Our first stop on a whirlwind road trip on the east coast as "leaf peepers", seekers and admirers…read moreof fall foliage. I really enjoy historic house tours, and why not a castle? John Hays Hammond, Jr, the inventor of radio control, lived here for the first 35 years while it was also a museum. He used part of it as the laboratory for working on his inventions. He hosted parties and collected antiquities and art from all over the world, and built the castle in three continuous sections that mirrored 11th century medieval, 13th century Gothic, and 15th century Renaissance style architecture. Lots of narrow hallways and spiral staircases, a covered courtyard, and even a hidden passageway (though you can't explore that). My favorite room was the library! Our tour guide, Joe, spoke very rapidly to pack in as much information as possible--Very knowledgeable and eager to answer questions. Cool little museum gift shop. Clean bathrooms. Onsite free parking if you purchase your tickets online ahead of time. You can decide to do the self-guided tour or have a tour guide. Highly recommend! Gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean!

Castles have always reminded me of fairy tales. But Hammond Castle is a fairy tale with a…read moredistinctly Gothic twist. There was something about the story of its lonely owner and the maze of dark little passageways, hidden entrances, and unexpected exits between rooms that gave me chills. It felt less like I was walking through a castle and more like I had stepped into a fortress where it is eternally Halloween.... Why - because this castle has the unique story of being built from ruins of so many European structures, real structures. Roman pillars from Italian ruins, medieval doorways from French monasteries sometimes even entire rooms dismantled stone by stone and shipped. This inventor (known for the remote control and 400 odd patents), was no doubt super rich, who dreamed and created one of a kind castle to live in. He delighted in calling him the preserver of heritage, some called it plunder and also claimed it was cursed having been built on ruins. No wonder, there are innumerable 'stories' of haunting associated with this castle. There are plenty amazing locations for pictures. The architecture is captivating, it is a popular location for weddings given the dramatic backdrop. Costing anywhere between $6000 to $10K just for the space. I was cautious to walk with my tour group when inside the castle, it was not just to listen to the many interesting scraps of information but also to ensure am surrounded by people......lol Hammond Castle is perched directly on a rocky cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, so its pretty scenic in soo many ways. Its beautiful, its strange, it has loads of mini stories from past and present, something very different. Was I able to pique your interest yet .... ?!

Historic little gem in Rockport! Beautiful old building with many open rooms full of local artist's…read morework. The venue itself if free to walk in and browse through the paintings, and house a little gift shop and small donations box. Remember that spare change you've got in your back pocket? Toss it in here! High quality paintings and photography. Personally I know absolutely nothing about art appraisal, and prices so I was shocked to see the prices of some paintings. They seemed to range from $1,200 to $16,000!! That's crazy to me! But hey-- someone put time and effort in their work and it is very evident! There's two floors of rooms as well as another building connected by a quaint little garden area. The whole place takes at least 30 minutes to walk around to admire and take in the work, so give yourself some time!

Rehearsal dinner, superplus! Open floor plan, canvases for all tastes and Big Fish-architecture…read morethat places you inside a wooden beam big top. Two major rooms in the gallery, accessible through a secret garden courtyard. Rustic meets modern, hospital sterile with watercolor warmth and illuminated by whimsically strewn twinkle lights. Fantastic in the literal sense. Definitely worth a look-see if you're meandering through downtown Rockport, and a must if entertaining a reception space.

The work is amateur and the prices are very low. They always say you get what you pay for, and its…read moretrue. I think this would be ideal for someone on a tight budget, but just be careful the pricing on the prints is outrageous.

Unlike the other reviewers (so far), Jeff actually DID photograph our wedding at the Hawthorne…read moreHotel this past July. We spent almost two years planning our Salem wedding so we had plenty of time to make sure that we picked the BEST! He was professional from the start---responding to e-mails and phone calls promptly, coming to our house for a thorough consultation, and even setting up a complementary walk- through of our venue prior to the wedding date. He made it a priority to find out what WE wanted in a photographer and in the pictures he captured, he absolutely blew our expectations out of the water. He captured the things that were really special to us and was able to evoke the feelings that made our wedding unique in his photographs. EVERYONE that we've shared our online slideshow with so far has been enthusiastically impressed with the photos. One of the great things about Jeff is that our package includes a DVD with ALL the photographs he took so that we can print them out as we choose---not many photographers are willing to give you that kind of ownership over your pictures! If you aren't able to pay the price of the pictures on the gallery you don't have to! We highly recommend Jeff Folger for your wedding!

Beautiful timeless pictures which will tug at your heart strings...take a look for yourself at…read morewww.eventidephotography.com

A++++ Lisa Mancuso is worth every penny!!! When I met Lisa, I instantly felt comfortable with her!…read moreShe is one of the most talented photographers I have ever met. She did our engagement photos out in Swampscott on the beach and they all came out stunning! She made my fiance and I feel really comfortable in front of the camera which for my fiance is not easy. The pictures for our wedding were perfect in every way! Her co photographer Heather was very talented also, and super sweet! What a great team! I loved every single one of my wedding pictures! All of my family friends, and guests were raving about Lisa and Heather. I received all of my pictures 2 weeks after the wedding!! Everyone was surprised I already had them!! I am telling you, do not go with anyone else!!

