Beach Plum Inn & Restauraunt

Our friends recommended the Beach Plum having had lovely experiences vacationing there in years past. Things have definitely changed.||First the good:|- The location is really great if you're looking for the quiet MV experience. Menemsha is super cute and there is beach access from the resort via a path. Great little seafood shacks down by the beach. The property has a great terrace with a view of the harbor and a good breeze on a nice day.||Now the not so good:|- No one is investing in this property. A lot of the infrastructure in the rooms and common areas is quite worn or is straight up broken. Windows, AC units, bath fixtures, shades, doors, etc..|- We rented an expensive cottage / house (approx $1000/night) for us and our two kids. Split system AC units where broken - they had installed some noisy window units to keep it cool. We purposely rented an accommodation with a kitchen. There were pans, but zero kitchen utensils (knives, spoons, etc). Also nowhere to put them if you had known to bring them (no drawers). Furniture is tired/stained. No wifi except in the lodge. One channel available on the common room TV (NESN in case you are a Sox fan). You get the drift.|- "Continental Breakfast". We heard lovely stories from our friends of amazing breakfasts and dinners at the property from their past visits. When we checked in we were told there would be fresh fruit, pastries, eggs, etc.. Reality: Basket of box mix scones, basket of muffins, supermarket bagels, butter, jam, weak coffee. That's it..... And they had run out of most of those items 45 minutes after they opened. | Other guests there were also very clearly not thrilled.|- Staff few and far between. They were pleasant, but not welcoming and not particularly helpful. Generally seemed like they'd much rather be anywhere else.|- Infrastructure: The sea air gives things a good beating and you need to keep up with it. They're not. Everything (indoor and outdoor) felt tired and worn and there was a lot in need or repair. Ping pong table is barely functional. 'Fitness center' is a room with an elliptical machine.||Great location, but the accommodations are not worth the price tag. It could be a stupendous experience if someone were to invest in the property and operation.

Stayed here for many years…things have changed.||The good…location is prime. You can walk to Menemsha Village. ||The bad…deferred maintenance. It has become a shell of its former self. Screens missing or with holes, no hot water in my cottage, lights worked intermittently. Worst of all, they put it back on me saying my expectations were too high……i just wanted hot water in the shower and screens….i think they forgot I was spending $600 per night and that I was the customer. Incredibly sad. It is a remnant of its former self. ..never again.||My hope is that the owners put in the work to bring this back to all it was…it was an incredibly special place in its day.

Probably used to be a gem, but it is now more than a little bit tired and worn. Rooms are serviceable but many broken & missing items (shades, AC units, TV, kitchen utensils, lights, etc...). Furniture is clean-ish but worn and stained. No wifi in the room - at least not functional wifi. The continental "breakfast" leaves you needing to drive to find a real breakfast somewhere else. Scones from a box mix, supermarket bagels, a basket of dry muffins....that's it, but not enough of it (they run out). Fitness "center" is an elliptical machine in a small room. And some free weights. Staff is neither pleasant nor rude. Not helpful and not welcoming. They all looked pretty unhappy to be there. The whole place (Beach Plum and sister Menemsha Inn) is in need of some love and tenderness. Stuff is moldy, rotting, decaying, dirty here and there and everywhere. Location is great including access to the beach via a medium length foot path, but it does not make up for the rest of the experience. Not anywhere close to worth the $$ they charge.

This cozy house was exactly what we needed for our get-away! Tucked away, not far from beach access, it had a comforting, secluded feel. This was my first time vacationing on the island, and I can't wait to go back and reserve this same spot again!

The Beach Plum is everything you want in an up-Island retreat. The views are gorgeous and every moment spent on the property is peaceful. The quaint walkway to the beach passes by a beautiful farm and allows you to avoid the sunset traffic. The rooms are lovely and each is unique and you have access to the entire Menemsha Inn as well their small fitness center. There are beautifully made screened in patios attached to many rooms that allow you to enjoy nature and the breeze even during rain. All rooms come with access to Lucy Vincent and Squibnocket beaches. I looked forward to waking up every morning, grabbing coffee and a delicious scone and making my way out to the patio to read. I’ll end this review by saying that the entire staff is as friendly and kind as can be and they contribute to the warm and relaxing atmosphere. We will return next year no doubt and I’m already counting down the days!

