Chatham Bars Inn, Cape Cod

Location 

The main house and cottages are spread over the inn’s 25-acre estate, just a ten-minute walk from Chatham, a classic town if ever there was one. From Chatham in the south, the Cape Cod peninsula runs north to artsy, end-of-the-line Provincetown, revealing a coastline of open beaches, crashing surf, photogenic lighthouses and rippling dune grass. The cape’s parabolic dunes have enjoyed federal protection since 1961, though there are plenty who’d say little has changed since the 1850s, when Henry David Thoreau described it as a place where ‘a man can stand and put all America behind him’.

Accommodation

An original grand staircase leads guests staying at the Main Inn from a stately reception area to two floors of tastefully renovated guest rooms and suites, almost all with private decks and sweeping ocean views. More recent additions are found in shingle-style cottages spread along a quarter of a mile of private beach. With their fine linens, sea views and hand-painted furniture, they’re the quintessential  hideaways. Newer still are the 12 adult-only Spa Suites, located upstairs from the spa itself and equipped with saunas, steam showers and whirlpool tubs.

Dining 

There is no shortage of options here. The award-winning steak restaurant Stars is found in the Main Inn, along with the Sacred Cod, a casual, pub-style affair and a piece of Chatham history, with its vaulted ceiling and antique, wood-panelled walls. Also part of the original building are the South Lounge, where afternoon tea can be taken in front of the fire, and the outside Veranda, which serves cocktails and light meals before views of the Atlantic. Closer still to those views is The Beach House, where everything is made exactly how you like it, from the just-caught seafood to the freshly made cocktails.

Facilities 

Sunbathe, swim or work on your tan on the inn’s private beach. Take the complimentary ferry from the hotel’s dock to the furthest beaches of Cape Cod, some of the most beautiful barrier beaches in the world. Explore historic Chatham. Take rented bikes along the Cape Cod Trail. Test the roll of the south lawn with a competitive game of croquet. Perfect your base line rallies on the inn’s state-of-the-art clay courts. Train at the gym. Get pampered at the spa. Or for a true holiday, get out on the water with a spot of sailing, kayaking or game fishing.