This is a very special place. My first time visiting and…read morewill definitely be going back. Beautiful grounds with sculptures, dotted here and there. The building itself indoors is contemporary and has inspirational posters throughout, as well as photographs of leaders around the country. We were there for a film of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The entire space can be rented out for retreat, and their focuses on leadership. Check out their website for visits or events that are happening.

Love this venue. Hard a special farm to table dinner and met some great people sitting at long…read moretables! The food was not that great, but I have heard that some dinners are better than others. The room is very cool and I love the fire place and the rotating art collection.

Great place.... Crummy hours. Saturday night and they close…read moreat 730. Really? Otherwise nice arcade with lots to do.

Employees are always friendly. Good selection of games & prizes. Are go to fun spot with the kids…read morein the summer & school vacations

Beautiful distillery. Fun, informative small group guided tour. This tour consisted of sampling…read moretheir entire line of products, learning about the history of the building as well as learning about the distilling process. A great local spot, and a definite must see when you are in town.

Really really cool old historic building, and that's about it…read more.. My husband and I came here for a drink before getting dinner at the restaurant next door. We waited so long in line at the bar that we thought we were going to miss our dinner reservation! We finally got a drink with 10 mins to spare. They were small and expensive, but good. Overall, nothing special or unforgettable here...

My partner and I just had the pleasure of staying at the Inn and the experience was luxurious. The…read moredecor was calming with a coastal feel creating the perfect escape. The bathtub was a large soaker that was great for taking my worries away. We enjoyed a yummy Bolognese sauce and a bottle of wine from their restaurant Grove. And I can't say enough about the attentive staff, especially Paula and Billie Sue. They were so kind and made sure we had everything we needed. This is great spot if you need a bit of respite and want to enjoy small town friendliness with a touch of indulgence.

The inn is a poorly executed wonderful idea…read more It easily could fill the need for an easily accessible comfortable luxurious place in the area. Every lodging option in nearby Newburyport minimally suffers from inadequate parking, which the Briar Barn has in abundance. This coulda been a contender additionally offers much better access to 95 and is closer to points of interest south of Newburyport. The most inexplicable flaw in this building that was built in roughly 2018 is that the climate-control system either is only heat or air-conditioning in a climate in which it the temperature during a shoulder season literally can be in the 30s (or lower) overnight and the 70s (or higher) during the day. Conversely, I do not recall even historic b and bs not having systems that allow switching between heat and air-conditioning year round. Additionally, the first floor rooms are very dark and subject you to hearing essentially every slight sound from the room above you. Even my highly tolerant significant other repeatedly called the front desk about high heels clicking on the upper floor during one stay. Having the spa, which easily could have been connected to the main building, in an entirely separate facility in an area that frequently experiences inclement weather further indicates the rookie mistakes made designing this place. The common comment that guests frequently plan on eating at the on-site restaurant, which also requires walking outside, only to learn that it is entirely closed for a private event further demonstrates the careless approach to this place. Both having a function room and providing better communication about not being able to eat there in this community that has very limited dining options within a 10-mile radius just makes sense. The bigger issue is this place catering to weddings while still offering itself to the general public. Many reviews have mentioned being unduly subject to even late-night noise related to wedding guests coming and going to events. It further seems that the staff is much more interested in wedding parties than those of us coming simply to enjoy the area. This lack of hospitality extends to doing nothing to appease a guest when things go wrong. One review that notes being put in a noisy room right off the lobby while a wedding party dominates the place comments on the goodwill value of a cheap bottle of wine. The first easy fix for the inn is piecemeal installing individual wall-mounted climate-control systems in each room. The next step is booking members of a large group on the first floor and putting those not part of a group on the second floor as far as possible from the group. The inn further should place tasteful signs around the inn asking guests to please be considerate of other guests, especially late at night. Thicker carpets and padding in the rooms also should abate noise nuisance. In the interim, booking an Airbnb that suits individual needs seems to be a better option than the Briar Barn.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to visit Crane during the holidays. Every year they have…read morea different Christmas theme throughout that turns the place into a magical place. You will find beautiful decorated rooms, Christmas music playing in the background and wonderful volunteers ready to answer your questions about the history of the place and its former owners. In addition, they set up the kitchen with freshly baked cookies, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. They also set up tables where you can enjoy your included treats. Plan ahead and book it before you arrive as they are only open for selected weekends during the holidays and can/will sell out as they limit the number of people/cars that can enter the property. They charge an additional fee for this event but it is so worth it. This place is also one of my favorite places in New England and you can visit at different times during the year and enjoy walking on the grounds with their amazing water views or exploring their gardens. Everything is so well maintained and you can even come and have your picnic and enjoy a relaxing afternoon during warmer months.