I felt disappointed by this stay. The location of the hotel is lovely. However, the management is lacking. The carbon monoxide alarm went off for a long time in the middle of night and woke up the whole hotel until the manager/staff drove over to shut it off (one of the other guests kindly called them) -- no communication about it, no apologies the next day. The room above dropped a glass that shattered outside our porch door. I asked the front desk to pleas clean up the glass shards in the morning, and at 8pm it was still not taken care of -- just an accident waiting to happen. There were cockroaches in our bathroom at night, along with a few other problems we had. For the price, I'd expect more -- I've never encountered so many problems during a stay. On top of all this, there was an issue about how much we were charged that I needed to resolve with the manager, that we raised multiple times. She said she would follow up, and never did. In the end I was told to email her upon checking out, but my multiple emails about reaching her have all been ignored -- no response at all. They bill themselves as a wedding venue as well, and I can't possibly imagine anyone having success with holding a wedding here, given all the communication mishaps and poor attention to detail!

Enjoyed our stay at Beach Plum and agree with much that has been said here about it. Beautiful, quiet location with great views of the Sound and excellent breakfasts on the lovely patio. Quirky service and house issues detracted some, but still overall a special place. Evelyn’s house, a small cottage, was a perfect space for the five of us and allowed us to cook a couple of meals with fish purchased from Menemsha Harbor, with a stunning sunset view, right from our dinner table. Enjoyed the farm presence, with cows visiting in the morning and roosters to wake us up. The accommodations were a bit more rustic than anticipated. Charming and functional, but this cottage is not air conditioned and it got quite uncomfortable during the day and into the early evening (I assume rooms in the Inn do have A/C). Perhaps inevitable for the setting, but we encountered a lot of ants in the house. And there were lots of little maintenance items that should have been checked out and corrected before the season began. Staff was friendly, but most seemed new and unknowledgeable (where to eat out, where to get groceries, where/how to use pass for island’s most beautiful beach). Virginia, at Menemsha Inn, was very helpful by phone, in advance of our stay, but the connection between Beach Plum and Menemsha is unclear and we did not find the same level of helpfulness from the Beach Plum staff. All were friendly, but it would have been nice to get more, and more accurate, guidance. Judging from the breakfasts (not included in room price), the dinners at Beach Plum are probably quite nice. Unfortunately, we were surprised to find that they were not yet serving dinner during the first week of July. Beach Plum could and should be a 5-star, but falls a bit short. |||

The Saltwater Challenge.||Our September visit happened to coincide with an annual charity event that the Beach Plum has been doing largely on its own for a decade: while the island celebrates its fishing derby, the inn sponsors nearly a dozen veterans who had been wounded, and their families, for a 48-hour plus stay and fishing excursions...meals, transportation, activities, gifts (including letters of greeting and gratitude from local schoolkids). You name it. Quietly and without self-aggrandizing acclaim. For the vets, the lobby is lined with handmade welcome signs, piles of fresh-made cookies and saltwater taffy.||On the first night, at the welcome dinner, a man who had been pinned down under gunfire and grievously wounded in Afghanistan hugged the man who had saved him that day...and whom he hadn't seen since.||Seriously, in the face of heart-cracking moments like these, after seeing these vets and their kids laughing and looking relaxed, you're gonna bitch about your overpriced omelet--which helps pay for the Challenge??||The Beach Plum's largesse, warmth, sensitivity and thoughtfulness was remarkable and we felt, by sheer happenstance, privileged to bear witness to this stunning event.||Early one morning a vet who was gazing at the view greeted me by saying, "Just another day in Paradise!"||All that said:||We were there to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and couldn't have been happier with our choice. Our Morning Glory cottage was simple and yet perfect, with everything we needed...light, airy, super-clean. I'm a noise nut...and the inn and grounds were very quiet. The views, as you know, are lovely. ||We got excellent advice: walk down their beach patch, order a Sunset Special lobster takeout meal from Menemsha Fish House (or Larsens), and join the crowd on the beach to celebrate the evening spectacle, applauding when the sun goes down. Walk back to your cottage.||We thought the breakfasts were ample and delicious, and didn't mind paying. ||The property is large and ambling, with lots of quiet places to plop, stop, gaze, read. ||And the staff?? I can't imagine where those who have complained were staying...certainly not at the same inn we were. We found everyone to be incredibly enthusiastic, thoughtful, fun and helpful...all the more surprising given how tired they must have been, having come through the nonstop July/August tourist onslaught.||||Shout out to Mo, Macarena, Rachel and, of course, Sarah. Apologies to those whose names I didn't catch.||And yes:||Champagne's omelets!!