Visitors can choose intimate inns, comfortable full-service hotels or a grand resort from among the lodging options on the seacoast.  As one might expect in a popular beach destination, the major hotel brands are well-represented, as are seasonal rentals.  And Portsmouth has a sterling reputation for hospitality.

John Paul Jones, who lodged with the Widow Purcell in what is now the John Paul Jones House Museum noted, “I reached Portsmouth just when they began to light the candles after tea, and the dancing did not end ’til after two in the morning.”

Judge Calvin Page, executor of hotelier and beer baron Frank Jones’ estate, extended the hospitality of Wentworth By the Sea to the Russian and Japanese delegations to the Treaty of Portsmouth peace conference.  There was no charge to either side for the 30 days of negotiations during the high summer season of 1905, at a time when the hotel was booked with guests in the habit of arriving with trunks and servants for a stay that lasted all summer.  All of the downtown hotels, from Jones’ Rockingham House that accommodated the international newspaper brigade to Merrick’s Hotel, now the home of Northeast Auctions, were full.

Today, both historic and newer hotels recognize the history of their city and the need to preserve the authentic sense of place that brings visitors to town.