I have been very happy with Lisa's work. Our family had lisa do Christmas shoots more than once…read moreand the results were professional and had a very natural feel. The shoots themselves were relaxing and fun. Lisa did the senior shots for our daughter and to this day one of those shots (that year's Christmas card) is still my favorite of all time. Our daughter looks so relaxed and naturally beautiful. Highly recommended

Pamela was our wedding photographer. I believe ours was her first wedding, but when we saw her…read moreincredible photos of people and spaces, we had no hesitation in choosing her. My wife has always been uncomfortable having her photo taken, and we did not want to add that anxiety to the other stresses of a wedding day. We knew we wouldn't need to worry with Pamela. She made everyone feel incredibly comfortable in the posed shots, and otherwise we never knew we were being photographed at all since she used her effective art-documentary style and method. The result was a beautiful photo narrative of the day; she truly captured everyone's personality and beauty in her candids, and she also captured the romantic ambiance of our outdoor ceremony and reception under the trying circumstances of unexpected rain. Pamela also designed and arranged the images in custom printed albums. Both my parents and my wife's mother have shared these albums with friends and colleagues who all marvel at how beautifully the images tell the story of us.

Very clean the sheets and towels smelled nice and clean even the room Everytime we went in the room…read moreit was pleasant nothing fancy but I liked it a lot Beautiful view from balcony

I'm extremely disappointed with how Ocean House at Bass Rocks handled our reservation during the…read morerecent coastal nor'easter. My friend and I had a two-night reservation, and when the storm was forecast, I proactively contacted the hotel before our stay. I simply asked if we could move our reservation a few days, from Sunday-Tuesday to Tuesday-Thursday, so we could still stay at Ocean House after the storm passed. I was even willing to pay any difference in rate. That request was denied, and I ultimately had no choice but to cancel the reservation. Afterward, I reached out a second time to try again & explain the circumstances and ask if they would consider a goodwill gesture, such as a credit toward a future stay. I was told again that they would not make any exception. I completely understand that hotels have cancellation policies, and I'm not upset that they have a policy. What disappointed me was the complete lack of flexibility or customer goodwill during an extraordinary coastal weather event, particularly when my original request was simply to move the reservation and keep my business. As someone who travels and has hotel stays frequently for my full time job, most hotels go above & beyond to accommodate if the request is reasonable. I genuinely wanted to visit Ocean House, and this experience has unfortunately changed my impression of the hotel & their management. A little flexibility in an unusual circumstance would have gone a long way toward creating a loyal customer. The lack of customer service, empathy, and un-willingness to do the right thing for their guests during an extraordinary situation is extremely disappointing.

Excellent. Location could not be better and we snagged an ocean front for night one. The room and…read morebathroom was spacious for Cape Ann. The bed was like sleeping on a cloud. The rooms outside deck was spacious and the ocean water lapped on the sand and rocks below. The staff was absolutely great. Friendly, accommodating and competent. The view was of the open ocean, Bears Neck, and back beach. Awesome. The 4th of July Parade walks right by the hotel and the Bonfire is a 30 second walk away. Bears Neck and the many shops, restaurants, lobster pounds, art dealers, jewelers, artist, glass blowers and more is a very short walk away.

I rarely write negative reviews. No one is perfect and things do go wrong sometimes. With Captain's…read moreBounty, when things went wrong, the hotel became very defensive and denied any accountability, and turned it around and blamed it on the customer. I have been waiting for two weeks for a refund and an explanation/apology, the hotel simply refused to respond. On 07/03/2026, I and my three young children arrived at Captain's Bounty on the Beach for a two night stay for the July 4th weekend. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the reservation because there were wasps inside our room. Specifically, there was a dead wasp on the bathroom floor upon our arrival, which was unacceptable because hotels are expected to check the room right before guest arrival. Disgusted, I immediately picked it up with a tissue and flushed down the toilet. Subsequently, we saw another 6 wasps in total and I was scared that it would fly so I quickly caught it with tissue and flushed down the toilet. I did not think to take a picture for evidence because I and my children were scared. Because the wasps are dangerous and especially my children are young, we did not feel safe to stay for the night and had to cancel the reservation, which was very disappointing as we drove almost two hours to get to the hotel and we were left without a plan for the holiday weekend. I wanted a refund since we had to cancel the reservation for safety reasons. I spoke with the front desk, who immediately insinuated that we wanted to cancel because we didn't have an oceanfront room, which was not the reason for the cancellation; the wasps and our safety was. The hotel has two separate buildings, one is right on the beach, and the other one is across the street next to a historical cemetery. It was not ideal but I would not cancel the reservation just because of that and lose our money. Unfortunately the wasps were just too much for our family to make it work. In the written communication that followed, the hotel kept forcing a point that the location was the reason for the cancellation, while demonstrating no accountability for having wasps in their hotel room, which is a completely unacceptable safety hazard. The hotel also questioned my honesty by pointing out that I took my children to the beach that day. Seeing wasps in the room was a shock and our vacation was not going the way we hoped. We all felt unsafe and disappointed. However as the mother and the only adult, I am responsible for my children and had to make sure they were affected as little as possible. Also I don't tend to act on impulse and usually take my time to think things through before acting. It was a long drive on a hot day and I tried to lighten their mood and let them spend some time at the beach while I thought things through what the best plan was for my family, and the conclusion was that we could not see ourselves sleep in a room with wasps at night. The fact that the hotel uses this against me was absurd and shows the absence of compassion. We paid over $900 for nothing but disappointment and a waste of our family's time. Admitting no fault on their end and refusing to refund our money, the defensiveness the hotel demonstrated is a clear indicator that they do not have customer's best interest at heart and aren't willing to take accountability when they should have. Keep accusing the customer and shifting blame onto the customer is not how a business with integrity should operate. Being treated this unfairly as a consumer, I am deeply disappointed. The hotel kept saying no wasps were found later. But that has NOTHING to do with what we experienced as an individual customer and the hotel has not accepted any responsibility for this. In addition, the hotel was able to rent the room out Saturday night, but still refused to refund my money, which made it even more disappointing. It's easy when everything is smooth. However it's when there is conflict that the true color shows.