If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD284.57), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Oh for the carefree summers of childhood… Well, at Summercamp, a coastal crashpad in preppy Oak Bluffs, this time-traveling fantasy almost becomes a reality. Your inner child (and own little Smiths) will come out to play at this all-fun-and-games basecamp – bunk in nautical-inspired rooms, tiptoe down for midnight snacks at the all-hours old-school canteen, blow bubbles on the harbor-facing porch and limber up for spirited games of Twister and ping pong. The homesickness will stay a childhood memory – you’ve grown up and so has this summer camp.
11am; earliest check-in, 4pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £180.80 ($229), including tax at 11.7 per cent.
More details
Rates are room-only but Camp Canteen sells breakfast dishes including oatmeal, bagels, muffins and donuts Plus, there are tea, coffee, hot chocolate and water stations throughout the hotel.
Also
There are five ADA-friendly rooms (two King Suites and three Water View King Rooms) and two accessible parking spots, plus the communal areas are adapted for wheelchair users. The Overlook building has an elevator; the main building doesn’t but staff are on-hand to help with bags.
Hotel closed
The hotel opens annually from mid-May to October.
At the hotel
Games room with ping pong table and Twister, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: smart TVs, Tivoli Bluetooth speaker, climate control, mini fridge, bathrobes and Lather bath products.
Our favourite rooms
You’ll be a happy camper in any of the hotel’s bright and breezy rooms, but the Lark Suite and King Deluxe rooms are more grown-up, with stylish seating areas and seafaring flourishes; a rope-suspended bed adds a touch of nautical naughtiness to the former. For a trip down memory lane, opt for the Twin Bunk for nostalgia-tinged stays.
Packing tips
Channel the girl (or boy) next door by donning preppy pieces with a nautical twist – all things stripes, deck shoes and light linens deserve a spot in your suitcase.
Also
Summercamp partners with a local bike hire company who offer the hotel six free rental passes a day; they’re hot tickets, so bag one in advance.
Welcome: little Smiths can stay in cots or on sofa-beds in King Deluxe rooms, King Suites and the Lark Suite or in the second bed in Double Queen rooms, for $50 a night. There’s a games room with vintage games and ping pong.
There’s no formal restaurant, but you’ll find Camp Canteen next to reception, which serves round-the-clock light bites. Grab a bagel, muffin or yogurt parfait on your way out, kick back with a coffee or hot chocolate, sip a soda on the sunset-facing porch or relive your own camp days and sneak down for a (nostalgic) midnight snack of Cracker Jacks or Dreamsicles.
Hotel bar
There’s no bar at Summercamp, but the mini fridge, glasses and corkscrew in your room give you the option to enjoy a glass or two of wine a casa.
Facing the harbor in Gingerbread House-dotted Oak Bluffs, Summercamp is a waterfront stay in Martha’s Vineyard.
Planes
Flights from Boston, New York and Nantucket arrive at Martha’s Vineyard Airport, which is a 15-minute drive from the hotel, and staff can arrange private transfers on request.
Automobiles
You don’t need a set of wheels in Oak Bluffs – the hotel is a short walk from the harbor, beach and restaurants, plus you can hire bikes or hop on a bus. If you’ve driven from Boston, there are some parking spots at the hotel for $50 a night, just be sure to book one in advance.
Other
If a 45-minute car ferry from Woods Hole in Cape Cod to Oaks Bluff is your preferred option, touch down at Boston Logan International, which is less than two hours by road from the port.
Worth getting out of bed for
Once you’ve battled it out on the hotel’s ping pong table, finished a round of giant Connect Four or untangled from a game of Twister, Oak Bluffs is your picture-perfect playground. Hansel and Gretel would head straight to the cluster of Gingerbread Cottages, pastel-hued historic homes that look good enough to eat. Swap sweet for salty at Oak Bluffs Town Beach or Jaws Bridge (yes, that Jaws), where cinephiles meet thrill-seekers diving into the sea. You could also borrow (or hire) bikes for coastal cycles, rent kayaks, charter a fishing boat or hop on the ferry to Chappaquiddick Island for a serene stroll around Mytoi Japanese Garden.
Local restaurants
The Sweet Life Café lives up to its name – this family-run bistro serves polished plates of local oysters, handmade pasta and island-sourced produce in a fairy light-strewn courtyard, with live jazz on Thursdays. You’ll come to Lookout Tavern for its sea-view-blessed location and stay for its generously stuffed lobster rolls and overflowing plates of sweet potato fries. In Edgartown, Detente is primed for romantic dinners à deux with its garden setting, extensive wine list and seasonal fare.
Local cafés
Caffeine fiends flock to Mocha Mott’s, either in Oak Bluffs or Vineyard Haven, for their espresso fix or flavored latte. Back Door Donuts is your classic coffee- and Danish-serving café by day; at night, it becomes a sort of sweet-treat speakeasy, serving late-night donuts and their famous apple fritters from, well, its back door.
Local bars
An Oak Bluffs stalwart, microbrewery Offshore Ale Company proudly pours their own handcrafted crisp pale ales and smooth stouts. Bring your naughtiest self to Bad Martha Farmers Brewery, where dancing your heart out, sweet-talking a stranger into inviting you on their yacht, or at least sampling its flights of beer or homemade seltzers are all on the cards.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this harborfront hotel in Oak Bluffs and unpacked their craft ales and deck shoes, a full account of their nostalgic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Summercamp in Martha’s Vineyard…
Sun-kissed days at camp may seem like a distant (or missed-out-on) memory for some, but spirited Summercamp welcomes both well seasoned campers and first-timers with open arms. At this brightly coloured crashpad, swap roasting s’mores by the fire for blast-from-the-past snacks at the retro canteen, and sharing urban legends come nightfall for pillow talk in one of the spacious sea-facing suites (you can always bagsy a bunk room if you want the full nostalgic experience).
And like the best of summer camps, it’s all about the setting. Pretty-in-pastels Oak Bluffs was once a pious pit stop for Methodists but now holidaymakers, tempted by the town’s all-American appeal, make the pilgrimage – and it’s easy to see why. Slurp freshly shucked oysters, bike to nearby towns, flop on pristine beaches, cool off with a craft beer or artisanal ice-cream, and load up on lobster rolls. Think of your convivial hosts at Summercamp as your camp leaders and the harbor-tucked town a picturesque playground, and your break will be exactly what it should be: child’s play.
