Cape Ann Motor Inn

My husband and I stayed at the Cape motor Inn extremely clean, great location if your looking for a quite place with an ocean view this is the place. In the morning you can see the most beautiful sunrise. |The only downfall that I felt was that the mattress needs to be updated, not asking for luxury mattress but updating so you don’t feel the coils. |The motor inn is clean. Great parking. The location is beautiful if you’re looking for a place to relax and get away from everything unplugging this is a place to be. |Each room has a balcony overlooking Long Sands Beach, we enjoyed our stay and will be back next year. |* this is a pet friendly motor inn*

CONS: Rooms are small and old. Tiny AC that can’t be moved. Beds are uncomfortable. They let everyone leave their beach tents up on the beach for their entire stay(should be first come first serve), Can bring dogs but can’t leave them in the room alone but they also aren’t allowed on the beach…? PROS: The view is perfect, they serve coffee and donuts in the main office, and the staff is super nice and helpful.

Nice place to stay along the beach. Room was clean. Not a ton of free outlets to plug in devices. The deck outside was beautiful and access to the beach was easy. Be wary if you stay on the second/third floors as the stairs are a bit steep with no elevator access. You do have to drive about ten minutes into Gloucester for food or catching the T into Boston.

Location right on the beach is wonderful, but so many dogs roaming off leash, using the beach and seaweed piles as a bathroom, and flies attracted to that! We took our young grandkids for a couple of days on the beach, and was weary that the kids played in that sand … The hotel is dated, but I like that old fashioned feel. The rooms were clean, bathroom is very small, beds were okay. They offer pastries and coffee in the morning at 7:45 (which I thought was a bit late) but they have only one (1) table to sit and eat… There were 3 small bistro tables outside but unusable because it was raining. With such a great location, I expected better. Unfortunately I will not visit again…

I’ve been staying here on and off for over 2 decades. It’s beautiful here I love staying here. Everyone is so nice and the service is amazing! But today 6/21/2025 I’m in room 29 and above me woke me at 4:30 in the morning with non stop noise for like 2 hours. So inconsiderable it gave me a headache ruined my morning. I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight and not get woken up again at 4:30 in the morning. I have a 2 hour drive home. Just a suggestion that the noise be kept here at a minimum certain times of the day needs to be enforced here. Just a suggested. Everything else was perfect!!

Loved our quick stay at Cape Ann! Everyone was extremely friendly. The place is outdated but it's very well maintained and SO clean. Check in and out was a breeze, and you cannot beat the view and price. Waking up to the sound of the ocean and the beach being the backyard was so great. I would absolutely stay here again.

I would have loved to give a better review but based off of a recent visit I think I was kind. We have been here before and you can't beat the location and view which is why we came back. The rooms are definitely very outdated but functional. The problem we had was our room was not cleaned properly. One bed literally had a coffee lid under the blankets, along with hair and lord knows what these little red and black spots were. Our sliders had a nose print on it as someone had their faced pressed against the door. 🙄 Our larger mirror had hand prints on it as well. We did address the issue the following morning, in which they did offer to change the sheets which we didn't need done prior to leaving as we used the other bed. Was told management would know for our check out. At check management I think was there we did not get a discount or a reimbursement of any kind just a sorry we have had some issues with a cleaner and do you want a free mug. Seriously... a few years ago we stayed at a hotel in Syracuse NY and had to wait a hour for our room. They literally gave us a free stay for the inconvenience and it was actually clean. Definitely disappointed, at least offer a discount on a future stay as we said we would be willing to give another chance. Honestly if it weren't for the location and view we most likely would not go back again if we ever do. Sad

Outstanding service. Great hospitality, clean and right on the ocean. Close to Rockport, Hammond castle. Probably our sixth or seventh time visiting Gloucester and staying at the cape ann motor in. No vacancies when we left for home on May 19, 2025. Highly recommended.

Amazing little inn off the beaten path. Room had a beautiful view of the ocean. Bert was absolutely lovely, she's the resident parrot, but very quiet and friendly.

