Ocean View Inn

The Ocean View Inn has gone bankrupt and closed its doors. Unfortunately, they did not notify any of the couples who placed deposits to host weddings here, nor any guests who had already paid for rooms here. Please help spread the word.

Like the other brides and grooms-​to-​be on this site, my fiancé and I got screwed. We had reserved the 9 bedroom suite ($ 4k) and had put down a $ 500 deposit on a block of rooms in June for our September 2014 wedding (our wedding venue is another location). And they charged our card for the full $ 4,500 the moment we gave them the number, which ordinarily would have been alright, if they hadn’t planned on taking our money and running with it! We also found it a bit strange that they were reluctant to give us anything in writing to delineate exactly what our money was paying for, and we had to probe them a few times to get documentation of the when/​where our costs were being allocated.
We were lucky, however — we used a credit card that had 100% fraud protection, and we were instantly refunded by the bank. I suggest anyone who booked with these guys on a credit card to immediately contact your bank and do the same. The bank can suss it out on their end, if you’re lucky.
We’re grateful for my parents’ friend who lives locally and happened to see the headline about the foreclosure online — otherwise, who knows how long it could have gone before we were alerted that we needed to start our search for another hotel! Thanks for nothing, Ocean View!

They promised me a refund due to husband’s heart attack and then charged me twice rather than refunding my money. Slime. I will be taking action. Please post successful actions taken by others here? Thanks, Susan

For the couples who have booked their weddings at the Ocean View Inn, please see the link to the Fox 25 News interview listed below.
My best friend who was supposed to be having her wedding at the Ocean View Inn this summer found out this past week that the wedding she planned is no longer happening. The Ocean View Inn has been foreclosed upon, with no notice given to the couples who deposited money to have their wedding held at this venue. Their phone number is disconnected, emails go unanswered and the property is shuttered.
If you planned a wedding at the Ocean View Inn:
— Contact the Gloucester Police to file a report
— File a complaint with the Attorney General’s office

I do not understand how the owners of this place can sleep at night. Have you no soul? The guilt of all the brides and families whos hopes and dreams you crushed in matter of seconds. This place does not deserve the one star that I am forced to give them. For any of you who do not know, Oceanview Inn of Gloucester, MA has been forclosed and the owners have disappeared. The phone lines have been shut off, windows are boarded up, and emails continue to go unanswered. The cowardly thiefs who fled like rats ensured they got as many contracts signed and as many multiple thousand dollar deposits paid for by their «customers» before they completely went belly up and left.
One of the hardest things in life so far was seeing my fiancée collapse and break down after receiving the knowledge of this madness. She has dreamed of her perfect wedding day since she was a little girl as I’m sure all who were impacted with this unannounced stupidity has. To anyone who has to go through this or see loved ones go through such agony and misery, I want to give you my sincere sympathy and apologies. Know you are one of dozens currently going through this.
To the (former) owners of the OceanView Inn of Gloucester, MA. There is a special place for people like you and you, me & all whos lives you ruined know you will be seen there at some point. You are scum of the earth and nothing more. Also know that the dozens and dozens of people you shafted (if they’re anything like us) are getting lawyered up and will fight to get their money back and to ensure that you get penalized and see as much prison time as possible. You can not hide forever. I hope it was all worth it.

I’m going to give them 3 stars based on two things: the view of the ocean and the customer service. However the Inn itself is very old and in need of a major updating. My husband and I arrived in the off season because we are planning on going to Salem for Halloween, so I thought staying in Gloucester would be nice and not too far away. We were the only people staying in the Inn so they let us choose between two of their front rooms with an ocean view. The view was beautiful. The rooms however were in need of an update. Our mattress was very thin and super hard, the TV in the room (remember we were here in the off season, so there isn’t much to do so this was kind of important) was very old and small. There was a drip in one of the bathroom sink faucets that was ruining the sink. How much could fixing a washer be? Here is where the customer service comes in: we were both very unhappy with the place and were looking to leave, and the man working behind the desk offered us a refund almost immediately. That was a relief. If this place just put in some extra money to make the rooms more comfortable, it could be a gold mine.

