just got back from my friends' wedding in manchester-by-the-sea, ma, and was lucky enough to get a room here as it was closest to the wedding site. my friend and i shared room #8, which doubles as an emergency exit but has 2 rooms with 2 double beds, and you can lock one room but not the other since it's the emergency-exit room. so yah, this place was a little funky, you can tell it's an old old house, one of those kinds w/ the long front porch, hardwood floors, high ceilings, original mouldings, but i thought it needed a little more love. things just needed to be touched up a little, wouldn't take long, but would improve the quality and feel of the inn immensely, i.e., replace mirrors with new ones so i can see myself, put the drawer pull back on the chest of drawers (after all, all the hardware IS laying in the drawer), spackle up the cracks in the ceilings and walls, touch up the paint, get a new toilet roll holder that actually holds the roll, stitch up that big hole in my bed quilt ,ya know, stuff like that. this old house deserves to be treated well, with respect! this place would be so much quainter if they would just fix it up a bit, update a few things...also there isn't really any other place to stay in manchester, the town itself is VERY richy, hoity, so you'd think that this place would be a little bit more shiny...
but alas, i still give it 4 stars due to proximity to town, the beach, the wedding i went to, for the proprieter michael (just ring the front door, anytime of day/night and he's there for you with a smile), continental breakfast, great front porch on which to have a meal or sip wne, the price ($90 a night for a 2 room/BR down the hall) and a lovely sitting room to chill in. our room did not have a bathroom (we were going on the cheap) but it was right outside our door in the hallway, and even though the inn was full due to the wedding, i never had to wait for the shower/toilet. and some of their rooms have full baths and fireplaces. read more