Sue & I visited in September a few years back for Newport Boat show. You can spend as much as your budget allows for a place to stay, but I don't think you will find anything economical in Newport. We stayed next to the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in a very nice Marriott for an economical price, but it was not very convenient to Newport (the drive was very nice). Next time we go we'll probably stay in East Newport where there is an enclave of hotels pretty much on the beach. There are the Newport Beach, Atlantic Beach and Comfort Inns at this location and I think prices are reasonable. They all looked comfortable enough if you aren't looking for upscale lodging. This looks like more of a "Jersey Shore" type of atmosphere (minus Snooki and The Situation) and definitely isn't Newport proper. It is very convenient to Newport, though, if you don't want to shell out the big money. Parking is very difficult in Newport, but free shuttle services will probably be run from the beach parking lot.
Good luck with the weather ... May tends to be pretty crappy overall in the northeast. The ocean will be frigid as it will be at least a month and a half before the beach season starts there (starts around the 4th of July weekend). Maybe I just notice the weekend weather, which almost always sucks in May. Mid-week should be much better.
Last year, the A/C race boats were in New York Harbor for exhibition races over Memorial day weekend. 2 days of gloom, drizzle, dampness, fog, and absolutely NO WIND, pretty much typifies northeast weather when something good is scheduled.
I was glad I didn't talk Sue into making an effort for that one.
For our next visit, I will absolutely join a 12 meter crew for one of their sailing excursions. The price seemed very reasonable to me. When we were seeing the sites on a tour boat, an entire fleet of 12 meters were fleet racing through the harbor with customer/crews. I was extremely envious not to have been on board. I'm not sure how early in the year they get started. They do go fairly late into the fall season, as the weather tends to be much better in fall.