If you are looking for a casual place to stay, right on the beach, book this place right away! We were lucky to have snapped up a cancellation for one night as this place is booked solid. It is VERY casual - so be prepared. The carpet is worn, the stairs are creaky, and the entire place could use a paint job and new mattresses wouldn't be a bad idea either. But if you are looking to open your door and walk out into the sand on Cape Ann - this place can't be beat. Most of the rooms have little kitchenettes. There are also beach chairs, although most people seem to bring their own (and easy ups and grills too). The staff is all very nice and very friendly. There's no restaurant but they do have great free donuts and coffee in the morning. There's also free parking which is a wonder in this part of town.

Such a cool little motel right on the beach. Super relaxing, very cozy and great views of the beach. The entire staff there was excellent. Make sure to say hi to the parrot.

The singular only positive about this hotel is the location. The rooms have not been updated, they installed very loud, rolling, floor AC units (not wall mounted like a normal hotel (?); up until last year the deck was coming apart with nails sticking up, and the staff are frequently rude, apathetic, and have completely lost touch with any concept of customer service. Our family had come here for decades, but we finally realized that it's worth paying for parking at the beach and staying somewhere nicer...

Had a great stay. The location can't be beat. The beach is a great place to take a walk and watch the sunrise/sunset. The rooms aren't big but have everything you need and are clean. I was a bit disappointed in the continental breakfast but that's okay. I highly recommend!

The best staff. They helped me find a room on second floor because I have a problem walking up stairs. They go overboard to help. Great view and great housekeeping. Can't wait until next year.

I just love this place - every room over the sandy whit clean beach. Great views. Updated, stocked kitchenettes. I lived there for three months in late fall/winter. I slept with my balcony door wide open and buried under the covers and listened to the ocean crash. The second floor rooms have private balconies and if you look straight down it's beach. The first floor rooms have the same layout, but instead of the balcony you walk literally onto the beach!! When warmer there were families with younger kids and the kids ran in and out of the rooms to the beach, which was not so close that it's unsafe. Very clean, no other hotels/motels on top of you - great price for area, actually as close to The more "hip" Rockport as it is to Gloucester (which is more my laid back scene anyway). The kitchenette was perfect to offset what could have been a very expensive few months. I highly recommend going off season. The owner was great and they were responsive and respectful of my requests.

What a gem on a private beach. Every room has a balcony and perfect ocean view! Staff was polite and rooms were very clean. Dog friendly but does not have a dog smell. Close to Rockport and Downtown. Views of light houses. We will definitely go back and highly recommend.

There is no doubt that they have an amazing location on the beach with sea views from nearly every room. (A member of our group was in the one room that had the stairs entirely blocking his view). Plenty of parking too. Our stay was marred a bit, okay a lot, by very loud people who were having a campfire on the beach until the wee hours of the morning and then seemed to troupe a herd of elephants through their room above us. We wanted to leave our sliders cracked open so we could hear the waves but instead all we heard was loud drunk people. At first I found the shared balcony annoying, creating very little privacy as everyone walks past your sliding door/view or is seated just outside your own room, but it was helpful for our group to gather together and know when others were out and about, so it grew on me. The rooms are dated but clean and well presented. Do not count on the 'Continental Breakfast' though, to power you through your morning. I wish I had known it was the extremely bare minimum interpretation of such things, in which case I would have brought a yogurt or hard boiled egg with me. Technically they did meet the description of such things and it was my interpretation that strayed.

Favorite place to stay! Beautiful view, on the beach and small kitchenette. Staff is wonderful. Clean rooms and showers. Honeymoon suite is out of this world!!

I was so suprised to see the negative reviews I had to add my own comments to give a more balance viewpoint. 1) Location - finding a motel right ON the beach in New England is very rare. This place's location is awesome. Finding any place near the water that is open year around is next to impossible. Pity, because our October stay was made even better because hardly anyone else was there. 2) Price - come on, you're staying right ON the beach. Their highest rate at top season for an oceanview room is $170. That is NOT expensive. We paid $85 for a corner room with a spectacular view. You can hardly find a Motel 6 in Iowa for that. 3) Cleanliness - it's a beachfront motel, what were you expecting? Our room was clean but I wasn't expecting it to look like a Hilton. Did she say she had dogs in the room but complained it was dirty? Huh? 4) Friendliness - absolutely! We felt like guest's in a private home. Very nice staff. The lobby is much more than that, it is an inviting rustic living room with fireplace where you can hang out with a cup of coffee and chat with the hosts. We were "lucky" during our visit that it was bitter cold and the ocean was roaring. We sat on the deck wrapped in double blankets for hours watching the moonlit surf. What a bargain for $85. When it was bedtime, the room was nice and warm and cozy. I can't imagine not likeing the Cape Ann Motor Inn unless the only places you ever stay are Five Star resorts.

