I wanted to find a romantic, but high classy B&B for my boyfriend and i to spend a weekend at for our 2 yr anniversary. After reading the Reviews from Trip Advisor, AND i read the B&B's personal website. on the website you had a choice of 3 rooms to choose from, and each room stated they had a "Private Bath". The website stated there was free parking in the back, and homemade breakfast was included. We would eat with the main host who tells us lovely stories of the past, and have a lovely chat. my bf and i were the only ones staying in the B&B this weekend but the host told us if we had any questions to call her cell phone, but the secretary will always be here. also everything is in walking distance from the B&B.
After reading all this i was like deff. lets stay here. but they failed to mention MANY deal breakers.
Negatives -
The B&B is located on a busy Street corner with a traffic light so we did not sleep well at all. every 20-30 minutes you would hear some inpatient beeping! we were woken up several times in the night by loud music, and drivers speeding. our last night there at 1am a man got out of his car and started screaming and cursing demanding the driver in front of him to get out of his car to fight. we then heard the man speed off and the other went after him you could hear them speeding through the small streets.
The pillows the B&B provided were 2-3 inches thick and VERY flat, but luckily my bf and i brought our own.
Our King size bed was nice but was VERY hard and stiff, i dont know about the other rooms.
The "Private Bath" was really one bathroom for all individuals staying at the B&B and it was not attached to our room.
The "Parking in the back" was the regular street, and parking was VERY limited
The "Homemade Breakfast" it was technically "off season" and in the state of MA. B&B's are not allowed by law to actually cook and serve food. she would only be able to provide us with store bought pastries, fruit, pre-made stuff. or she would refund us $15.00 each so we can get breakfast down the street (so we took the $30.00) the host told us "but don't worry coffee will be on everyday always at 7:30am and i will be here to chat. we never saw or heard from her again, and there was no coffee.
We only saw the secretary the DAY we arrived, and then saw her the next day for 10 minutes.
At night no one was around unless the Host's daughter showed up to cook for her daughter who was younger than 4. and the Host's daughter kept to herself, and when we asked her a question i felt like i was bothering her.
The morning we left no one was there to politely say goodbye or "Thank you for staying come again" nothing it was as if it didnt even matter if we came or not.
I would NOT bring any children here who are lite sleepers because of the constant noise of traffic, and walking would be WAY too dangerous because of the amount of speeders.
December is considered the "Off season" but the traffic is dangerous and we almost got hit.
Postives-
The B&B was SUPER clean! like amazing clean everything was in its place just right! The bathroom was spotless, and so was every room you entered!
Our room had a mini fridge with a mini coffee maker, cream, sugar, regular / decaffe, tea, and 2 coffee mugs w/ costars.
Everything was in walking distance, and took very little time to get to the main attractions.
There were SEVERAL police vehicles out on patrol looking for speeders, and several times we saw speeders get pulled over.
The "Red's Sandwich Shop" has the BEST and biggest breakfast at an awesome low price.
Good price for a nice if you are a pass an go traveler.
Overall my boyfriend and i enjoyed the experience of staying at the B&B, because "we" were the only guests. The 3 rooms are ALL yes ALL connected by doors so, if there were other guests i would have felt very uncomfortable Knowing they were SO close. and it would have grossed me out sharing 1 bathroom with strangers.
If i knew about the breakfast issue because of the MA. state law, the one bathroom for all guests (we got lucky no one else was staying), how bad the noise was gonna be from the traffic i would have chosen another place.
Henry Derby House reviews
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Henry Derby House – reviews, photos
47 Summer Street, Salem, MA 01970
Hotel amenities
25 traveller photos
Senior Reviewer
“Untold Flaws Revealed Pro's an Con's”
Room Tip: get the "King size Bed" room because you are right in the middle of the 2 other rooms.
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Stayed December 2011, travelled as a couple
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See 5 more reviews by Leahb1089 for Salem
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Peg_8, Owner at Henry Derby House, responded to this review
28 February 2012
I would like to thank you for pointing out all of the things that you liked about the bed and breakfast.
I am happy you enjoyed the cleanliness, the complimentary amenities, and the good price.
I did want to respond to some issues that you assumed that were total incorrect assumptions, so as not to give an incorrect impression to possible guests at the Henry Derby House.
ONE: When you book a room with a private bath, I NEVER use YOUR PRIVATE BATH as a shared bath with anyone else. We actually have no reason for any guests to have a shared bath. We have a one or two room suite that has a private bath. We have a room with two twin beds that has a private bath, and we have a room with a queen bed and private bath.
TWO: We do serve a very nice Expanded continental breakfast. We serve two types of cereal, many fruits and berries, raisin pecan toast, cranberry pecan toast, cinnamon raisin swirl toast, english muffins, bagels, banana bread, corn bread, blueberry muffins. And for sweets we serve cheese filled crumb cake, raspberry danish, cheese danish and cinnamon rolls. In the winter - at check in - I offer the guests an option of going to Reds Sandwich shop in the morning for a hearty warm breakfast of omelets, home fries, pancakes, waffles etc. - a warm breakfast, because it is winter. They chose to go out for the warm breakfast. I would have been more than happy to come and serve them breakfast and sat and chatted with them, but they chose to go out for the warm breakfast. Some would think of this as a plus to have an option. I am sorry they used this as a negative.
