Arriving on Nantucket via ferry is a magical experience. Your cares drift away as you ride the ferry across Nantucket Sound. When you spot the first bit of land, you are struck with a calm and peace and an understanding of how many years this wonderful place has remained unchanged.
As the ferry slows to enter the harbor, passing the enormous beach front mansions, the passengers on board the ferry begin to stream out onto the deck to catch a glimpse of Brant Point Lighthouse and get the first of many picture postcard photos.
As much as I love Nantucket, one of the main reasons I return yearly to the island is my favorite hotel in the world, the WhiteElephant.www.whiteelephanthotel.com. The White
Elephant is not a chain hotel. It is a small hotel on the harbor within walking distance of the wharf. It has only 53 rooms, some of which are larger suites, but every room is unique in some way. I've stayed at the hotel many times and never been in the same room twice. I've loved every room and feel like I'm coming home each time I return. Conde Nast Traveler magazine recently ranked the top 100 hotels in the world. Number 11 on the list (the highest I can attest to) is the Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy. I've stayed there. The White Elephant is better.
After years of talking about how much I love Nantucket and the White Elephant, the girls decided to join me. Mind you, the White Elephant is an expensive hotel and room rates are generally over $300 a night. However, the little known secret is that they are extremely reasonable during off season. Generally the best rates can be obtained Sunday through Thursday prior to June 15 and after October 30. However, with the current economic crisis, the hotel was closing November 1 and offering the lower rates on the weekend, so we jumped on it. The hotel opens again for a short time the beginning of December for the Christmas Stroll weekend and then closes for the season until the following April. Reservations cannot be made for the next year until the reservations office op
ens again on January 2. Believe me, I am generally the first one to call at 9am on that day to get my rooms reserved for the upcoming year!
Back to the girls trip. When the ferry pulled into the wharf, the White Elephant had one of their new custom vans there waiting to pick up the arriving passengers in style. One of the best parts about the White Elephant are the employees and my favorites are the guys that drive the vans, man the front doors and carry the bags to the rooms. There is a different crew there every year. When I was there in June, the driver was from Australia; this time our driver was from Poland. The different backgrounds of the seasonal employees on the island are almost as much fun exploring as the island itself.
The van took us the brief 3 block drive over to the hotel and in honor of the approaching Halloween season, there were pumpkins lining the driveway, flower beds and stairs to the front door. It was beautiful. As there are only 5 or so ferries per day, the front desk staff knows when you're coming and are ready for you. We arrived before the rain luckily and quickly checked in and were ushered to our rooms.
I'm sure the suites are different, but every room I've ever been in at the White Elephant has a king sized bed with the best down
comforter and down pillows ever. A box of chocolates always awaits and in spring, there are generally orchids sitting on the desk. Most rooms have a private balcony or some type of patio with the trademark white wicker furniture with blue cushions. A few years ago, the White Elephant opened a spa and their spa products are now featured in the bathroom. The rooms have a refrigerator and tv with a DVD player, ceiling fans and air conditioning. Up until this last trip, one of the signature amenities were blue glass water bottles sitting out with more in your refrigerator. U
nlike most hotels, these were free and re-stocked daily. This trip, the blue bottles were gone and plastic ones in their place. I need to find out what happened to those blue bottles as they made nice vases!
Upon arrival, as always, it was a frustrating choice as to what to do first. Explore the hotel? Run into town before the stores closed? Happy hour in the bar? A walk along the beach? Jump under that wonderful down comforter? It's overwhe
lming. In this case, with 6 girls all under the same roof, the choice was easy. Explore each others rooms with happy hour in the room and discuss what to do next. The manager of the hotel, Bettina Landt, made it very easy for us when she sent a bottle of pink champagne to me in one of our rooms. It was the perfect beginning for our girls weekend!
As the ferry slows to enter the harbor, passing the enormous beach front mansions, the passengers on board the ferry begin to stream out onto the deck to catch a glimpse of Brant Point Lighthouse and get the first of many picture postcard photos.
As much as I love Nantucket, one of the main reasons I return yearly to the island is my favorite hotel in the world, the WhiteElephant.www.whiteelephanthotel.com. The White
Elephant is not a chain hotel. It is a small hotel on the harbor within walking distance of the wharf. It has only 53 rooms, some of which are larger suites, but every room is unique in some way. I've stayed at the hotel many times and never been in the same room twice. I've loved every room and feel like I'm coming home each time I return. Conde Nast Traveler magazine recently ranked the top 100 hotels in the world. Number 11 on the list (the highest I can attest to) is the Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy. I've stayed there. The White Elephant is better.After years of talking about how much I love Nantucket and the White Elephant, the girls decided to join me. Mind you, the White Elephant is an expensive hotel and room rates are generally over $300 a night. However, the little known secret is that they are extremely reasonable during off season. Generally the best rates can be obtained Sunday through Thursday prior to June 15 and after October 30. However, with the current economic crisis, the hotel was closing November 1 and offering the lower rates on the weekend, so we jumped on it. The hotel opens again for a short time the beginning of December for the Christmas Stroll weekend and then closes for the season until the following April. Reservations cannot be made for the next year until the reservations office op
ens again on January 2. Believe me, I am generally the first one to call at 9am on that day to get my rooms reserved for the upcoming year!Back to the girls trip. When the ferry pulled into the wharf, the White Elephant had one of their new custom vans there waiting to pick up the arriving passengers in style. One of the best parts about the White Elephant are the employees and my favorites are the guys that drive the vans, man the front doors and carry the bags to the rooms. There is a different crew there every year. When I was there in June, the driver was from Australia; this time our driver was from Poland. The different backgrounds of the seasonal employees on the island are almost as much fun exploring as the island itself.
The van took us the brief 3 block drive over to the hotel and in honor of the approaching Halloween season, there were pumpkins lining the driveway, flower beds and stairs to the front door. It was beautiful. As there are only 5 or so ferries per day, the front desk staff knows when you're coming and are ready for you. We arrived before the rain luckily and quickly checked in and were ushered to our rooms.I'm sure the suites are different, but every room I've ever been in at the White Elephant has a king sized bed with the best down
comforter and down pillows ever. A box of chocolates always awaits and in spring, there are generally orchids sitting on the desk. Most rooms have a private balcony or some type of patio with the trademark white wicker furniture with blue cushions. A few years ago, the White Elephant opened a spa and their spa products are now featured in the bathroom. The rooms have a refrigerator and tv with a DVD player, ceiling fans and air conditioning. Up until this last trip, one of the signature amenities were blue glass water bottles sitting out with more in your refrigerator. U
nlike most hotels, these were free and re-stocked daily. This trip, the blue bottles were gone and plastic ones in their place. I need to find out what happened to those blue bottles as they made nice vases!Upon arrival, as always, it was a frustrating choice as to what to do first. Explore the hotel? Run into town before the stores closed? Happy hour in the bar? A walk along the beach? Jump under that wonderful down comforter? It's overwhe
lming. In this case, with 6 girls all under the same roof, the choice was easy. Explore each others rooms with happy hour in the room and discuss what to do next. The manager of the hotel, Bettina Landt, made it very easy for us when she sent a bottle of pink champagne to me in one of our rooms. It was the perfect beginning for our girls weekend!
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