Bloomberg.com Has Nice Review of Plum Island and Greater Newburyport

August 24, 2008

It’s always interesting to see how the Greater Newburyport region is viewed by visitors to our region. It helps provide a more balanced assessment of what we have in our region as seen from the outside, especially when we view our region as a tourist destination.

With that said, there is a nice online review of Plum Island and the Greater Newburyport region by Jeremy Gerard on Bloomberg.com., the New York-based international financial and information services concern.

Mr. Gerard and his wife recently explored Plum Island and Greater Newburyport during a three-night stay at blue: the inn on the beach at Plum Island. All in all they were favorably impressed with the quality of the inn and the fine shopping, the numerous places to dine, great beaches and natural resources available to them while they were here in the Newburyport region.

He describes the Plum Island/Newburyport area as an “under the radar” destination that slips by many tourists as they visit Cape Cod and other more popular tourist destinations along the New England seacoast.

The easy commute to Plum Island/Newburyport from Boston and the lack of traffic congestion were also highlighted in his article. The lobster rolls and chowder offered at Bob Lobster’s were hits with Mr. Gerard as well as a host of other local attractions and dining establishments.

Here are a list of the locations/dining spots that were named (all favorably by the way) in Mr. Gerard’s review:

Bob Lobster (seafood and more; on the causeway (Plum Island Turnpike) to Plum Island)
Mad Martha’s -breakfast on Plum Island
Fowle’s- breakfast & lunch (including a wide selection of newspapers and magazines)
Plum Island Grille - dining (Plum Island dining)
10 Center Street - dining (downtown Newburyport waterfront)
The Blach Cow -dining (downtown Newburyport waterfront)
Oldies Marketplace - antiques and all things used; a flea market
Gram’s - ice cream in downtown Newburyport

The only gripe that Mr. Gerard had about his stay was the 20.7 percent room/service charge (includes a 15 percent gratuity and 5.7 percent tax) that is applied at blue: the inn on the beach. We have seen this same complaint expressed in other reviews of the inn. Perhaps management of the inn should consider reevaluating this room/service fee charge structure to a more moderate rate as it is often the only blemish in otherwise fine reviews of the inn that we have seen.

To see all of Mr. Gerard’s review, visit his online review of Plum Island and the Greater Newburyport region by Jeremy Gerard on Bloomberg.com.