THREE: I raised my two children at this house. They were never bothered by the traffic. If children know not to run into the street they will be just fine here. Traffic, noise and intersections are all relative to where you live. Most of my guests have no problem with the noise or the traffic as you can see by the other reviews.
FOUR: All of my rooms are NOT all connected.
The room that they were in is the Mauve Room which is a room with a king sized bed. There is a room with one twin bed that only gets rented with the Mauve Room, so unless you are a party of three there will be no one in the adjoining room with the one twin bed. Therefore there is no need to worry that someone is going to be right next to you.
The room on the other side of the Mauve Room is the Yellow Room which is a room with two twin beds. You have to open that door and another door to get to the Mauve Room. It is a lock off just like a hotel but it is separated by TWO doors. The guests just were unaware of this because, of course, all of the doors were locked to the other guest rooms.
And the third room - the Red Room is not connected at all to any of the other rooms. There is a hallway separating the Red Room from the other rooms. And the folks that rent the Red Room have a totally separate set of stairs that brings them to their room.
So these guests were assuming a scenario that just did not exist.
And last but not least, regarding the beds and pillows. Bedding and Pillows are SO personal, but for the most part I have had positive responses to beds, pillows and bedding at the Henry Derby House. We purchase our beds at Gardner Mattress, a local mattress company that has been in business since 1933. Most guests comment very positively about the beds. We hardly every have a negative review of beds. I must say I was surprised about that. I actually wish these folks had mentioned that to me. Had I known they were not happy with the bed and noise, I would have offered them another bed in the back of the house which is far away from the street and would have been quieter.
In closing, my goal is always to try to make the best experience for my guests at the Henry Derby House. I am sorry there was anything that they found negative and hope in the future to make every guest a happy guest!
Also I would like to mention that if you are ever a guest at the Henry Derby House and are not happy, please, please, please let me know. If you don't physically see me you can always pick up the phone in the sitting room and call me. I know I will do everything in my power to make your stay a happy one!
I am happy you enjoyed the cleanliness, the complimentary amenities, and the good price.
I did want to respond to some issues that you assumed that were total incorrect assumptions, so as not to give an incorrect impression to possible guests at the Henry Derby House.
ONE: When you book a room with a private bath, I NEVER use YOUR PRIVATE BATH as a shared bath with anyone else. We actually have no reason for any guests to have a shared bath. We have a one or two room suite that has a private bath. We have a room with two twin beds that has a private bath, and we have a room with a queen bed and private bath.
TWO: We do serve a very nice Expanded continental breakfast. We serve two types of cereal, many fruits and berries, raisin pecan toast, cranberry pecan toast, cinnamon raisin swirl toast, english muffins, bagels, banana bread, corn bread, blueberry muffins. And for sweets we serve cheese filled crumb cake, raspberry danish, cheese danish and cinnamon rolls. In the winter - at check in - I offer the guests an option of going to Reds Sandwich shop in the morning for a hearty warm breakfast of omelets, home fries, pancakes, waffles etc. - a warm breakfast, because it is winter. They chose to go out for the warm breakfast. I would have been more than happy to come and serve them breakfast and sat and chatted with them, but they chose to go out for the warm breakfast. Some would think of this as a plus to have an option. I am sorry they used this as a negative.
THREE: I raised my two children at this house. They were never bothered by the traffic. If children know not to run into the street they will be just fine here. Traffic, noise and intersections are all relative to where you live. Most of my guests have no problem with the noise or the traffic as you can see by the other reviews.
FOUR: All of my rooms are NOT all connected.
The room that they were in is the Mauve Room which is a room with a king sized bed. There is a room with one twin bed that only gets rented with the Mauve Room, so unless you are a party of three there will be no one in the adjoining room with the one twin bed. Therefore there is no need to worry that someone is going to be right next to you.
The room on the other side of the Mauve Room is the Yellow Room which is a room with two twin beds. You have to open that door and another door to get to the Mauve Room. It is a lock off just like a hotel but it is separated by TWO doors. The guests just were unaware of this because, of course, all of the doors were locked to the other guest rooms.
And the third room - the Red Room is not connected at all to any of the other rooms. There is a hallway separating the Red Room from the other rooms. And the folks that rent the Red Room have a totally separate set of stairs that brings them to their room.
So these guests were assuming a scenario that just did not exist.
And last but not least, regarding the beds and pillows. Bedding and Pillows are SO personal, but for the most part I have had positive responses to beds, pillows and bedding at the Henry Derby House. We purchase our beds at Gardner Mattress, a local mattress company that has been in business since 1933. Most guests comment very positively about the beds. We hardly every have a negative review of beds. I must say I was surprised about that. I actually wish these folks had mentioned that to me. Had I known they were not happy with the bed and noise, I would have offered them another bed in the back of the house which is far away from the street and would have been quieter.
