Marblehead Summer House

I’m submitting this review quite some time after my stay, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less valid than other, more recent, ones. I had the pleasure of staying at the Marblehead Summer House in late October/​early November 2012 (I arrived the night before Superstorm Sandy made landfall). My ground-​floor room was very, very comfortable, in regard to both furnishings and temperature, no matter the weather outside (though the bathroom was a tad chilly in the mornings before the heater kicked in). The Summer House is within easy walking distance of a handful of good dinner restaurants and the Driftwood diner, just down the street, serves some mighty fine breakfasts. The Summer House is also perfectly situated should one decide to explore Old Town Marblehead which, if you’re there, you really ought to do. I’ve been really looking forward to a return visit and have, in fact, already booked the same room I stayed in two years ago for a week’s vacation next year. If you have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend staying here. You won’t be sorry!

I was desperate looking for a place to stay and John was so helpful and nice enough to work with me. I had no expectations going into the Marblehead Summerhouse and was very pleasantly surprised. It’s an old house that you can tell has plenty of history behind it. The rooms in the house make you feel very comfortable and right at home and the location cannot be beat. All I had to do was walk outside and I had the most beautiful view of the harbor. My stay in Marblehead has been excellent and I owe it all to John and the Marblehead Summerhouse. John was super helpful and it was very obvious that he genuinely cared whether or not I had a good time during my stay. Anything I needed, he was there for. One night I couldn’t find parking, and John was nice enough to leave the restaurant he was at, and came with me to show me some convenient places where I could leave my car as Marblehead parking can be tricky. Thank you again John and the Marblehead Summerhouse!

Unless you want an adventure in typical 1700’s accommodation, don’t come anywhere near this place. Firstly it is not a bed and breakfast: No breakfast. Secondly it is dark and depressing. There is no shower. The old bath tub is your only option.
We reserved two rooms. The reason for staying at this place is that it was the only place in Marblehead that would allow us to reserve a room for only the Saturday night. Now we understand why this is so.
Our first room was adjacent to the water pumps. When anyone in the house used their water, it sounded as if a freight train was in our room.
The lighting was totally inadequate.
When we knocked on the door of the person supposedly in charge on the second floor, we found that nobody was there. When we called the number listed on the door, we reached someone who said she was on her way to Cape Cod and we should call someone else. We did this and were told we should call the owner John, on a Carolina number. (??). We called John who sounded very pleasant and said we should simply change to a room across the hall. OK.
Based on our experiences, we decided to check the our second room for the Saturday night, before our second party arrived. It is odd to simply walk into a room without getting a key. The rooms have codes, which clearly are never changed, so once you use a code to enter a room, you could go at any time with the same code.
So… we entered our second room, which was a nice size with a kitchen. We found old dusty tea and coffee packets on the shelf. On opening the refrigerator, we discovered a lot of old food in takeaway boxes. Disgusting! Obviously the rooms are not cleaned properly. We called John and left a message. Eventually he called back and said that he was having issues with whomever cleans the room. Not our problem! This was around 10am. When we returned with our other party at 6pm the room had still not been cleaned properly.
We also discovered that many of the light bulbs did not work. We had to go to some of the other rooms to find light bulbs which worked and swap them over. Interesting that we could just walk into these rooms.
Added to all of this is the fact that this place is not inexpensive. My recommendation would be to go somewhere else.

Stumbled upon the Marblehead Summer House while my friends and I were scrambling to find last minute accommodations for our «Halloween in Salem» weekend. Although everything in Salem was booked we discovered the town of Marblehead and within it an old house available for the weekend.
The location is truly amazing, the roads are small and windy and every home dates back to the 1700 – 1800’s. Our room in the house came equipped with 3 beds, a full kitchen, and a bathroom with a stand alone tub. John, the manager/​owner was amazing — so pleasant and helpful and extremely knowledgeable about the house as well as the town’s history. The home is walking distance to the water and great restaurants.
I highly recommend!