Shea's Riverside Inn & Motel

The check in process was smooth with the limited staff hours. Everything I needed was in an envelope with instructions.||The room was very clean. Bathroom looks like a recent refurbishment. Very nice. Towels, etc... good quality. Bed was comfortable. Room is spacious with 2 comfortable chairs and an ottoman. Balcony overlooked the salt marshes, very picturesque. ||Local bakeries for breakfast are excellent. Dunkin across the street you can get anywhere. ||This accomodation helped me really relax and enjoy my first trip to Cape Ann.

Stayed in one of the motel rooms for a weekend to attend a wedding, super easy check-in/check-out (they even gave us a little wiggle room checking out). Gorgeous location right next to the river, lots of cool seafood & local restaurants nearby. The room was up to par for a motel and the climate control was exceptional. Only things to be aware of are no mini fridge and a shower that's hard to keep all the water in, but those are easy enough to work around. Would stay again!

What a wonderful place to stay! The view is breathtaking, and you can enjoy it from a small private beach. The river, the marshes, the town, the sunsets... So calming. The staff was amicable and helpful. There are plenty of great restaurants within a walking distance. My only suggestion is about the need for a fridge in the room. It would be very useful to have one for cooling beverages or some snacks. Otherwise, it was perfect and I wish I could have stayed for more than two nights.

We stayed in the cottage and everything was very clean and the beds were extremely comfortable! Located in a great spot close to the restaurants. The staff was helpful when we needed fresh towels and amenities. We will definitely be staying again when we find ourselves in Massachusetts again.

I normally don’t like to stay in motels but was impressed by the reviews. Very cleaned and cozy with inviting decor. Dunkin is directly across the street and a handful of really good restaurants (we ate at 3 of them)are within walking distance. We were in town for two days to visit nearby Salem. It’s a short 20-25 minute drive and is away from the hustle and bustle. Would stay again!

We stayed in the motel. The staff were friendly, helpful and informative. The room was clean; as were the linens. The rates are reasonable...the location is very good..close to Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport etc.| It felt like an authentic motel experience. Would definitely stay again.

This was the cutest little Town and Inn I have ever stayed at. My daughter and I were visiting from Western NY for a college visit to Gordon. We loved how quaint the town was and still so close to the campus and other surrounding towns. The view is beautiful, being right on the river, and so many restaurants and little shops within walking distance.|The room was fantastic and really felt quite cozy for our brief visit.|We will definitely be looking to stay here again, if our travels bring us back to the region.

Shea's Riverside Inn & Motel is WONDERFUL. We loved our rooms and it is so centrally located to so many things to do. There are awesome places to eat nearby and the scenery was outstanding. The staff was so kind, friendly and accommodating. It's quiet, clean and fantastic. We highly recommend this motel/Inn. Thanks for the great service!!

My husband and I stayed here for our mini honeymoon. The receptionist was very friendly and our room was very nice and big.

Charming vintage-style motel with updated amenities located next to a tributary. The room was exactly what we needed for a few nights away. It wasn't fancy, but that was fine. The front desk staff were very nice and informative about the area. There were restaurants and antique stores within easy walking distance. We tried to make a second booking, over Labor Day weekend, but were disappointed that there was a two-night minimum stay. (So we opted for a motel in Danvers.)

Stayed here for a long weekend when I was in town for work in Beverly. It was beautiful. The in was built in the 1700s. We had 1 king size bed. The room had a working gas fireplace with a shut off timer, window AC, TV, Keurig and updated, modern bathroom. The shower had 2 shower heads. The room was clean, large and charming. Only complaint is that the wooden floors are uneven and small gaps between the wooden slats, so a little uncomfortable to walk around barefoot (or if you have balance issues). There are 3 steep steps to enter the inn and then into the room. If you are upstairs, the stairwell is very steep. The property itself was lovely. There are picnic tables and lounge chairs outside. The lobby had a little free library as well. There is a Dunkin Donuts across the street if you need coffee (but I had terrible service there and don't recommend). Would recommend to anyone to stay here.

We stayed in #4, in the Inn. Steeper narrow stairs up to the delightful room. Newly remodeled but antique furnishings and fireplace, retaining the character of the old inn. Spacious bathroom with walk-in roomy shower. Wonderful views of the estuary; we watched boats come and go at sunset and sunrise. Bed was a bit uncomfortable but not bad. TV instructions didn't mention that we needed to make sure the input=channel 3. Otherwise, no complaints. Walk to various restaurants.

The inn part of Shea's Riverside is a typical New England clapboard Victorian house, while the motel part is a typical long row of rooms with parking spaces in front. What's not typical is the glorious Essex River ebbing and flowing right next to the buildings. (There's a lovely old willow at the river's edge where the innkeepers have placed a cluster of Adirondack chairs. You can sit in the shade and soak up the peace.) We stayed in an elegant king room (H4, $330/night in July 2017) on the second floor of the inn, up a steep, narrow staircase. Our spacious deck gave us a sweeping view of the river and its tidal marshes. Our king bed was wonderfully comfortable and our bathroom clean, well appointed, and spacious. The contemporary walk-in shower offered plenty of hot water with variable spray settings and a rain-shower option. There were plenty of soft, thick towels, and a small table held soaps, lotions, and shampoos. The room, with its beautiful, antique wide pine board floor, included comfortable well-upholstered chairs, a small closet with a mini-fridge and coffee maker, and a flat-screen TV. Sliding doors to the deck and plenty of windows let in lots of light. As a an added feature, the inn and motel is situated across the street from the famous Woodman's of Essex. You can stroll over for a fix of their unbeatable fried clams. There's also a handy Dunkin Donuts next to Woodman's. Abutting the inn and motel is Shea's Riverside restaurant and bar for waterside dining. While the staff person we spoke to when we called to make the reservation and the person who checked us in were delightfully friendly and very helpful and accommodating, they're not always available, which is why I'm withholding one star. We had two other couples in our party and when one of them arrived several hours after we'd checked in, we couldn't find anyone around to give them their room key. The front office was deserted and we had to call the restaurant for help. That should never happen. [A note to Shea's: the table and chairs on the deck face east with lots of exposure. A nice wide table umbrella would be a plus.]

