I traveled to Rockport for a wedding. The two motels where I stay regularly in the area had no rooms, so I called the Glen Cove, where a block of rooms had been set aside for wedding guests. I was quoted a rate of $99 when I reserved, and an hour or so later I got a call back from the motel saying that due to high demand that weekend (a boat show in Rockland), I should have been quoted $139. I said fine.
The Glen Cove Inn consists of two old-fashioned one-story park-at-the-door motel strips that face each other across a long driveway that runs off of a busy section of Route 1, down a hill and ends with a water view of Glen Cove; there is also a two-story home right on Route 1 (the original owners family home?) that has been carved up to provide additional motel units. The grounds are neat as a pin, the property looks friendly and welcoming.
Upon check-in I was assigned a room in the two-story home, my room was on the ground floor and directly on Route 1, only 20 or so feet away from traffic moving about 55 mph. Years ago I did stay in another motel in that very same area in a unit that fronted on Route 1, my room in that other motel was set back probably twice as far, and traffic noise could be heard inside of my room.
Plus, the entrance to my room required walking around the backside of the house through a wooded area with all my baggage--and I had a good bit, so I was going to have to make several trips--and it felt a wee bit too isolated for coming in late at night. So, even though it was a heavy weekend I thought I'd give a shot at asking for another room. At first the fellow on duty said no, but when I explained specificlly why I didn't feel comfortable with the room, he said he could move me. He gave me a unit two doors from the office, which seemed much better.
And, it was a whole lot better until I was awaken by 6:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday morning by loud foot traffic outside my door.
My room (#29) was one of a handful of rooms in between the motel office and some sort of storage/laundry/work room. That section of the motel shares a long wooden front porch (like a boardwalk) and each morning, even though my windows were closed, I was awaken by what sounded like children repeatedly running up the boardwalk; I assumed that patrons were going to the office to drop off keys and check out early. I had actually gone to sleep each night leaving on the bathroom fan to provide white noise, but that didn't drown out the noise. The second morning, there was also a dog in the next unit barking.
When the noise (of children running?) woke me up Saturday, I went ahead and got up early. I heard a good deal of the foot traffic again as I took my time bathing and getting dressed. The second morning, when I really needed to sleep in as I'd stayed until midnight at the wedding, I tried turning on the window air conditioner to drown out the noise, but the unit was right by the bed (the room was small) and it started getting cold, so I decided I'd just go ahead and check out and go -- I could sleep when I got home.
As I packed up my car I noticed what I thought must be the problem: although there were two entrances to the motel office, management has stuck a wooden sign at the foot of steps in front of my room that said OFFICE, encouraging folks to take those steps and use the porch that ran front of my room (The other entrance would take folks directly to the office without having them walk in front of any patrons' rooms.) An easy fix to this problem, I thought. They probably have no idea that the traffic flow is creating such a ruckus, so I could suggest to the hotel clerk that they could move the sign to the base of the other stairway and the problem would be solved.
I walked into the office, the lady behind the desk and I exchanged "good mornings" and then I said "Do you mind if I make a suggestion?" Without skipping a beat she responded "I have a feeling that even if I say no you are going to make the suggestion anyway." Caught me off guard. Was she trying to be funny?
Anyway, I told her that the last two mornings I had been roused before 6:30 by traffic on the boardwalk and that perhaps if they moved to the "office" sign to the base of the other steps to cut down the traffic in front of patrons' rooms, it might help with the noise.
Her response was "You are the first person who has ever complained about noise."
She knew somehow that I had requested to be moved upon check in, and lashed out that if I had stayed in the originally-assigned room--the room that fronted directly on Route 1--that I would have had a very quiet room.
She got patronizing at this point, as she explained that in addition to manning the front desk, she had to keep some sort of breakfast service stocked and that she had to run back and forth quickly to a storage area (on the other end of the boardwalk) to get more food supplies. Furthermore, she explained that the housekeeping staff had to use that same passageway to get cleaning supplies, and that they could move the OFFICE sign, but the noise was not going to stop because that was the sound of motel staff using the walkwway. If she was hustling to restock doughnuts while also checking folks out, that certainly explained the hurried running back and forth that sounded like children.
Seems to be very poor planning for staff to be running back in forth of patron's rooms during hours when folks of vacation might want to be sleeping.
Also seems that a hotel clerk should be a little less abrasive to a guest who has the had paid close to $300 only to get awaken at 6:30 two days in a row.
It may very well be that one can have a pleasant stay in this property if placed in a room that is further down the drive, closer to the water. My recommendation is that you be sure to ask for a room that is not adjacent to the office as hotel management doesn't seem to be sensitive to their noise problem. I would also suggest that you ask not to be not in the large house as I don't see how anything that close to the heavy traffic on US Route 1 can be restful.
Room was squeaky clean but very small, decor not remarkable. Tv was old, even tho it was cable, the reception was very poor on channels under 12, clock in the room was stuck on 9:56 and tv remote did not have a sleep function (allowing you to set the tv to turn off after so many minutes if you want to fall asleep watching tv.)
In all fairness, most Rockport motels with the exception of the Samoset Resort are directly on Route 1, all should have quite a bit of heavy traffic at all hours, and anyone who is making a reservation at any of these properties would do well to ask for a room that is set back from Route 1.