Chatham Bars Inn Resort and Spa

Based on the pictures and price of this hotel, my husband and I were excited to relax in beautiful five star luxury. Unfortunately, we arrived to find a well located and landscaped motel. We arrived on a Thursday just after check in time and were greeted by Pretam (who is wonderful). We made polite small talk, and he pretty quickly offered to find us an upgraded room. Unfortunately, the hotel was fully booked, so he was unable to find one. "Oh well", I thought. We were at a five star resort paying $1,500+ per night. The room class we selected will be great too. We made our way to our assigned Room 124. It was in the cottage farthest away from the beach. As we drove over, again I thought, "Oh well, we're young and enjoy walking". My husband and I lugged our heavy suitcases up the flight of stairs, opened the door to the room, and immediately said "oh no!". Room 124 contained a king bed, two small nightstands, a small table for two with wooden chairs, and a window seat. The windows were covered with mini blinds (no curtains) and the ceiling fan looked like it came from my grandmothers house in 1980. The bathroom only had one small ledge on the sink for the bar of soap, the shower had a filthy shower curtain, the lights were dim, and the bathroom fan sounded like a plane was about to take off. I have stayed at nicer Hampton Inns. I went back to the front desk and asked Pretam if he could do anything at all. I offered to pay. Anything to save the trip because if we were stuck with that room, we would be leaving and requesting a refund. He was able to find us a newly renovated room to move to after our first night, so we agreed to stay in the originally assigned room and then move for the remainder of our trip. The renovated room was exponentially nicer, but still significantly less than what we've experienced at the other five star hotels we recently enjoyed - the shower still had a dirty curtain, the AC could not cool the room, and the only offering in the room was a carafe of water (where were the minibar drinks and snacks?). The property must have been significantly oversold for the weekend. Unless you arrived early, it was impossible to find a chair at the pool. At the Veranda restaurant, they crammed in as many tables as possible. The spacing was so tight, it was as if you were having dinner with the party at the next table too. We had heard they had a fabulous brunch, so one morning we tried to eat at Stars. Unfortunately, there was no AC (i'm assuming they don't have it since it was hot in the main building every day we were there), so we left before ordering. For our final full day, we had spa appointments. Despite the disappointment to this point, we were excited. The spa had their own pool (expecting less crowded) and their prices were high, so it must have great amenities and service. Again, we were wrong. The spa pool is cut in the side of a hill, and there was no breeze or view. The water was filthy and the pool looked like something you'd find in a motel. We tried to make the best of it, but after I had to go in and ask for the towels to be replenished and waited for fifteen minutes and no towels arrived, I was done. We begged the spa attendants to cancel our appointments (they thankfully accommodated), and we left a day earlier than planned. My husband and I try to make the best of everything, and with every turn, we were disappointed and wishing we were elsewhere. Given the prices, we felt held hostage and robbed of our time and money. The one positive - the location and landscaping was absolutely stunning. Move the hotel and amenities offered elsewhere, and you're left with a Motel6.

My family is madly in love with the Inn. From the spectacular views and grounds to the amazing people, pool and restaurants it was a beautiful and memorable stay. The Whale Watch was amazing and so was our Captain. We just loved it and cannot wait to visit again.

Stayed at Chatham Bars Inn, which markets itself as a five-star property. Service fell well below that standard. The entire stay felt marked by hostile staff attitudes, almost as if they were forced to be there and viewed guests as needy rich people. At breakfast I joined family members who had already finished eating. When I tried to order coffee first, the waitress looked me in the eye and asked in an angry tone, “Is that all you’re going to order?” She also appeared irritated that we were joining the table. We ordered drinks and received a cup with lipstick on it. The next day another drink arrived in a cup with visible coffee staining inside. Food quality was average. Overall experience was defined by unwelcoming service and unclean glassware rather than the luxury level the hotel claims. I cannot recommend this place.

Extremely overpriced for quality of rooms and service. Grounds beautiful, location great. Would never return due to value not worth the cost.

We travelled from the UK, via Heathrow and New York, before driving around five hours to Cape Cod specifically to stay at Chatham Bars Inn. We had booked eight months in advance and this was supposed to be one of the highlights of our holiday. Instead, it was one of the most disappointing and stressful hotel experiences we have ever had. On arrival, the hotel felt incredibly overcrowded, with people everywhere. After check-in, we were handed our key and directed to our Deluxe Cottage Room, 1 King Bed. We were genuinely shocked when we saw it. The room looked nothing like the photographs we had booked from. The photos showed wooden floors; we had old, stained carpet. The advertised room had a fireplace; ours didn't. The bed was completely different, old and battered, with a damaged headboard and a huge gap behind the mattress. There were stains on the bed linen and the room itself was tiny, overlooking parked cars. For a room costing well over $1,300 per night before taxes, it was astonishing. In our opinion, the room we were actually given was worth perhaps $400 a night at best, and even that feels generous. But the worst part was the noise. Directly outside our room, effectively behind our bed, was a bank of air-conditioning units servicing the complex. They produced a relentless, deep, low-frequency mechanical drone inside the bedroom. It was horrendous. We complained immediately. In fairness, the manager tried to find another room but nothing was available, so we had no choice but to stay. We barely slept all night. The following morning, their proposed solution was to move us to the room directly above ours. Quite how moving a few feet above the same bank of AC units was supposed to eliminate the low-frequency drone was beyond us. At that point, exhausted, we requested a refund and left. We then had the considerable stress and expense of finding alternative accommodation at very short notice during peak season, thousands of miles from home. Chatham Bars Inn has agreed to refund the unused nights, although as I write this we are still waiting for that refund to appear. They have refused to refund the night we spent there, despite us complaining immediately, barely sleeping and the hotel being unable to provide a reasonable alternative. We will therefore be pursuing them for a full refund, including the first night. We didn't leave because the hotel wasn't to our taste. We left because the room bore little resemblance to what we had booked and, most importantly, we couldn't sleep in it. After booking eight months ahead and travelling thousands of miles, what should have been a highlight of our holiday became an exhausting and extremely expensive ordeal. At over $1,300 a night before taxes, our experience was completely unacceptable.