The Inn At Castle Hill — Hotel in Ipswich

My visit to the Inn at Castle Hill was very expensive and terribly disappointing. |The bathroom was dirty with dead bugs and previous guest hair on the floor. The toilet was so low, like a child's toilet, I had to hold onto the sink top to get up. The sink top was already pulling away from the wall. The shower faucet dripped constantly and the shower was pathetic, barely enough of a water spray to feel clean. The sink drain was plugged up and took a long time to drain. The window curtain was broken. The toiletries were what you would expect from a budget motel.|| The wall to wall rug in the bedroom was dirty with countless stains. The bed provided a comfortable place to sleep, and the view of the ocean, stunning. There was no clock, radio, & certainly no TV . Housekeeping consisted of someone making the bed and picking up wet towels. The bathroom floor remained dirty, the tub faucet still dripped, and there were no fresh drinking glasses. ||Breakfast was lacklustre, nothing special. The breakfast room was lovely, but marred by a large rug that looked dirty and was covered with many large unseemly stains. My sense is an establishment concerned about the presentation of a very public room would have replaced this rug many stains ago.||The downstairs public areas, a front desk, a living room, and a game room were|lovely and looked clean. The outside stone porch with views of the marshes and ocean was delightful. However, my sense is the greatest asset this inn possesses is some of the staff who were pleasant, courteous, and listened respectfully to my concerns. Clearly they wanted visitors to have a positive experience.||Unfortunately, the price for 2 evenings at this inn ($1125.00) was far more expensive than a number of other far superior inns I have visited over the past several years To add insult to injury, I was charged an extra $50 for changing my reservation, well over three weeks in advance from late April to late May (because my husband needed a hip replacement surgery). Apparently with this inn, whenever you change reservation dates, no matter how far in advance, there is a $50 charge. In the past 25 years of travel, I have never been subject to this kind of fee. I am surprised given the quality of the room and food that the Inn at Castle Hill qualifies as a Select Registry establishment.||My guess is that this inn has no competition since there is no other BnB that overlooks marshes and a distant Crane Beach. For those who have visited establishments with beautiful and clean accommodations and superb food,|buy yourself a picture of Crane Beach and the Inn at Castle Hill and you will have far more value in your purchase than if you actually stay at the Inn at Castle Hill;|it's a historical and...

Our kids were at camp, so we decided to treat ourselves to a quick get away (their policy of older kids only is clearly stated on their website). We have been to Crane Beach many times, but this was our first time at the Inn. We were blown away by the level of hospitality, the scenery, and all the extras. Besides lovely and absolutely spotless rooms, they provide full complimentary access to a pantry with homebaked snacks, lemonade, chocolates, coffee, tea, etc. You cannot bring alcohol to rooms, but drinks were served by staff on request from a limited selection. A beach bag with towels was provided with our room, as was sun block, bug spray, beach chairs, bikes and parking passes for the beach, all free of charge. The grounds were immaculate, and within a 5 minute walk you could be at one of many European style gardens or ruins on the estate that surround the Crane Mansion. So many areas to hold a special event or wedding. The woods were gorgeous, we saw many turkeys, song birds, hawks, and we heard foxes and owls. Walking the trail through the woods to the beach took about 10 minutes and led you to a secluded area of the beach that stretched for miles with only an occasional beach goer. We had the place to ourselves. We saw dozens of plovers, swallows, live clams and horseshoe crabs, and even a ship wreck that washed up on shore. The beach is white, soft sand and the water is so clean and clear you can really see deep into it. Food (full breakfast and snacks) was excellent at the Inn and they source things locally and grown their own herbs, etc as well. They can accommodate gluten free diets. The staff members were friendly, took pride in their work and were willing to do anything to make guests happy. I can't say enough good things about this place and can't...

This property is lovely and quite peaceful. The staff exceeded expectations by being outgoing and so friendly but totally professional. It was easy to see they enjoyed working there and went above and beyond to make our stay special. It was our 45th anniversary and we wanted to stay somewhere romantic and quiet…this more than fit the bill for us. We ordered the cheese and fruit plate with a bottle of wine, which they offered to switch to champagne, one night and sat on the front porch in rockers and just watched the water and birds soaring and diving and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the evening. The Inn offered fresh lemonade and cookies every afternoon; free and delicious breakfast and you could order alcoholic drinks made and served to you in the evenings. It was actually lovely that there were no tvs in the rooms for a nice change as well. The property set on 137 acres was very walkable and you could either walk or drive up to the manor house to glimpse the grand lifestyle of the past. The beds and pillows were quite comfortable, linens silky, towels fluffy and a great shower and bathroom with lovely amenities. The AC struggled one night with the extreme temperatures but the fan in the room made it tolerable and the following night it was fine. I liked that it was a gated property and felt like we were in a secure location. Great restaurant recommendations…check out CK Pearl in Essex a short drive from the Inn. All in all a very memorable stay in a quality property with staff that obviously care and are there to meet your needs and requests with a...