Avoid this place at all costs -- if you have $200/night to spend, spend it anywhere else -- even the Bates Motel had better hospitality. Here's our cautionary tale:
There were big clues to the nightmare in the run-up to our stay -- after making the reservation in advance with Michelle to stay on their opening weekend we left several messages asking for a confirmation that the room had been reserved. Repeated calls weren't returned. Here's where it gets WEIRD:
We arrived at the motel at 1:30 on the day of our stay -- no cars in the parking lot and the NO VACANCY sign still up -- to find the doors locked and that morning's edition of the Gloucester Times in its bag on the doormat. From the street the place looked shabby -- peeling paint, rusted screen doors -- and when we got up close it was clear that it was shut down tight. We drove around the back to find a couple of pickup trucks and workmen coming in and out of one of the rooms -- but no evidence of other guests.
Worried, we called the office, left our cell numbers and went to lunch. When we came back less than an hour later the front office door was open -- and when I went in to inquire, I was met by a chilly scold (by New England standards, which is downright surly) asking why we handn't shown up promptly at 2:00pm because our stay was reserved "by appointment only." What a joke -- and a bald-faced lie.
We were the only guests booked for the weekend. (Take that in for a minute.)
The manager was very clear that she'd only be in the office another few minutes -- leaving us in a 13-room motel, alone, for at least the first night! (Maybe not exactly alone -- we presumed the contractors would be off the job by 5:00pm, but you never know.)
We booked rooms in another place up the street and our suspicion that were the only guests at GBtS for the entire weekend were confirmed -- the place stayed in darkness, locked up tight the entire time. We were lucky to get a room elsewhere for two nights -- most of the other motels on that stretch of road were well-filled. The manager did refund our reservation, however. Gloucester by the Sea is a stay of last resort. read more