Staying at the Cape Ann Motor Inn was just what my husband and I were looking for, an end of summer get away. The gem about this Inn for us was your back door is on the beach! We had all the amenities in this room, and comfortable sleeping. listening to the surf right outside my door was amazing at night. The gentle breeze coming from the ocean was just what I was looking for. We spent a couple of days swimming, reading and just enjoying the warm days. We'd store our beach umbrella and chairs under the porch so we could have easy setup each day. Not fancy, but that's what keeps the prices so reasonable.highly recommend this nice, rustic, cozy Inn to all my friends.

Beach access is great but the rooms can be on the small size. Behind the desk help is very good.

We are currently checked in here. I definitely did not give 4 stars for the amenities. I gave it for the ambience--that homey and friendly relaxation that you get just pulling in. The appliances and rooms are old but comfortable. The staff is super friendly and it is very low key. The view is amazing and you can leave your screen door open while you sleep, listening to the waves with no worries. Overall, not flashy but soooooo comfortable and relaxing!

The location is amaaaaazing! Right on the water, you walk out the back sliding glass door of your room and you are literally on the beach. It's a fairly secluded beach, so there aren't too many people even on a warm summer day. At night, it's so peaceful and quiet, and the innkeepers even encouraged us to hang out there, building a bonfire if we so desired. The kitchenette in the room was nice, but we didn't really need it. The rooms without kitchenettes were exactly the same, with a smaller fridge and no stove or cabinets. The biggest problem we had was the lack of air conditioning and the price. We had 4 people (fairly comfortably on a pull out couch and bed) so the price was bearable, but it seemed steep at $210 for one weekend night in the summer. Air conditioning would have made it a more pleasant stay for sure, and definitely knocks this place a star. If I needed to come back to Gloucester and needed a hotel, I'd at least consider Cape Ann again, especially if there was time to hang out on the beach.

Being a frequent visitor to the Gloucester/Rockport area, the Cape Ann Motor Inn is our #1 pick because: a) It's the only one right on the a decent Ocean Front beach b) It's not overly priced As the mixed reviews indicate, the Cape Ann Motor Inn is great for some, and not so desirable to others. Alot of the character, charm, and annoyances hinge on the design of the back deck, and I offer the following tips for an enjoyable stay at the Inn: 1) Since it's right on the beach, you don't have to load up the car with beach chairs and toys twice daily. You arrive, drag your stuff to the beach, and at the end of the day, tuck it under the back deck. Stay anywhere else, and you'll be loading the car twice daily, plus paying for beach parking, which is about $15 after the discount provided by other hotels/inns. After several stays here, we've never had an issue with theft or lost toys. Just ascertain kites or anything lightweight are secured. 2) Every room of this three story Inn has a rear patio door onto a the back patio overlooking the beach, Atlantic Ocean, and stunning view of the Twin Lighthouses on Thatcher Island. The Patio is more the style of a narrow wooden three story porch, where several of the neighboring occupants of other rooms on the floor may be passing by your patio door to reach the staircase reaching the beach. 3) During your day on the Beach, you'll discover that your room key only works on the front door, and not the back patio door. For this reason many folks leave their valuables (Money, Laptops, Jewlery, iPads) securely in their car, and their back patio doors ajar to better facilitate beach to room access and bathroom breaks. You don't have to do this of course, as you can secure the door walk around the front, but make sure you've got beach shoes as you will have to contend with hot sand and hotter asphalt pavement to get your front door. If you do leave your door ajar and have young kiddos, watch them closely as they run back and forth between the beach and the rooms in this manner as the rooms are not numbered on the backside of the Inn. Youngsters can get confused that their second floor room which was only up one flight of stairs from the front of the Inn is actually up two flights of stairs in the back, and they may get caught heading into the wrong room since so many leave their back doors ajar in this same regard. 4) Floor Choice: You want to consider two things in if you have a choice of which floor you stay on; STAIRS and DINING. STAIRS: If you are in and out of your room frequently, or have any physical difficulty with stairs, you are going to want a room on the First Floor. From the front of the Inn, the first flloor is accessible by a ramp, or three steps or stairs, and from the beach a single flight of stairs. Likewise, if your room is on the Third Fllor, you will have an additional two flights of stairs from the front, and three flights of stairs from the beach. DINING: If you want to enjoy dinner on your back deck, don't do it unless you're on the third floor. The decking of the entire area is similar in style to that of a home deck, with gaps between planks of wood. Therefore, the sandy footsteps from above will surely rain sand down upon you and your food. While you will not have this problem on the third floor, you may receive some irate words from your neighbors immediately below about sand falling from your deck to their coffee or themselves as they sit to enjoy the view. 5) Cleanliness: There have been many mixed complaints about cleanliness of the Inn ranging from filthy to 'what do you expect for beachfront'. Cleanliness to my family matters most when it comes to the beds, towels, bath, and furnishings. I've always found the sheets and linens to be clean and comfortable. All of the rooms which I have had the pleasure of residing in have had a low pile carpet. It's not spick and span, and after Sept 15. Dogs are allowed on the Beach and the Inn is apparently dog friendly so the floors are certainly not comporable to many modern Inns. 6) WiFi. The recently launched WiFi system offers access well across the beach, however, it requires an initial registration to set-up a Username and Password and an agreeance to the Terms of Service. After doing so, if you may find yourself spending a great deal of time on the web based login screen on your iPod/iPad every time you need to connect to the Internet. I found this extremely tedious, having to login again after eacj 2 minutes of idle time. 7) Last day on the Beach. The first time we stayed here hotel staff welcomed us to have a final full day on the beach by allowing us to keep our car in their lot, and use their staff bathroom after checkout for potty breaks and to change out of beach clothes to street clothes when we were done. They have since allowed us to do so, but have not instilled the welcoming feeling which we had first experienced.

