Boston North Shore is the Massachusetts area north of Boston between that city and the New Hampshire border. Boston North Shore meeting venues are apt to capitalize on history (the area's most famous city is Salem, home of all those witch trials), but the area also contains some of the world's largest restaurants, in Saugus, and is very close to Boston. The scenery is dramatic, too, with rich coastlines, and there's a wealth of maritime history, most notably in the city of Gloucester, which some claim is the U.S.' oldest fishing port.
The area can be reached from two airports. First and foremost is Logan International (BOS) in Boston, to the south of the area and connected to a myriad of national and international destinations, while to the west, in Vermont, is Manchester-Boston Regional (MHT), which has service to mainly Eastern Seaboard destinations but also Las Vegas, Denver and Chicago.
While there are no stand-alone convention venues, Boston North Shore hotel venues able to look after meetings include three hotels quite close to one another: the 257-room Boston Marriott Peabody, which has 10,735 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom; the 92-room, gracious, plantation house-style Wylie Inn & Conference Center, in Beverly, which has 17,500 square feet of meeting space and a 115-room amphitheater; and the 86-room Salem Waterfront Hotel, which has 4,000 square feet of meeting space and a spot right on the harbor. A little farther inland in Wakefield is the 280-room Sheraton Colonial Boston North Hotel & Conference Center, which has 22 meeting rooms and space for groups of up to 450 persons. In Gloucester, the 31-room Cape Ann's Marina Resort has indoor and outdoor function space for up to 120 persons.
Many Boston North Shore special event venues have a great deal of history connected to them. Examples include the gorgeous campus of Endicott College, in Beverly, which has an auditorium for 500 persons, wooden-beamed halls and attractive lawns on which tents can be set up; Hamilton Hall, a Federalist building dating from 1805, which is in Salem and has a large ballroom for 300 persons and three other rooms; and the world-renowned House of the Seven Gables, also in Salem, dating to 1668 and made famous by writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, which has the Plumsock Room for 200 persons, Hooper-Hathaway House, for 30 persons and the Seaside Lawn for another 200 persons. Two other choices in the area include the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem, which has 30 galleries, of which the East India Marine Hall is the largest space for events; and Maudsley Arts Center, in Newburyport, which has 442 acres of state park, a celebrated summer arts and music series and a patio and concert barn for outdoor events between May and October.
Not surprisingly, seafood dominates the region. Great seafood restaurants include Seaglass, in Salisbury, which has space ranging from a 16-seat private dining rooms to banquet space for 500; Ten Center Street, in Newburyport, which has space for private events of 50, and Woodman's, in Essex, which claims to have invented the fried clam and has for groups the Salt Marsh Tent, the Lobster Trap Pub and the Essex Room. Two other selections are the Pellana Steakhouse, in Peabody, which has the Board Room for 24 persons and the Vault Room for 50, and 43 Church, in Salem, another great steak restaurant, which has a loft that has two Federal-style function rooms for up to 100 people for dinner.
Find more venues by clicking the following link to see all Boston meeting venues.