Beautiful place to visit up in the North Shore. We visited during off season so we were not able to…read moresee inside the mansion, however we were able to walk the grounds. They give you a map upon arrival to aide your exploration. We were able to see pretty much everything on the property. The estate is also located right on the water so not only are the grounds beautiful, but you get to enjoy pretty views of the ocean as well. I will say while it was still beautiful, it was very cold visiting in March, as it was windy right by the water. Nothing inside was open so you had no place to warm up. Despite this I still enjoyed it. Also none of the gardens were obviously in bloom so keep that in mind. It was $10 per person to view the grounds at least so I'm not sure what they charge when it's actually open. Overall great experience and I would love to visit again during the summer.

We recently had our daughters baby shower Steeple Hall @ Mission Oak Grill. The Room is simply…read moreGorgeous!! This was the best experience I've had planning an event, which I've planned plenty. The Staff on the day of event was more that accommodating, they were pleasant, and willing to do anything needed to make the event the way we envisioned it, From Nik going the extra mile helping us set up the back drop!!! The room was set up beautifully and all Nik's recommendations where perfect. The bartender Kristin was pleasant, happy and fast! The waitress Kathie.... was more than accommodating, she was on the go... if we needed something before I could look for her she was there and ready to help. There was no leaving us to figure anything out, they literally took care of it all. My biggest thing is service always and the staff and facility were exceptional! We'll definitely be back for any future functions. A & T Dalton

My husband and I just had our wedding at this venue this past August. The wedding coordinator (Nik…read moreKedian) was terrific! He's very friendly, organized, professional and a phenomenal communicator (always made himself available for a phone call and responsive via email). We had tremendous confidence in him and it's one of the main reasons why we chose the venue. The other two primary reasons is that the venue is beautiful (it's a hidden gem) and the food is excellent (we are harsh critics and confirm it's great). All of our 100+ guests raved to us how beautiful the venue was and the food (food comes from the restaurant downstairs - go there for dinner!). Thank you again Nik along with all of the wonderful staff. We will always remember you all and your generosity making a rainy day nothing short of perfect!

Oh my gosh! I don't even know where to begin, even before we checked in we received personal text…read moremessages from the Inn manager Greg asking for our ETA and preparing everything for our check in. When we arrived we were greeted with the friendliest staff! Warm and welcoming. We got to our room and it was very clean and comfortable. We felt right at home. We had dinner at the restaurant in the Inn Dufour and it was amazing! The food was cooked perfectly and tasted so good!! We cannot wait to go back! We had the most comfortable nights sleep. We had a wedding on Friday and as we left everyone was amazing and wished us well, same when we returned that evening. We will be definitely going back for a quick getaway!! I loved everything about this place!

Fun with open art on Tuesday nights .. lots of creativity fun :)…read moreGreat people, learning new ways of creating, everyone is very supportive and encouraging. Love hanging and doing art at creative community space. Vandy and company do a great job .

From the owner: Creative Community Space is a creative space that is available for members of the arts and healing…read morearts community to rent to teach classes, hold workshops or performances. It is also open to the public to take classes and attend events. Teach a class, take a class, perform poetry, play music, host your book release party, meditate, create art. Do what creatively feeds your soul. Make this space your space. Our mission is: To provide a home for the creative expression of people of all ages

Went to see Stever Forbert and he is really good. Really great actually…read more The hall holds only about 200 chairs so that was a special time. Nice acoustics. Highly recommend this place! We are looking forward to going back!

My wife and I saw Million Dollar Quartet at this venue. Excellent show. It's a small, quaint, and…read morecharming venue that holds approximately 200 people. Every seat is good. The theatre was clean and staffed by volunteers. Elevator accessible. This venue has well known talent perform here on a regular basis which is great to see. The venue is located in downtown Newburyport with a great view of the water...during the day. The price of tickets are very reasonable and worth a trip.