Emerson Inn by the Sea, Rockport

The inn was only lightly booked during our Saturday to Tuesday stay. Dinner in the dining room the evening of arrival was well done. Even with a nearly full house, service was pleasant and attentive. Breakfast (off-season) was a cold buffet featuring the standard stuff, unimaginative but adequate. Room was lovely -- corner with ocean view, clean and nicely but not extravagantly furnished. Staff, including the manager, were helpful and pleasant, and recommended excellent choices for lunch and an informal dinner on Monday when the dining room was closed, and gave a good pointer to a local state park for a nice afternoon walk. Being November, there was little going on, but we definitely enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. I'm sure it would be a different experience during the summer season.

the structure really nice inside and out. a nice place to stay over but not much around area. Ocean views are breath taking.

The gardens are nice but there is no access to the beach. I am not sure who is writing the reviews elsewhere but we were so disappointed. The food was mediocre with the exception of the calamari. Also, the duvet covers in our room were dirty. The service is terrible--very rude. We are used to kindness at smaller establishments and were shocked! If you are interested in great seafood try The Lobster Pool just down the road. You eat on picnic tables but the food is great with nice service.

Had reservations here, but the prices were not as quoted. After looking at the rooms, decided not to stay, small, cramped space, nothing like the photos online. Think twice.

Pros :-) Great location close to the sea! Creative and delicious breakfast! Cons :-( Sheets not clean - wondering if someone else slept in them and the bed has merely been redone Soaps not replenished Loud housekeepers waking us up early in the day (~9:00) Understaffed breakfast team - 2 servers for about 30 customers make for a looong wait for OJ or a cup of coffee... We travel often and want to experience more of the local flavors. That's why B&B are our accomodation of choice for a destination. This one marked us for its sub-par qualities.

The setting on Cape Ann is just lovely. The hotel is old but we knew that before going there. What we did not expect was the extremely loud, constant noise of furniture moving and things dropping heavily on the floor in the room above us until after midnight the first night (the night manager said they were remodeling a bathroom). Then there was the noise of a parade of furniture or equipment going up and down a staircase adjacent to our room until almost midnight the second night of our stay (the night manager said they were setting up the dining room for an Easter buffet the next day). It seems strange they would store furniture on an upper floor and have to take it up and down narrow flights of stairs. It was very difficult to relax and this alone would have caused me to downrate this hotel. Additionally, we have never stayed in any facility (certainly not one that charges this much per night) where the bed linens were so cheap or so skimpy. The sheets were so thin you could read through them. The fitted sheet and mattress pad simply did not fit the king-size bed and could not be stretched to fit. This is inexcusable in any hotel and it prevents relaxation or sleeping. We complained again and were told by the day manager that there couldn't have been any such noise because they weren't doing anything in that room or on the stairs. I suppose we imagined the noise as well as the explanations given by the night manager. Whatever happened to customer service? Our only consolation is that we didn't pay "high season" rates - just "high" rates.

My room was not clean when I arrived. I also did not get the room that I requested (and payed for). I was kept up late by noisy gets. The floors creak and I could hear people walking through the hallways throughout the night.