Great view of ocean! Rooms are very spacious, but in need of updating. Staff was helpful and friendly. If you looking for luxury this is probably not the best choice.

Location, location, location.
And that’s all it’s got going for it! Beautiful Tudor-​style inn right on Bass Rocks, overlooking the ocean. Sit out in front of your MOTEL ROOM and admire the view. Or sit by the lovely pool and admire the view. Read: STAY OUT OF YOUR ROOM! The room was extremely dark, dismal and outdated with soft beds that sort of caved in towards the middle… a tiny TV made by the well-​known company ChingChong –(no, I’m not joking and I’m not making any sort of racist slur). The towels were tiny and not soft, and the bathroom was beyond tiny, but clean. Wall-​unit air conditioner that was either off or on. Keys with the room number on them… hey, don’t lose those bad boys! The whole room was like a page out of the 1970s.
We didn’t have the opportunity to enjoy the restaurant or the bar because there was a wedding happening that night (which we WERE told of when making the last-​minute reservation). But the party lasted long into the night and we were kept awake by people sitting outside partying. See, even the drunks were smart enough not to stay in the room.
I would not stay there again for $ 200/​night!

There is a scent of gloom about this place. The Bates Motel by the seaside?

The Ocean View Inn gave us a perfect wedding. We were married here June 8^th, 2013 which was a beautifully sunny day. The staff was very professional and the location is perfect. I highly recommend this wedding venue to everybody.
The wedding coordinator, Jennifer, was extremely helpful and always in contact with us throughout the process. On the days leading up to the event, she knew the right questions to ask and was very sweet in making sure that she did what we wanted. On the wedding day, Jennifer worked so hard all day. I even had multiple guest come up to me and say how hard working she was. She is wonderful!
Peter, the owner, is exactly who you want helping you on your wedding day. He may come off as a little intense at first, but trust me, he is a great guy and will do EVERYTHING in his power to make sure any request you make is carried out perfectly. I cannot say enough about how accommodating the place and the staff were to me and my wife.
Now the food: it doesn’t get much better. We booked our rehearsal dinner at the Ocean’s Edge Restaurant in the main manor of the inn and every guest was extremely impressed. They served us the Fisherman’s Medley and Chicken Piccata dishes. The presentation of both entrée’s was exquisit and the flavor was perfect. For the wedding we had the crab stuffed sole and the rosemary roasted chicken and were equally impressed with both of these dishes.
To sum up: my wife and I agree that the Ocean View staff was wonderful, the food delicious, and the over all experience was perfect.

Well What can I say about the Ocean View inn… Not my cup of tea when it comes to Luxury and Special Occasions. I have attended two weddings as a guest, and I have experienced better places. The spot where the wedding I was attending was in front of the hotel itself in front of a pretty garden. HOWEVER the road is very busy, and it lies between the hotel, and the ocean… Both weddings I attended, there were people beeping and yelling out the window while the bride and groom exchanged vows, not to mention the ice cream man drove by at one of the weddings with his tunes at an extremely high volume to attract ice cream lovers all over Gloucester. When we went into the hotel for cocktail hour the food was great… the bartender was not. Drinks are very expensive, and they over pour the liquor so they taste VERY strong and gross. The bartenders are VERY rude and made me show my ID during Cocktail hour along with every other Adult there… Yes even the 40+ year olds… I was in the wedding party and Did not have my ID on me as I was in the WEDDING PARTY and did not have my purse on me! HELLO! The Dance floor is in a separate room then the dining so you have to actually get up and go in the next room to watch the bride and groom dance Food was good, but could be better… the Filet was over cooked and thin. It is an OK place but not the best.