If you were looking for a reasonably priced place to stay, visit the Cape Ann Motor inn. It is right on the ocean, with a view of the sea from every room. This is a pet friendly place to stay when visiting Gloucester or the surrounding area in Massachusetts. If you're looking for a clean and well-kept motor inn, you will be very happy staying here. To be fair, it is not a glamorous place but it is great if you would rather spend money on going out, enjoying eating and entertainment then a high priced place to sleep. I give it a two thumbs up.

alright - the location can't be beat, the place allows my pups but DIRTY, DIRTY, DIRTY is the only way to describe it - not surface dirty but ground in nasty dirt. I've stayed here twice, only because I really thought the first time was a fluke!

Honestly, one of my favorite places on earth. My family and I try and get here at least once a summer. Family atmosphere and beautiful views. Can't get any closer to the beach. I mean, it aged and is not five star accommodations by any stretch. The charm and location is why I Give it five stars. It's a beach day with a night life.

The one great thing about this place is the location on a lovely beach with a great view of two lighthouses. It is all downhill once you step into your room. The rooms are shabby, the walls are thin so you hear your neighbors snoring, the toilet had difficulty flushing and the Wi Fi didn't work in the room. The prices are not great either. If the beach is all you care about, then this place could be for you.

This place is terrific when you have kids. The beach is your babysitter! The water's so cold that young kids usually don't go in past their feet. And the sand can be hot so they stay in the shade under a beach umbrella digging holes! Easy for moms! If your kids are older, they can be on the beach while you watch them directly from your deck chair. You can see everywhere and everything. Easy for moms again! Downside - no a/c but there's usually a cool breeze from the Atlantic Ocean so it's okay. We, who grew up w/o a/c, are comfortable with it. It's a funny place to judge. The room rate's high-ish but not unreasonable. That's why I rated it 'pricey' but, hey, you're ON the beach! Then, again, at that rate, in my city, you'd expect to have a/c, wifi, dishwasher, a coffee maker, a little more modern atmosphere. Because it doesn't have those things, perhaps I should have rated it 'moderate'. However, let's not forget - you're on the beach, playing in the sand, feeling the sun, watching the waves roll in. It's so relaxing! And I almost forgot to mention one of the perks! Every morning - donuts, coffee & oj - yum! Send the kids down for a donut run! They love that. One more thing, the management's on top of everything. I've called down, mentioned something's wrong, and they popped up immediately and took care of it. You go back in time when you stay at Cape Ann Motor Inn. We've been coming here every year for 20 years. We like it a lot.

