Old cabins are getting a new look in New England this summer

A journey

Author Andrew Sessa

July 24, 2023 | 1:04 p.m

It looks like the hottest hotel in New England this season, complete with renovations, upgrades and new restaurants.

Leading the pack is White Elephant’s 100-year-old Nanutcket (from $375), which in May unveiled a complete renovation of its 66 port cabins and 11 cabins, each individually decorated.

Designed by Boston’s Elkus Manfredi Architects – whose clients include Peninsula Chicago and Harvard University – the renovation features colors, patterns and artwork that play well with the waterfront, maritime traditions and art.

Elsewhere on the island, Nantucket (from $395) has unveiled a modern beach lounge and outdoor tapas restaurant, both designed by Michael Thomas, who recently renovated Gurney’s Montauk in the Hamptons. Saks Fifth Avenue takes the Faraway Nantucket’s (from $795) Federal Suite through Aug. 4.

On Martha’s Vineyard, the coming weeks will see the second release from Faraway (from $895) in Edgartown’s 18th-century Kelley House.

The building is supposed to be a reception hall from the 1700s, but the designers here took a cue from the island’s liberal culture in the 1970s, envisioning a 58-room hotel that Carly Simon and James Taylor, who lived on the island, would love.

Nearby, Lark Hotels, which already has four hotels in Edgartown, including the newly renovated 76 Main, is adding one this month.

The eight-bedroom Coco (from $149) found inspiration in the 20th-century nautical style of its original owner, Charles Fisher, who built the white-shingled Victorian stack in 1892.

Meanwhile, on the beach, the resort of Winnetu (from $ 325), the sister of Nantucket – where Barack Obama launched his 60th birthday week – designer Smith has created a reception area and a game room that feels like a 1970s living room, in the best way.

At the end of Cape Cod, in the arty LGBTQ+ capital of Provincetown, the central 19th-century harborview Gifford House (from $239) receives new ownership and renovation of its 33 rooms including a bar, lounge and night area. Having previously played host to celebrities including Billy Porter and Murray Bartlett, the hotel’s various public areas – the oldest in town still standing – promise plenty of fun, wild and good, all summer long.

Back on land, the public areas of the Four Seasons Hotel Boston (from $ 900) have received the best treatment of Ken Fulk, with a series of new areas that now sport botanical murals to commemorate near the Public Garden; new dining room/lounge/dining area; and bars and tufted, velvet upholstery.

Just a few blocks away, the 147-room Raffles Boston (from $97) will open on Sep. 1 in a 35-story, $400 million, LEED-certified mixed-use tower in Copley Square. The first Raffles in North America, it delights with rooms and suites designed by Stonehill Taylor and luxury apartments.

Close to the beach, in Westerly, RI, which is located near Watch Hill – the second home for wealthy New Yorkers since the Old Ages, and now the home of Taylor Swift – the famous 2000s Ocean House (from $ 925) adds to the “small houses” (read: amazing people). Good for the show? A 10,400-square-foot, nine-bedroom, Oceanic waterfront property. The hotel also has a new gallery and gallery of Ludwig Bemelmans – about Madeline’s picture books and the Carlyle mural history. The center will be home to the world’s largest collection of the artist’s work on public display.

In northern New England, meanwhile, Burlington, Vt., welcomes a Lark branch called Blind Tiger (from $249), following the original in Portland, Maine. The 14 individually decorated rooms, located here, housed in an old building built in 1881, reflect the authenticity. Filled with antiques, modern furniture and other unique items – such as a settee and a pattern similar to a quilt bought at a local store – all hand-picked for the project, each space speaks to the hotel’s environment.

In New Hampshire and under new ownership, the 150-year-old Wentworth (from $159) – on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest, with views of Mount Washington – kicked off the season after completing a $4 million top-to-bottom renovation of everything from the bar, restaurant and spa to its 61 rooms and suites. All have the best of New England home decor that includes classics like a fireplace and antique phone booth with modern furnishings.

Speaking of Maine, the Bush family’s summer getaway to Kennebunkport — about 90 minutes past Boston on I-95 — will see the arrival of NYC-based sushi spot Rosella at the Grand Hotel (from $209).

And nearby York, the son of 2000s legend Sonny Perkins has reimagined his father’s club as a brick-and-mortar venue, taking over a 1963 Long Sands Beach roadside motel and giving it a Scandi-mod redo. Now, York Beach Surf Club (from $285) tempts 21st-century travelers with 52 comfortable guest rooms and bungalows, a heated saltwater pool and a restored 1964 International Harvester truck that houses an oyster bar and restaurant.

Further along the beach, the new managers of Camden, Tony Norumbega Inn of Maine (from $ 369) – a famous 1886 hotel as a stone – will be open all year round, better to show the results of its eight-month renovation. The new interior revels in its traditional design and architecture, highlighting all 11 sun-filled bedrooms with marble bathtubs. This is also the case with its main hall, solarium converted into a bar, glass-enclosed terrace and a small Peruvian restaurant from a local chef.

Finally, to the bottom of Maine’s Acadia National Park, and overlooking Hull’s Cove in Bar Harbor, Salt Cottages (from $360) begins its second summer with 10 king rooms and two queen rooms in a newly renovated and reopened medieval house on its 15-acre campus. These will join the 30 retro-cool freestanding cabins that opened to fame on the Fourth of July, 2022.