Chatham Bars Inn Resort and Spa

I have thought about this review alot. I will start with the good stuff: beautiful location, excellent service especially from front desk, housekeeping, engineering and restaurant/pool staff, good concierge service in advance of stay and local valet transportation. I had a quiet view-free lower priced room ($900+) which was comfortable: good bed, nice bathroom, small mini-fridge without freezer. Now the other side: the prices are insane! For $900 a night (and others in my party were paying $2,000 a night), you get two bottles of water every day, AM coffee in the lobby, and beach/pool towels/chairs/umbrellas. That's it. You can rent a poolside cabana if you want more shade for $500+ night. I had arranged a car to take me to the local airport and it was $200+. A Lyft would be $60 or so.... A lovely buffet breakfast is $42 pp plus tip, and kids under 5 eat for free. The only deal in the whole place. There is no priority given to hotel guests at restaurants or bars, and this is a very popular place with locals, so it is difficult to get a terrace table. The only "shop" onsite is one that sells their branded merch: I needed Advil and was told that I had to go into town to get it because of "liability issues". Even Motel 6 sells Advil! I bit my tongue on that one, because there were many very young (like 2 yo) kids in the hot tub, which I don't think is allowed...that is a liability issue. The pool is lovely and contrary to other reviews, not too crowded. There is a very shallow kiddie pool as well. Nice poolside bathrooms. We didn't do alot of the other activities (like boat rides etc) because we were with small kids. I can only imagine those prices. We were lucky that the weather was nice: I am not sure what we would have done if it had rained. I do not recommend staying here if you don't have a car. You would be stuck. While they try, accessibility could be an issue. The property is very spread out and is across a small road from the pool/beach. There are steps down to the road, as well as a winding path to the pool, and they will drive you to the pool if you need it.My bathtub might have been a little high for some folks: it was a lovely old-fashioned tub. Ask about access when you book. The only chairs for relaxing were bunched together on the terrace: it would be nice to have other chairs throughout the property for those who might not want to sit elbow to elbow. Maybe I just missed them It was lovely to see so many multi-generational families there: it is a very busy place and it respects small children. In summary, if you don't mind spending exorbitant amounts of money, and want a view, this is your place. It is not mine.

The view from our Ocean View bedroom in the historic building was fabulous, although the double bed in the room was small and the wardrobe space was a little limited for our needs. The food on the site was average, we enjoyed some of the Chatham restaurants better. It was a noisy experience with lots of badly behaved children (especially the pool). It's a pity the hotel do not have more adult-only amenities. The staff were always helpful and professional, and the valet parking guys were so hard!

At exactly 8:00pm outside area I asked about ordering some apps. The woman clearing my area wiped down the surface took her time then said “I have no idea I’m not server” she was incredibly rude. She had an Eastern European accent. By the time I flagged down a server, at 8:05pm she was adamant that the kitchen was closed. We were unable to get any food and we were not aware that the kitchen closed at 8:00pm totally inappropriate.

We checked in for our honeymoon, the check in staff did not offer any champagne or anything to check us in. We get up to our room, the bed felt like a bad airbnb bed. We did not sleep at all (room 39) as anytime someone turned the entire bed shook and creaked. We asked to be moved, and the front desk staff did not reach back out after they told us they would check with management. At a hotel of this caliber I was surprised of this experience. We then moved to the other room which was much better. The beach - there should be an adults only option. The pool was out of the question, but the beach had screaming children at all hours of the day. Also, the seagulls would come and attack left food (staff would take over an hour to come collect it). Also- we were denied when we asked for chairs for north beach island, yet other guests had CBI folding chairs on the shuttle. The staff was great overall, but again a bit disappointed by a honeymoon experience at a five star hotel.

It was our 40th anniversary and we decided to splurge by booking an ocean view suite at the Chatham Bars Inn for 4 nights. Excellent call. We stayed in room 8 which is at the top of the stairs of the main inn, with a deck that looks out over the entrance, and the ocean. The layout of the suite is a bit odd, in that it’s a large bedroom plus a small sitting room with fridge, and the bathroom connects the 2 rooms. It means if someone is in the bathroom you need to take a key into the hall and enter the other side of the suite via the other door. It was a lovely room with great amenities like a really good Nespresso machine and great housekeeping service. But the standout feature was the deck. We actually phoned to confirm that the room has a deck since none of the pictures on the website showed it and it wasn’t explicitly listed in the room features for the ocean-view suite. I can’t imagine why the hotel doesn’t feature it on the website. It was stunning, with 2 loungers, 2 side chairs, one sofa and multiple coffee tables. And the view was amazing. The whole property is fantastic, with excellent, friendly and responsive staff. Two small things marred an otherwise perfect experience. When we pulled up, the valet took our car and said our luggage would be delivered to our room right away. We got our keys from reception and went up to our room and waited for our luggage. We wanted to explore the property but we wanted to change our clothes first. After waiting 40 minutes my husband went downstairs and found our suitcases and cooler just hanging out by the entrance with no one around seeming to be interested in doing anything with them. He struggled to get both bags and the cooler into the elevator and up to the room by himself rather than try to find assistance. Very strange behavior for a 5 star hotel. And one other strange thing. When I phoned to confirm that our suite had a proper deck for sitting outside, I said that was great because it was our wedding anniversary and I wanted a nice room. And when I booked the Stars restaurant for dinner I asked for an ocean view table because it was our 40th anniversary. I actually repeated that when the restaurant called to reconfirm our reservation. OK, maybe I was being a bit obvious, 😊 but I was amazed that there was no recognition of our celebration, either in the room or the restaurant. I can’t image when 3 people are told that it was a special occasion, no one made a note to send up an amenity like wine, treats, or something. Just what I would have expected, especially given we were spending $2,000 a night for a room.