This is the best place to stay, in our opinion. The staff is wonderful, ocean front views are spectacular with a beautiful beach at your doorstep and no road car traffic, only nature in every season !

For those of you that have given this place anything over three stars, you must've been raised in a barn. The place is outdated. Its like going back into the 70's. There's no air conditioning on those hot nights. Its so bad that people leave the front door's wide open. Bugs just roll in. If you are looking for a romantic night, FORGET IT!!! We had reserved two nights but left one night early. The owner did refund one night for us. We tried to get back the first night's stay refunded after we only got three hours sleep. The owner Brad Pierce wouldn't budge. He plays golf over at the Bass Rock Golf club. He'd rather play golf rather than deal with people staying in his building. Its so sad to see a place with such a spectacular view be so filthy. Here's what to expect... Wet floors,dog stench,spider's in overheads, moths around lights,bucket under sink drain pipe, paint peeling,framed paper poster portrait, old lamp,old fridge,bitch greeter, doughnuts and coffee in AM, dogs barking,dogs poop on beach, ripped furniture,burn marks on carpet, and you'll pay$200 for all of this. Sounds like a wonderful place to stay doesn't it?

If you love the ocean, this is the place to stay Million dollar view for an affordable price. I love it

What's great: sound of the surf right outside, and sliding door to narrow deck right on the beach. Also, the prices are low for this type of location. The whole place has a relaxed atmosphere. What's not so great: amenities are comparable to a roadside strip motel, with everything generally outdated, except DirecTV (but TV is a rainy day default activity if you're here for ambience and expect to use your room mostly for sleeping and stowing your stuff. Bathrooms are spartan, to say the least, and the bed had a mattress that was saggy. If this isn't something you're comfortable with, it's good to know that up front. We didn't mind the downscale atmosphere, the place was kept very clean, and it wasn't hot enough to be uncomfortable, given there was no AC in the room. The temperature was in the 60's and 70's during our stay. What really bothered me: a no-smoking policy that wasn't enforced, meaning that certain other guests' cigarette smoke was ever-present on the no-smoking balcony overlooking the ocean, totally spoiling that experience. Management was informed after I asked them to put out their cigarettes & realized that feeling like an enforcer of the rules was interfering with my enjoying my stay, but clearly nothing was said or done: they kept their ashtray and packs of cigs on the railing, obviously just waiting for us to leave so they could resume their chain smoking. The two smokers were obviously regular guests as well as tobacco addicts, since they came prepared with bathrobes for the first thing in the AM smoke, and were out smoking morning, afternoon and evening. I was so disappointed. The cigarette odor made the place seem sleazy. When the wind is right, and you have your deck side door open, you have the opportunity to inhale secondhand smoke right in your room. This needs to be addressed, but I don't like getting into hassles when I'm in a place to get AWAY from hassles. I liked Cape Ann, but I'd hesitate to stay here again, since there'd be no guarantee it'd be a smoke-free experience.

What a great location. The hotel room is clean nothing fancy but the location is amazing directly on the beach. We brought our children and they didn't want to leave. They book up fast and I can see why. The continentaly breakfast was danishes and coffee and was a great addition in the morning. Enjoyed the talking parrot and very family friendly place where the kids could play outisde on beach wiffle ball games with the other children staying there. I enjoyed our visit very much and we will go back next summer.

OK, the inn itself is not five star, nor even four star . It probably barely squeezes out a three star rating. However, with that being said, Long Beach is *directly* outside the inn and its beautiful. This BEACH is four stars for sure. Regrettably, the staff at the hotel were not friendly at all. In fact , they don't even make eye contact. They read off your info like a Registry Clerk down at the DMV would. LOL But don't let the dated room, and half assed staff stop you from trying Cape Anne, especially if its the summer time and you're going to be on the beach all day anyhow. We ran into some cranks at night that had kids and wanted the whole floor to be quite at like 8pm, but our four person group just ignored the self absorbed couple and carried on. We did go to bed around 10pm. Perhaps the weekend crowd would be less uptight? At any rate, if you love a nice , clean, beach and don't mind some 90s décor and dismissive staff, than definitely go to Cape Anne Motor Lodge. It really is a beautiful beach. You will leave feeling refreshed and relaxed from its impeccable sand , crisp water, and gorgeous sites.