Since spending our honeymoon on Cape Cod more than thirty years ago we have revisited the Cape many, many times. That joyous event was, unfortunately, a very short one night stay, but we have continuously improved on it over the years. Of the many inns we have stayed at, we have gravitated to one as our favorite. That is the Captain’s House Inn in Chatham. Whether you are looking for a central location, a luxury room, quiet surroundings for a relaxing day or any combination of these the Captain’s House Inn delivers. We were recently there for a few nights during the last blizzard, in need of some R&R and almost looking forward to getting snowed in.
Tubs are good!
We were expecting the usual, wonderful experience, as we had just recently seen this inn win the Travel Channel’s “Hotel Showdown”. You can read more about that by clicking here. Personally, we have always found the inn to be extremely accommodating, and we started to test that immediately when we called to arrange arrival a day early, in order to beat the blizzard. We were going to drive into the heart of the beast and wait it out, of course surrounded by food and wine and jacuzzi tubs and gas fireplaces. The inn had a few rooms available, but not ours. We booked one and were informed they would move our luggage for us when our room was ready. This worked for us. We even made another change as a cancellation opened a better room for the first night in the same building as our reserved room. This would make the switch that much easier.
With innkeepers Jill and James Meyers overseeing every detail, the Captain’s House is more than a B&B, as it provides an extensive tea option, lunch on request and craft beer as well as bottled wine. We took full advantage of all of these features as a howling blizzard descended on the outer Cape during our first night. The next day we did not leave the inn. We only left our room by about twenty feet, just the distance between the doors of the rooms we were switching from and to. Other than that we had breakfast delivered to the room, lunch delivered to the room and fired up both fireplaces in our suite. We had brought a picnic lunch which became dinner. While Mother Nature raged we were quite comfy. We really have to commend the staff at The Captain’s House, who braved the elements to take great care of us. The staff here are all British hospitality students who come over and work 6 – 10 month rotations, and that adds charm to the experience. They are also all very friendly, professional and competent.
The British influence is evident in the tea service. A standard cream tea in included in your room, but you can upgrade for a modest fee to a full tea, which is really impressive. The dining room is a glass walled room ringed with old China plates and shelves of teapots. You can select from wide range of tea and coffee 
choices to enjoy with you cookies and cakes. As we mentioned, you can also get a craft beer or a glass of wine. Or a bottle of wine, which is what we did our first day as the flakes began to fly. The tea was quite warming, but the Cabernet really did the trick. In our suite there was a wine rack with a bottle of each of the wines the inn stocked, and the prices were barely above retail. That lack of markup is a very nice touch, and also a very unusual one. They also provided a corkscrew and glasses, so nothing stands in your way if you’re in need of a little libation.
Living Room in the Lydia Harding Suite
Speaking of rooms, they are one of the reasons we always comeback here. You can choose from a full range of accommodations, from a very simple but tastefully decorated room to a two room suite with luxury bath (our choice!). The rooms are divided between four buildings huddled close together on the grounds. Our suite was in The Stables, which was renovated in 1997 into the most luxurious group of rooms at the inn. The Lydia Harding suite upstairs is really a small home, and it worked perfectly for this trip.
View from our window
The real overriding element of a great stay here though is the staff, and the impeccable service they provide. Each morning they carried our breakfast through the blinding snow, and greeted us at the door with a smile. When our fireplace was not working the petite English girl immediately popped the cover and re-lit the pilot. While we were trying to get Valentine’s day reservations the office staff called all over town and made the reservations for us. And of course all of our evolving room requests were handled smoothly and courteously. They will make you feel at home here. You can even spend the afternoon playing croquet on the lawn, in warmer months of course, with a bottle of wine and some tea biscuits with clotted cream.
We heartily recommend the Captain’s House Inn, and will be returning sometime in the not too distant future. If you’re heading down to the Cape and looking for a relaxing, quality place to stay this needs to be on your short list.
A votre sante!
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