Harbor View Hotel
I’ve been coming to Martha’s Vineyard every summer for basically my whole life but we never stayed overnight on the island. Edgartown is our favorite area of the island and every time we visit we pass Harbor View Hotel and I always wondered what it would be like to stay there and I’m so happy I finally did.
THE PROPERTY
The property is located right near the iconic lighthouse in Edgartown. Once you take the ferry into MV, it’s easily accesible by taxi, uber, or even the bus. If you don’t have a lot of luggage, I recommend taking the bus and then walking about 14 minutes from the bus stop to the hotel. If you have kids and a lot of items, taxis and Ubers are easy to grab. We took a taxi from the ferry since we had a lot of things with us, there is a taxi stand right when you get off the ferry. The taxi and Uber are about the same price so there was no point in waiting for an Uber. The surrounding area of the property is absolutely stunning, it is surrounded by all the beautiful houses in the neighborhood along with cute cafes, bookstores, shops, bakeries and restaurants. I like that the hotel is nestled a little away from the shops where you have an unobstructed view of the ocean and lighthouse. My favorite thing to do is walk to the lighthouse. It’s so beautiful and peaceful around there. You can also swim in the beach behind the lighthouse which is so nice to so do in the Summer. Edgartown, though is does get busy in the Summer, is not as busy as other towns like Vineyard Haven or Oaks Bluff which is my favorite part about it.
The hotel is very cute and gives the quintessential cap cod feel. I love its wraparound porch with lots of seating to enjoy the view. They have an open grass area that the kids loved to running around in with a beautiful elephant sculpture. I’m not sure if the sculpture is there all the time but it was a nice added touch. There is also a gym, two restaurants, and a pool (it was closed when we went in the Spring). The lobby was nicely decorated with a cozy fireplace. All in all, there are a lot of rooms but the actual amenities are few and the hotel is not that big which actually give it a quaintness that matches the MV vibes.
THE ROOM
I will say I hyped up this hotel probably a bit too much in my mind because when we check in we were underwhelmed with the room. We came off season at the end of April and there was a lot of construction happening. I know off season is their time to fix everything in the hotel and get it ready for summer but it would have been nice to not have to walk through construction to get to our room every time. It would have made sense, since it was off season and the hotel was not busy, to arrange for guest to stay away from wherever the construction was happening. Our room was just a simple double room with a little patio that looked out into grass and a generator. I know we didn’t splurge on the ‘nicest’ room but I feel like it was another miss for the hotel to place us in a room like this when the hotel was not busy at all. We did overhear many people checking in at the front desk asking for upgrades and I wish I would have followed suit but by the time we got in our room, I was too tired to switch and really it wasn’t bad. I think I just romanticized this hotel so much in my head I thought I would be more impressed with the actual room. Another issue we ran into were that there were ants all over the room , they even were crawling on us in the bed. It could have been a result of the construction and being on the ground lever but that is also another reason why I think guest should have been placed elsewhere. The room was just a place to rest our head anyway as we planned on enjoying the island as much as possible so we tried to not let it bother us too much.
THE FOOD
The hotel has two restaurants on site. We did not eat at either of them but they were very cute and we saw some of the dishes coming out and they smelled and looked attractive. The menu for both locations also look great and the prices rivaled the local restaurants so it wasn’t much more expensive to eat at the hotel. Because we were venturing out a lot we ended up eating while we were out. We did get room service breakfast for the girls one morning and it was an ok simple breakfast. The customer service wasn’t great while we were there and they forgot some request we had. I’m not sure if it’s because we stayed off season or if its normally that way but I had to really lower my expectations as the time we spent there went on.
There are many delicious restaurants surrounding the hotel. During summer season everything is open but if you travel off season. (between mid sept to memorial day) you will run into many closed shops and restaurants on the island. Even though many things were closed, we found some good places to eat. My favorite was Rosewater, a cute little cafe walking distance from the hotel with the freshest most delicious food including breakfast. I highly recommend them. We also had dinner at The Wharf which is also open all season but the food here was just ok. The other place we had dinner was Rockfish I would say the food here was better than The Wharf. I ordered the girls the Halibut48 dish that was so flavorful.
If you go during the season, I recommend visiting Seafood Shanty in Edgartown. It’s really yummy and also has a view of the ocean but is only open in the summer months.
Martha’s Vineyard is known for their homemade ice cream and fudge and thankfully there were some shops open nearby during our stay. Mad Martha’s is the main ice cream shop that is located all over the Vineyard open year round and they also have vegan options which is nice.
THE BEACH + POOL
Unfortunately since we came off season the pool was closed and under construction. It was too cold to swim anyway but it would have been nice to see it all set up. The beach is open to the public and although it was too cold to swim, we had fun walking along trail that led to the lighthouse and letting the girls collect seashells and throw rocks in the water. Edgartown has my favorite beach on the island so I might be biased but I just love this beach and location so much.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
I already touched on the neighborhood, but Edgartown is such a cute little town. It is charming and bright with lots of shops, cafes, bakeries, bookstores and restaurants. There is even a farm close by, Morning Glory Farm, you can visit and get fresh food and produce and they also have toys for kids to play around. The houses are grand and beautiful and it’s clean and really a lovely place to take a stroll. Edgartown always makes me, a city girl, want to trade it in for this small town simple life. Its so beautiful and peaceful here. I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t love it, even if just for a visit.
Overall, our stay at Harbor View Hotel was a bit underwhelming. I can say my expectations were prob a bit too high as I glamorized this hotel in my mind for so many years and also visiting off season probably skewed our perception a bit. Nevertheless despite run ins with not the greatest customer service, and loud construction and ants, Martha’s Vineyard is a magical place and nothing could ruin my time there really. If you are to visit off season, I would look into one of the other cute boutique hotels in Edgartown as there are many cute ones.
If you choose to stay at Harbor View Hotel, just make sure you get a room that is not on ground level with a view. I do think it would be worth the upgrade. The absolute best way to stay on Martha’s Vineyard though is by staying in an Airbnb or home rental. Just be mindful the busy season is summer and people book out sometimes a year in advance so if you plan on staying overnight on the island I would say to book at least 6 months in advance for a hotel or Airbnb.