I wish I could write two separate reviews for this place. We were married here recently and our wedding coordinator Paul, was top notch. He was on task with every detail of our wedding. He was attentive and offered fantastic suggestions when we needed them. On the day of the wedding he ensured that everything went according to plan. I couldn’t of asked for a more professional wedding coordinator. If I was rating Paul I would give him 5 stars.
Other highlights at the Inn include the food, the view and the function staff (bartenders and servers were excellent).
On the other hand we had several problems with the Inn. We had a room block at the Inn that was completely booked, we called the Inn several times to see if we could add additional rooms to our block. Each time we were told that the owner (Peter) needed to call us back. After our 4^th call to the Inn went unanswered, we said forget it and booked a block of rooms at an Inn in Rockport.
The motel rooms were outdated and somewhat dingy. Several of our guests had rooms that were not clean or something (shower, air conditioner) that wasn’t working properly.
While the Inn is very pretty there are several things that they need to update, such as the air conditioning, the bathrooms, room keys (actual keys not key cards like most hotels) the TV’s in the rooms (we had one of their best rooms and had a 13 inch TV and the remote didn’t work).
So to recap, wedding coordinator 5 stars the rest of the Inn 2 stars. The ownership needs to update the property in a big way and work on their customer service skills.

Awful, awful, awful.
I was recently a wedding guest at this place and it was thumbs down across the board. The view is beautiful — yes — and it is shared by a number of other hotels along this strip so I’d have preferred to stay elsewhere.
Our room was gross. The Web site is terribly misleading. Heads up.

Your money will not buy you good service at this hotel. My husband and I married here last month (August 2010), and had a terrible experience with the management/​staff from start to finish. That said, the location, venue (we were in the Manor for our reception and outside for the ceremony), and food were all terrific. Proceed with caution.
The man who runs the Ocean View, Peter, is a complete jerk. You can tell from the moment you meet him that all he cares about is making sales and getting bookings. We fell in love with the quaint Manor room and the rocky ocean landscape though, and decided to book our wedding there anyway. We booked a year in advance, and then did not hear a peep from the Ocean View. We reached out to them to book our food tasting about 6 months in advance, and told to just come «whenever.»
We were reserved 9 hotel rooms on site for our wedding. I specifically told the hotel that we would tell them what guests were to go in each room. Since they were limited, we were keeping them for the members of our bridal party, or people who had to travel far and did not know the area to look for an alternative hotel. At around 3 months out, I emailed the list of these people to the front desk. I received an email saying «Please call us.» I called only to find out that they’d already booked half of the rooms to a group of family members who’d called inquiring. The man who I spoke to when I called, told me that he would have to charge the guests cancellation fees if he took them out of the rooms. It took about three more phone calls to get all of those guests out of the rooms, without cancellation fees, and to get their cards refunded.
At about 8 weeks to the wedding, I called to ask a simple question about the way the seating would be set up, and was told I should contact my wedding coordinator. Who? We were never told about or contacted by a wedding coordinator. I was connected, for the first time, to this person, who answered my question and told me they’d contact me in two weeks to go over everything else. Two weeks passed and no one called. I called again. This time I was told my wedding coordinator no longer worked at the OceanView. When we asked why no one had bothered to call and tell us this, and received some nondescript mumbling. We were told a different person would be our wedding coordinator, that there had been some issues with the other coordinator, that everything would be totally under control from there on out and they were so so sorry that the previous coordinator had not yet been in touch with us. We were told a new woman would take care of everything and be in touch with us asap.
At about 4 weeks out, my other vendors, our band and a photobooth we were renting, started contacting me with questions about what time they could set up, where they would set up, etc. I called this new coordinator, who I’d not yet heard from, and she said she would email me some general time line information and then I could let her know of any other questions I had and she would be in touch with me right away. I emailed her on a Monday. I did not hear back by Thursday so sent a follow up email. I did not hear back by the next Monday, so called. Here we are at three weeks out, and we don’t even know what time to tell the band to show up. Basically, we continued to get the brush off. Our immediate questions were answered if we got someone on the phone, but no one was interested in spending more than 5 minutes actually having a conversation with us and listening to our input on what we wanted for our wedding day. The weekend before our wedding, my to be husband called and gave an earful to everyone and anyone he could get on the phone. We got the final timeline the next day.
The day of the wedding, I saw the wedding coordinator once, when she came to tell me it was time for the bridal party to walk outside for the ceremony. Let me say that the waiters/​waitresses/​bartenders, were all pleasant and did a fine job, the meal was served on time and cleared away, but then we basically felt like we were on our own. When the band got there, we told them when we wanted to cut the cake. We told them when we wanted to throw the bouquet, we ran everything ourselves.
Regardless of all the BS, we had a fantastic wedding. The venue was beautiful, the weather perfect, the food great. We were able to just enjoy our friends and family, forget about the difficulties and just ignore the annoyances. On the other hand, we felt as though it was of very little thanks to the management staff. The planning process was nonexistent, we had to fight to get the littlest bits of assistance along the way, and we were treated rudely and with little consideration that our business was worth anything. You will have to be the judge as to whether or not the location, venue, and food, are enough to make up for the complete lack of customer service.