In closing, my goal is always to try to make the best experience for my guests at the Henry Derby House. I am sorry there was anything that they found negative and hope in the future to make every guest a happy guest!
Also I would like to mention that if you are ever a guest at the Henry Derby House and are not happy, please, please, please let me know. If you don't physically see me you can always pick up the phone in the sitting room and call me. I know I will do everything in my power to make your stay a happy one!
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
yorkshire
Contributor
“Cosy room with comfy bed”
We stayed here in early October.We had the Red room which was has an old fashioned charm, a comfy high bed, quite a small bathroom ,we are small so it wasn't a problem for us.The room was up a back staircase and quiet.It was warm which was nice as it was rather cold when we visited.Our only problem was on arrival, nobody answered the door and there was a telephone number to call,a slight dilemma as we had no phone .However we went around the back and luckily there was someone in who could call for us.Breakfast was cereals ,fresh fruit and a toasts, breads etc , hosted by Meg the owner.An interesting lady and very helpful.As Salem is a sleepy place in the morning there is no rush to start out too early, it seems to be lively in the evening .We enjoyed our stay here ,and parking out on the street was not a problem. However take the train or ferry from Boston, the road to Boston Airport took forever ,was very busy,and the way out of Salem was hard to find.
Room Tip: Rooms at the back may be quieter ,as the road outside is busy when workers are coming in and leaving...
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Stayed October 2011, travelled as a couple
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Garden Grove, California
Contributor
“Halloween 2011 in Salem, MA”
4
people found this review helpful
I stayed once before at the Henry Derby in 2004 and returned again in 2011 for Halloween. I stayed 10/27--11/02 in the YELLOW ROOM. It was a very pleasant, clean room that was very roomy with 2 twin beds. I had even more room since the friend I was going to be travelling with cancelled at the last minute.
Since my last visit a coffee maker and mini fridge have been added to the room. The mattresses are also new since I last stayed and were VERY comfortable.
Even though the weather in Salem was in the 40 and 50 degree area, the room was never cold.
The ajoining bathroom was spotless and large as well.
There was never any noise from people in the neighboring rooms even though all of the rooms were occupied.
The proprietor, Peg, is very friendly and has all the information you need to get around and enjoy Salem if you've never visited before. She also puts out a very nice breakfast in the morning where you can sit & chat with other Henry Derby guests, talk about your Salem plans, and get to know one another.
This is a very comfortable place to stay in Salem in the Historic District. Everything is in walking disntance from the Henry Derby B&B. You won't need to rent a car, not even if you want to visit Boston. The train, which is also close by, will take you on a pleasant 30 minute ride where you can see the changing leaves in the Fall and Boston skyline.
Here's my standard Salem warning---
If you are going to book a room to visit Salem for HALLOWEEN, you MUST book as soon as possible because it is a small town and rooms will fill up by february for the following october.
I'm not kidding.
Book your room for a Halloween visit as soon as possible or you'll be staying in a neighboring town and have to commute into town every day.
I recommend the Henry Derby and look forward to staying there again.
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Stayed October 2011, travelled solo
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Deerfield, Massachusetts
2 reviews
“Quick stay”
We were in town for only a few days and were able to book the Henry Derby during the coveted times around late October. Everything was great and was exactly as described on the site. We arrived and checked in then walked around the sights for a while. We were able to come and go as we wished later at night and felt quite at home when coming and going. The bed gave us the best nights sleep either of us have had for quite a while and the room was far enough away from others so that our tendency to be loud didn't seem to bother anyone else. Also, having a mini fridge in the room is incredibly convienent for things like left-overs. Breakfast and the chat we had about music was great, and we both lovvvvvved the coffee and the many types of fruit available. We hope to come back when we have a chance to spend time in Salem again!
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Stayed October 2011, travelled with friends
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Downingtown, Pennsylvania
1 review
“Beautiful B&B in a great location!”
I had the pleasure of staying at the Henry Derby house for three nights in October. (Oct 23rd to the 26th, got very lucky finding a place) We arrived in town a little early, we got help finding a good spot to park, than our keys and some good information on how to get around and the "hot spots". From the minute I walked in the Henry Derby House everyone was VERY friendly and polite. Our first walk into town I was blown away how close we were to everthing! We stayed in the RED room, LOVED IT, It was very cozy&comfortable and I felt right at home. Private bathroom, and a view of the garden at a reasonable price. I looked forward to coffee and breakfast every morning with Peg. She would sit with us and talk about what we did and gave us great suggestions on things to do. She was very enjoyable to talk to and a very nice women. The house was clean and just BEAUTIFUL. I loved my stay in Salem and I couldnt have found a better place to stay, really added to the whole trip. First time at a B&B and I loved it. Will be back!
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Stayed October 2011, travelled as a couple
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Additional Information about Henry Derby House
47 Summer Street, Salem, MA 01970
Price range (per night):*
INR4,194 - 9,786
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