I can only speak for the "inn", not the motel but the motel looked lovely as well. I gave 5 stars but it's really 4.5 stars for me. The place is very "chill", which is nice, unless you are tired and can't figure out where to check in because a truck blocks the only "office" sign in front of the repurposed motel room turned into office. 10 minutes trying different doors in hopes of locating someone to check us in. Not a huge deal, eventually I was called by the manger after a moment or two and was finally met very warmly, checked in, and was directed up a flight of stairs to a large and beautiful room. Clean, comfy bed, incredible bathroom (big with a spacious and delightful shower). The deck was amazing, large and private and provided one of the most iconic and soothing views of the expansive Essex rivers and marshes, full of fishing boats with the back side of Crane Beach about 2 miles away. My only small ceremonial 1/2 star reduction was for the early morning noise. It is a busy commercial area and a 4:30AM and very loud dumpster truck woke me up. There were other loud noises from folks beginning their day at 5:00, 5:30, etc. Nothing the owner's could help but a head's up nonetheless. Overall, I was very impressed and happy with my stay and will be back.

Very quaint, clean motel. Essex is a great village to explore with a few good restaurants. Some nice beaches nearby

Our room at this recently redecorated inn was terrific. The room was perfectly appointed with beautiful antique furniture that looked great and was comfortable too. But don't think that you'll get antique plumbing because the bathroom is huge, gorgeous and completely new. Our hosts were friendly and accommodating. Definitely coming here again.

I stayed here in September and it was the worst experience. Whoever was working in the office was rude and unprofessional. The rooms smelt like mold and the towels were not clean.

My fiancé, my parents, and I stayed at Sheas Riverside motel and inn this past week. We had two king rooms (H1 and H2). The rooms were beautiful and everything about them was perfect. The view was great and it was quite. The only problem was the staff. The mini fridge in my parents room was broken. But by the time we went shopping and got food for the room and realized it wasn't working, the office was closed. Sheas does not have a number that you can call past office hours in an emergency. The only number is to the office which obviously goes to voicemail. My parents had to go out and buy a mini fridge as a replacement so that all of the food that they just bought didn't go bad. We told Gayle, the general manger, the next morning. She told us that it would be a few days to replace the fridge. We were not offered any compensation for having to buy a new fridge because theirs was broken. We stayed for 6 nights, they never replaced the fridge during our visit. The second morning a fuse blew, we told the main office and it took hours to get them back on because the women at the front wasn't sure how fix the problem or didn't have access to the breakers. Our toilet was plugged in so you can see how this would be more inconvenient that just a light out. Sheas also has a policy that if you keep your "do not disturb sign" on your door for more then 24 hours they will access your room anyways. I have personally never heard of this. I have stayed at many hotels and have never been made to have maid service. I never use maid service and frankly I don't like strangers in my room with my belongings while I'm out. This being said my do not disturb sign stayed on my door the entire time but they came in everyday and cleaned up. I let it go because if that's there policy there is nothing I can do about it, until my second to last night there. While the four of us left for the day, in my room I had a paper Shaw's bag with paper towels and a fly swatter in it. I also had a paper Walmart bag next to it with two drinks, a birthday card, and a confetti popper in it. (It was my dads birthday). When we got back to the room it was apparent that the room was been tidied up a little. I also noticed that the Walmart bag was missing and that the drinks were now on top of my fridge. The confetti popper was moved to the Shaw's bag and and birthday card was no where to be found. At this point I'm livid. It's one thing to come in to the room to check that everything is up to regulation but to touch my personal belonging to use the bag as your trash? I don't understand why that happened at all. We go to the front desk and tell the women how we had just gotten home and things were moved around and now one of my items is missing. She blankly looked at us and tells us that she knows nothing about house keeping, she'll leave Gayle a note but she won't be in until tomorrow. We took it upon ourself to look in the dumpster to see if she used the bag as trash and didn't notice the card inside and threw everything away. That's exactly what happened. On top of the trash was the Walmart bag and my dad's birthday card, that he has now seen because he was helping figure out this whole situation. We tell the women in the office that it was in the trash and she looks shocked but has no response. The next day Gayle does not reach out to us about the issue, my dad has to go to the office and address it. She starts to tell us that she was in the room with the housekeeping. "The bag was greasy, it must have been a take out bag" she said. They claimed that because it was a greasy bag sitting on the floor so they had to get rid of it. We never once had take out in the room and it was a WALMART bag with no food in it what so ever. They never once apologized AT THE LEAST for throwing away one of my items. There should have been no time that an employee touched any of my property during her cleaning the room. That is unacceptable!!! I will not return SIMPLY because of the service.