My fiancé and I stopped here to look at rooms for guests to stay at for our upcoming wedding in Gloucester. We were suprised most places in Gloucester do not accomodate large wedding groups for one reason or another. However every place we went we were congratulated on the upcoming wedding and they made suggestions of other places we could stay.
We showed up at the Ocean View and the man in charge there was not nice at all. He did not congratulate us on our wedding. In fact, he told us our place was expensive and overpriced and was thoroughly insulted that we did not book with him. He then flipped through his appt book to show us how many weddings he does (way to rub it in our face). We should have left then but he decided grudgingly he would look in to hotel rooms for us like he was doing us a favor. He did reiterate what we knew, that most places in Gloucester will not take wedding guests and made it sound as if he was the only place that would. When I told him our venue suggested places in Rockport he scoffed at that and said rooms would be $ 300+ and he could cut us a deal.
Well the deal was still something like $ 250+ a night (double that of other Gloucester hotels) and they wanted a deposit to hold the rooms. Also he decided he could do better on the deal if we booked the rehearsal dinner with him which was no bargain either.
Of course we did not book rooms or meals with this place and in fact, went to Rockport and found a much nicer place for less than $ 100 with no deposit and no min stays and excellent customer service. I have told all my engaged friends not to stay here or book their wedding. I don’t care if the rooms are lined in gold with silk bedding (and from reading reviews they definetely are not), the customer service is really horrible.

I got married here in June and can not say enough about how wonderful the entire experience was. The owner Peter and his staff treated us like gold every step of the way.
First off, his place is beautiful. We got married on the porch of the Atlantic Ballroom and took our photos right on the ocean. They were easily able to accommodate our 200+ guests, their wedding coordinator Steve took care of every little detail for us, and the food is freaking amazing. If you’re looking for an unforgettable place to get married — this is IT!

pretty view of the ocean and the main building was very pretty, we arrived during a wedding ceremony in the main building so we were asked to wait outside while the staff got the key to our room. The first room they put us in had 2 double beds, i had reserved a king, i alerted the staff to this issue and they were quick to rectify this and made us feel very comfortable. Our room was above where the reception was being held so for a majority of the night we dealt with the thumping of the bass from the dj. if i were to stay here again i wouldn’t want to be above the reception room. The linens on the beds were slightly scratchy but the mattress was comfortable and it had lots of pillows. One thing also that seemed odd to me was when making reservations for this inn I was told over the phone that they were sold out the evening before but when I went onto
i was able to get the room online.

Upon arriving at the Ocean View Inn for check-​in, we were barely acknowledged by the woman who was working behind the desk. They did not have our room ready for us, and we had to wait while someone ran over to it to see if it was «ok». When given our keys we had to ask where our room was, as there are several buildings on the property. The woman just sort of waved in the direction of our room. It was pretty frustrating. The accommodations were clean but very low tech. There was a low flow shower head in the bathroom and no fan or window to vent the air after taking a shower. There were also no light blocking blinds for sleeping, just merely some sheer curtains which didn’t allow for much privacy. The location of the inn is amazing, and is pretty much the best thing going for it.