don’t mind big heavy fancy breakfasts, and you are a smoker or are not bothered by the smell of cigarettes and exposure to cigarette smoke, you may enjoy O’Neil House. If not, like me, you’re better off finding somewhere to stay that won’t leave you feeling sick.

O’Neil House is the best! Owner Gail is a true gem! Our sleigh bed suite was beyond relaxing and the four course gourmet breakfast itself is 4 stars. It is a real treat to stay in the home that Gail saved demolition and restored it to its deserved grandeur. Definitely a MUST to experience in Akron.

After 14 months of planning a wedding at O’Neil house, I can finally write the long awaited review.
Let me start by saying, I loved my wedding day and in the end, I was a over the moon bride. In the end it all came together but the process was a tough one.
First thing: Gayle does NOT do a contract. This will cause many headaches over the course of your planning and I wish I would have got exact numbers from her. It really is a poor way to do business but hey, it’s her choice.
After you get over this hiccup, you move on to planning with Gayle. She loves to talk down to you so you feel like you’re an idiot the entire planning process. Combine that with her attitude of thinking of B&B is possibly the great B&B in the world. It leaves you annoyed after conversations and crossing your fingers for a good out coming.
If you can get past the no contract, no set confirmed prices and a condescending attitude, you’ll still manage to have a wonderful wedding.
The good about my day:
It turned out wonderful and I really wouldn’t change much. If something was wrong, only I knew and nobody else. I couldn’t have found a more gorgeous property and more amazing food. The staff makes this. She really has a great staff.
The bad about my day:
–Wasn’t served what we decided on for dinner. Again, only I noticed and my mother in law.
–Bill was around $ 2k more and I assume this comes from, 1. my lack of following up on pricing as we went on and/​or her lack of knowing what she was charging 2. because the wedding the day before used all my rentals and instead of splitting, she charged each of us (though it was a flat rental rate, not per day)
–We were told we were out of many beers/​wines around 8:30 and went and bought more. Upon pickup the next day of our items, all the original drinks were still there. Total mess up on their part.
–Gayle got into many fights with my coordinator (who mind you, was 8 months preggo), blaming HER for losing boxes of my wedding items. Funny thing is, Gayle was responsible for those items, not my coordinator who just arrived at O’Neil that morning. One item was also destroyed by the staff. A very personal project to me :(No apologies for it.
–Gayle was very against putting bottles of water out for our ceremony guests. She said it was a safety issue having bottles of water laying around ad it was «tacky» BUT, it was near 94 degrees, full sun and that’s not considered a safety issue?
–She says she packs everything up for pickup the next day. Nothing was packed up until I told her, I’d pick it up on my own terms because she didn’t do as she said she would.
I’m sure I could go on.
OVERALL. If you’re looking to have your wedding there, think carefully. She’ll plan a gorgeous day but it won’t be without many, many headaches and tears along the way.

We stayed at O’Neil House as part of my 50^th Buchtel High School reunion in August 2011. It was also the site of our informal reunion event on Friday night. It is the best b&b we have ever stayed in! The accommodations were fantastic. We had four rooms in our suite; a very large bedroom with a king four poster bed, elegantly furnished with period pieces, wallpaper, and carpet; a living room with two love seats and two wing chairs, an elegant dressing room, and huge bathroom with period pedestal sink, huge tub, marble lined shower, and even a bidet. Further, breakfast was home made, elegant with period dishes and silverware, and absolutely delicious. We stayed two nights and felt pampered. Further, the grounds are beautiful, with an area for weddings as well. I felt like our quarters was a bridal suite!

In 1915, Bill O’Neil started a tire company, then built a huge house in west Akron. Twenty years ago a developer wanted to tear it down and make money. Retired schhol teacher Gayle Johnson outbid the moneymen and opened a B & B. Her friends told her she was crazy and I imagine she outlived them all.
The 1923 manor house is bigger than your house and mine put together. Three of four available bedrooms are suites decked in Roarin Twenties, Art Deco, English Tudor, and a twenty foot leaded glass bay window.
Check-​in involves being led to your suite by inkeeper Johnson. Don’t forget to introduce yourself. Pay your bill in the morning. After breakfast served in the, well, Breakfast Room.,
If you want to get married here, you may do that too.
And, the rates! This place is all good news.